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LA2028: The Final  World Qualifying tournament, taking place 6-10 June 2028 at an as-yet unknown venue, offers just a glimpse of a second chance — and, somewhat under the radar, several players are getting into position to snatch it.

The 24-player men’s and women’s draws at the tournament will comprise of the highest-ranked athlete on the PSA world rankings from nations that have not yet been allocated one of the other 15 quota places in the Olympic draw.

This brings squash’s smaller nations very much into play and the scramble for passports to some of these countries has begun in earnest – with this week’s European Team Division 3 Championships from 15-18 April in Luxembourg the first staging post for those making early moves.

Mazen Gamal is one early mover. Born in Saudi Arabia but representing Egypt all his career, he has switched allegiance to Lithuania in time to play in the European Team Division 3 Championships.

Coached by the great Karim Darwish, he has played in an impressive 176 PSA events, winning 10 at Challenger level. He is now 40, but slots straight in at Lithuanian no.1, perhaps to the chagrin of his new team-mates who might have fancied a crack as Lithuania’s representative at the Final World Qualifying tournament themselves.

As already reported by Squash Player, another Egyptian seeking a back-door route to LA is Mohamed ElSherbini…

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