Dubai: Four former World No. 1s — Gregory Gaultier, Ramy Ashour, Mohammad El Shorbagy and James Willstrop — have all been drawn together in the group stages of the Professional Squash Association (PSA) World Series Finals at Dubai Opera from June 6-10.
The tournament, which has US$160,000 on offer in both men’s and women’s draws, sees players face off against each other in a round-robin best-of-three series from June 6-8 for a place in the semi-finals, with only two players progressing from each group.
Current World No. 1 Karim Abdel Gawad, who topped the PSA Road to Dubai standings, is up against former World No. 1 Nick Matthew, Marwan El Shorbagy and Simon Rosner in the second group, with both Gawad and Marwan making their debut appearance in this end-of-season decider.
The women’s group draw has also pitted three former world champions together, with two-time winner Nour El Sherbini, Malaysia’s eight-time winning Nicol David and 2013 world champion and defending world series finals champion Laura Massaro alongside debutante Sarah-Jane Perry.
The second group sees Camille Serme, who topped the women’s Road to Dubai standings, Raneem El Welily, Nouran Gohar and Alison Waters clash for a place in the knock-outs.
When the group stages get underway on June 6, Gaultier, Ashour, El Shorbagy and Willstrop will take to court during the day’s second session of play — beginning 9:30pm — alongside El Sherbini, Massaro, David and Perry.
Both Group As will be in action from 3:00pm. A full schedule will be announced on June 5. All the action will be shown live on SquashTV (rest of world) and Eurosport Player (Europe only).
Group stage matches will take place at 3:00pm, 3:45pm, 16:45pm and 17:30pm (Group A) and 21:30pm, 22:15pm, 23:15pm and 00:00am (Group B) between June 6-8 with the semi-finals due to take place from 21:30pm on June 9. The finals will commence at 21:30pm on June 10.
Tickets for the World Series Finals can be purchased at https://dubaiopera.etixdubai.com/shows/show.aspx?sh=PSAUMB
