Abdul Jabbar Faisal
ISLAMABAD:- Karim Abdel Gawad from Egypt will be top seed player of the Karachi Open Squash Championship, which will be commenced from March 15, 2022 at Roshan Khan, Jehangir Khan Squash Complex Karachi. Enora Villard from France will be top seed female player for the Women’s Singles fixture.
It is pertinent to mention here that men’s event has prize money of $50000 while women’s 20000. The final of the prestigious international squash fixture will be played on March 19 at the same venue.
Former World Champion Gawad leads the men’s draw and will be looking to claim his first title since 2019. The Egyptian will face the winner of home favourite Asim Khan and England’s Declan James in his first match of the tournament as he receives a bye in round one.
World No.16 Youssef Soliman from Egypt is the number two seed. Soliman, a recent quarter finalist at the Houston Open, will open his account against the winner of Spain’s Bernat Jaume and event wildcard Mohammad Ashab Irfan from Pakistan.
Pakistan’s best chance of a home winner comes in the form of World No.44 Tayyab Aslam. The nation’s No.1 will face Egyptian Yahya Elnawasany in his first-round match. The pair last met at the Egyptian Open in September, with the Egyptian winning 3-1 in 38 minutes to level the head-to-head record at 1-1.
France’s Enora Villard is number one seed for the female event. The French No.4 recently lost out to Georgina Kennedy from England in the last 16 of the Cleveland Classic and will be looking to improve on that performance in Karachi. Villard will play either Pakistan’s Zaynab Khan or New Zealand’s Kaitlyn Watts in her opening match of the event.
England’s Lucy Beecroft is one to watch in the event. The World No.62 won two events in 2021 and will be determined to add to that tally in 2022. Beecroft receives a bye in round one but will face either wildcard Anam Mustafa Aziz or Serbia’s Jelena Dutina in round two.
No.3 seed Marie Stephan is entering the Challenger 20 event full of confidence as the 25-year-old recently captured her first French Nationals title, beating Enora Villard in the final. Stephan will play Pakistan’s Amna Fayyaz or Malaysia’s Yee Xin Ying for a place in the quarter finals.
Men’s Draw (32 players):
[1] Karim Abdel Gawad (EGY) [Bye]
Asim Khan (PAK) v [9/16] Declan James (ENG)
[9/16] Greg Lobban (SCO) v Henry Leung (HKG)
[6] Todd Harrity (USA) [Bye]
[7] Dimitri Steinmann (SUI) [Bye]
Tsz Kwan Lau (HKG) v [9/16] Edmon Lopez (ESP)
[9/16] Tsz Fung Yip (HKG) v [WC] Noor Zaman (PAK)
[3] Omar Mosaad (EGY) [Bye]
[4] Karim El Hammamy (EGY) [Bye]
Faraz Khan (USA) v [9/16] Alan Clyne (SCO)
[9/16] Leonel Cardenas (MEX) v Mazen Gamal (EGY)
[8] Sebastien Bonmalais (FRA) [Bye]
[5] Shahjahan Khan (USA) [Bye]
Yahya Elnawasany (EGY) v [9/16] Tayyab Aslam (PAK)
[9/16] Bernat Jaume (ESP) v [WC] Muhammad Ashab Irfan (PAK)
[2] Youssef Soliman (EGY) [Bye]
Women’s Draw (32 players):
[1] Enora Villard [Bye]
Zaynab Khan (PAK) v [9/16] Kaitlyn Watts (NZL)
[9/16] Nadeen Kotb (EGY) v Sofía Mateos (ESP)
[5] Nadia Pfister (SUI) [Bye]
[6] Georgia Adderley (SCO) [Bye]
Lea Barbeau (FRA) v [9/16] Chan Yiwen (MAS)
[9/16] Amna Fayyaz (PAK) v Yee Xin Ying (MAS)
[3] Marie Stephan (FRA) [Bye]
[4] Ka Yi Lee (HKG) [Bye]
Sarah Cardwell (AUS) v [9/16] Anna Kimberley (ENG)
[9/16] Chan Sin Yuk (HKG) v Rana Ismail (EGY)
[7] Menna Hamed (EGY) [Bye]
[8] Lucy Beecroft (ENG) [Bye]
[WC] Anam Mustafa Aziz (PAK) v [9/16] Jelena Dutina (SRB)
[9/16] Nour Aboulmakarim (EGY) v [WC] Mariam Malik (PAK)
[2] Menna Nasser (EGY) [Bye]
