Farag and King lead 2023 Draws
Farag & King lead VITAGEN Singapore Squash Open 2023 Draws
Defending women’s champion Joelle King and men’s World #1 Ali Farag will be the headline acts at the VITAGEN Singapore Squash Open 2023 PSA Gold-level event in November.
The tournament will take place from 14th to 19th November at the OCBC Arena in Singapore and will see 11 top 10 players across both the men’s and women’s PSA World Rankings take part.
In the men’s draw, all of the world’s top six players will make an appearance, with Farag named the top seed, with Diego Elias, Mohamed ElShorbagy and Mostafa Asal also among the favourites for the title.
Farag, who claimed the opening two Platinum events of the season, is set for a second-round clash against one of Canada’s David Baillargeon or wildcard Marcus Phua. The Egyptian faces a potential quarter-final bout against seventh seed Youssef Soliman if the event were to go to seedings.
Elsewhere in the top half of the draw brothers Mohamed and Marwan ElShorbagy could be set to meet in the quarter-finals if they get through their opening second-round matches.
World #3 Mohamed – the defending men’s champion – could face a repeat of his Qatar Classic quarter-final bout against Youssef Ibrahim in round two. The pair delivered a blockbuster 81-minute encounter in Doha, which Mohamed eventually edged 11-7 in the fifth. Meanwhile, England #2 Marwan is due to play either Henry Leung or France’s Sebastien Bonmalais.
In the bottom half of the draw fourth seed Asal and New Zealand #1 Paul Coll could be set to square off in the quarter-finals. World #5 Coll faces a second-round clash against Lucas Serme or former World #7 Mohamed Abouelghar, while Asal will play either the USA’s Todd Harrity or double Asian Games medalist Saurav Ghosal.
Elias, meanwhile, finds himself in the same quarter of the draw as Egypt’s eighth seed Fares Dessouky.
In the top half of the women’s draw, New Zealand #1 King is set to play either France’s Melissa Alves or Ka Yi Lee in round two before a potential quarter-final clash against sixth seed and South Western Open semi-finalist Salma Hany. Wildcard Au Yeong Wai Yhann also finds herself in this part of the draw, with a first-round clash against 9/16-seeded Rachel Arnold.
Nele Gilis, who reached the last eight of the Qatar Classic, finds herself in the same quarter of the draw as Egyptian seventh seed Rowan Elaraby.
The bottom half of the draw sees England #1 Gina Kennedy, the third seed, play either Georgia Adderley or 9/16 seeded Nadine Shahin in round two, before a potential last-eight clash against the USA’s Sabrina Sobhy.
Elsewhere, South Western Open winner and second seed Nour El Tayeb may face double Asian Games Gold medalist Sivasangari Subramaniam should the Malaysian get past Tong Tsz-Wing in round one, with Belgian Tinne Gilis her most likely opponent in the quarter-finals.
