Egyptian duo Mohamed ElShorbagy and Nour El Sherbini will headline the 2021 El Gouna International Squash Open when the PSA World Tour Platinum event takes place in Egypt from 20-28 May.
Ng Eain Yow will spearhead the Malaysian campaign at the championships together with five other Malaysians.
Eain Yow, seeded joint 17th for the men’s competition, will open his campaign against Mexican Leonel Cardenas. The other Malaysian in the men’s draw is Ivan Yuen, who faces another joint 17th seed Mathieu Castagnet of France in the first round match.
Both Low Wee Wern and Sivasangari Subramaniam have been seeded joint 17th in the women’s competition. Wee Wern faces a tricky first round encounter against Egyptian Mayar Hany while Sivasangari has an equally intriguing opening match against another unseeded Egyptian in the form of Sana Ibrahim.
The other two Malaysians in the women’s draw Rachel Arnold and Hollie Houghton face joint 17th seeds Zeina Mickawy of Egypt and Canadian Hollie Naughton in the opening matches respectively.
World Men’s No.1 Farag misses out on defending his title due to prior family commitments, meaning ElShorbagy will top the 48-player men’s draw as he looks to win this title for the first time since 2016.
The World No.2 receives a bye into round two, where he will face former World No.1 James Willstrop in a mouthwatering last 32 clash. ElShorbagy is seeded on the same side of the draw as Welshman Joel Makin – who he lost to in December’s CIB Black Ball Squash Open quarter-finals – and the pair could meet again in the same stage in El Gouna.
The man who took the Black Ball Open crown – Marwan ElShorbagy – is also seeded on the top half of the draw and could have a rematch with Black Ball Open runner-up Fares Dessouky in the quarter-finals, before a prospective semi-final showdown with older brother Mohamed if matches go to seeding.
World Champion Tarek Momen is one of the most notable names in the bottom half of the draw and he features alongside the likes of World No.4 Paul Coll, 2019 runner-up Karim Abdel Gawad and World No.8 Miguel Rodriguez.
World No.1 El Sherbini will get her tournament under way against either Farida Mohamed or wildcard Nour Aboulmakarim in round two of the women’s event and is seeded to face World No.6 Sarah-Jane Perry and World No.4 Camille Serme en route to a predicted final match up with 2019 runner-up Nouran Gohar in the title decider.
Gohar will get her tournament under way against either Zeina or Rachel in round two and has the likes of World No.8 Joelle King and World No.5 Amanda Sobhy on her side of the draw.
The other women’s wildcard – Habiba El Defrawy – will play USA’s Olivia Fiechter in the opening round – while the men’s wildcards – Aly Abou Eleinen and Roger Baddour – will play Youssef Soliman and Youssef Ibrahim, respectively.
Men’s Draw
[1] Mohamed ElShorbagy (EGY) [bye]
[9/16] James Willstrop (ENG) [bye]
[17/32] Greg Lobban (SCO) v Todd Harrity (USA)
Edmon Lopez (ESP) v [17/32] Baptiste Masotti (FRA)
[17/32] Youssef Ibrahim (EGY) v [WC] Roger Baddour (EGY)
Leonel Cardenas (MEX) v [17/32] Eain Yow Ng (MAS)
[9/16] Adrian Waller (ENG) [bye]
[7] Joel Makin (WAL) [bye]
[6] Fares Dessouky (EGY) [bye]
Nathan Lake (ENG) v [17/32] Gregory Gaultier (FRA)
[17/32] Declan James (ENG) v Patrick Rooney (ENG)
Ramit Tandon (IND) v [17/32] Borja Golan (ESP)
[9/16] Saurav Ghosal (IND) [bye]
[916] Mostafa Asal [bye]
[9/16] Mohamed Abouelghar (EGY) [bye]
[4] Marwan ElShorbagy (EGY) [bye]
[3] Paul Coll (NZL) [bye]
[WC] Aly Abou Eleinen (EGY) v [17/32] Youssef Soliman (EGY)
[17/32] Alan Clyne (SCO) v Shahjahan Khan (USA)
Ivan Yuen (MAS) v [17/32] Mathieu Castagnet (FRA)
[17/32] Abdulla Mohd Al Tamimi (QAT) v Karim El Hammamy (EGY)
[9/16] Zahed Salem (EGY) [bye]
[17/32] Mohamed ElSherbini (EGY) v Richie Fallows (ENG)
[5] Karim Abdel Gawad (EGY) [bye]
[8] Miguel Rodriguez (COL) [bye]
[9/16] Gregoire Marche (FRA) [bye]
[17/32] Raphael Kandra (GER) v Mahesh Mangaonkar (IND)
Vikram Malhotra (IND) v [17/32] Lucas Serme (FRA)
[9/16] Mazen Hesham [bye]
Victor Crouin (FRA) v [17/32] Nicolas Mueller (SUI)
[17/32] Iker Pajares Bernabeu (ESP) v George Parker (ENG)
[2] Tarek Momen (EGY) [bye]
Women’s Draw
[1] Nour El Sherbini (EGY) [bye]
[WC] Nour Aboulmakarim (EGY) v [17/32] Farida Mohamed (EGY)
[9/16] Yathreb Adel (EGY) [bye]
Hana Ramadan (EGY) v [17/32] Nadine Shahin (EGY)
[17/32] Mariam Metwally (EGY) v Cindy Merlo (SUI)
[9/16] Alison Waters (ENG) [bye]
[17/32] Low Wee Wern (MAS) v Mayar Hany (EGY)
[5] Sarah-Jane Perry (ENG [bye]
[6] Hania El Hammamy (EGY) [bye]
Ineta Mackevica (LAT) v [17/32] Emily Whitlock (WAL)
[17/32] Nada Abbas (EGY) v Alexandra Fuller (RSA)
Menna Hamed (EGY) v [17/32] Melissa Alves (FRA)
[17/32] Hollie Naughton (CAN) v Aifa Azman (MAS)
[9/16] Joshna Chinappa (IND) [bye]
[9/16] Tinne Gilis (BEL) [bye]
[3] Camille Serme (FRA) [bye]
[4] Amanda Sobhy (USA) [bye]
Menna Nasser (EGY) v [17/32] Danielle Letourneau (CAN)
[17/32] Lucy Turmel (ENG) v Emilia Soini (FIN)
[9/16] Olivia Clyne (USA) [bye]
[17/32] Olivia Fiechter (USA) v [WC] Habiba El Defrawy (EGY)
[9/16] Nele Gilis (BEL) [bye]
[17/32] Donna Lobban (AUS) v Haley Mendez (USA)
[8] Salma Hany (EGY) [bye]
[7] Joelle King (NZL) [bye]
Jana Shiha (EGY) v [17/32] Coline Aumard (FRA)
[9/16] Rowan Elaraby (EGY) [bye]
Enora Villard (FRA) v [17/32] Julianne Courtice (ENG)
[9/16] Tesni Evans (WAL) [bye]
Sana Ibrahim (EGY) v [17/32] Sivasangari Subramaniam (MAS)
[17/32] Zeina Mickawy (EGY) v Rachel Arnold (MAS)
[2] Nouran Gohar (EGY) [bye]
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