The draw is out for November’s PSA Men’s World Championship in Doha …
Reigning PSA Men’s World Champion Ali Farag has been handed a banana skin fixture against Germany’s Raphael Kandra as the World #1 kickstarts his title defence at the 2019-20 edition of the most prestigious tournament on the men’s tour, which this season takes place at the Khalifa International Tennis & Squash Complex in Doha, Qatar between 8th and 15th November
Farag – who won his first title of the season at last week’s FS Investments U.S. Open Squash Championships – defeated World #3 Tarek Momen at Chicago’s Union Station in February to capture the biggest title in men’s squash, and the 27-year-old Egyptian will be the man to beat in Doha as he tops a draw featuring 64 of the world’s leading male players.
If Farag can come through his encounter with the tenacious World #30 Kandra, he will have to battle through a field that also contains the likes of World #7 Diego Elias, World #6 Simon Rösner and World #4 Karim Abdel Gawad, the latter of whom is seeded to play Farag in the semi-finals.
On the opposite side of the draw, #2 seed Mohamed ElShorbagy will look to continue the form that has already seen him win the J.P. Morgan China Open, Oracle NetSuite Open and reach the final of last week’s U.S. Open as he looks to win a second World Championship crown.
ElShorbagy and Farag have struck up an enthralling rivalry over the past three seasons and the pair are seeded to meet in a blockbuster final. ElShorbagy begins his tournament against fellow Egyptian Karim El Hammamy, while tricky fixtures against the likes of India’s Saurav Ghosal, Mohamed Abouelghar and Momen could await the in-form 28-year-old.
Home interest comes in the form of World #46 Abdulla Al Tamimi, who pushed Momen to five games during an entertaining second round fixture at the U.S. Open last week. He plays Frenchman Gregoire Marche in the opening round, while wildcards Hamad Al-Amri and Syed Azlan Amjad play Momen and Spain’s Iker Pajares.
In addition to the total prize money of $335,000, players will also compete for automatic entry to the season-ending PSA World Tour Finals, which will feature a men’s and women’s event containing both reigning PSA World Champions as well as the winners of all PSA Platinum events. Farag and Gohar have already qualified after their triumphs at the U.S. Open.