World No.1s Ali Farag and Nouran Gohar lead the way as the draws for the Everbright Securities International Hong Kong Squash Open 2022 are released.
It’s the first time the PSA World Tour Platinum event has been held since 2018 – with Mohamed ElShorbagy and Joelle King picking up the titles on that occasion. The event will take place from November 28 – December 4, with play beginning at the Hong Kong Squash Centre, before moving to the Hong Kong Park Sports Centre from the quarter-finals onwards.
Men’s top seed Farag was the runner-up the last two times the event was held, losing out to ElShorbagy on both occasions. Farag captured the second men’s Platinum title of the 2022-23 season at the CIB Egyptian Open but suffered a knee injury ahead of the U.S. Open final. He’ll be looking to bounce back and recover to capture the Hong Kong Open title for the first time.
New Zealand’s Paul Coll is the No.2 seed for the event and only features in the draw for the second time in his career, his best finish coming in 2018 where he reached the quarter-final stage as the No.6 seed, losing out to ElShorbagy. Coll recieves a bye in round one but will then face tough opposition in the following round as he faces Colombian Miguel Rodriguez, who also receives a round one bye.
Recent U.S. Open Champion Diego Elias will be the No.3 seed for the event and faces either England’s Curtis Malik or Mexico’s Leonel Cardenas in round two. The Peruvian has converted three times out of five finals in 2022 and will be looking to add another title to his name as he enters the Hong Kong Open main draw for only the second time.
Egypt’s Grasshopper Cup champion Mostafa Asal finds himself seeded outside the top four for the first time since November 2021 as he plays in Hong Kong for the second time. Asal will face the winner of Abdulla Mohd Al Tamimi or Henry Leung in round two after his first-round bye. A mouth-watering quarter final match-up could happen if the seedings go to plan as Asal is in the same quarter as World Champion Farag.
In the women’s draw, Gohar will look to capture a second Hong Kong Open title after winning in 2016. The U.S. Open champion has captured two titles and reached three finals so far this season and will look to continue her strong momentum into the third women’s Platinum event. Gohar will start her campaign in round two against the winner of the all-Hong Kong battle between wildcard Ching Hei Fung and Tomato Ho.
World Champion Nour El Sherbini is the No.2 seed and comes into the tournament in good form after picking up the Grasshopper Cup title. El Sherbini will be looking to avenge her loss to Gohar in the U.S. Open if the pair meet in the final. El Sherbini will aim to capture this title for the first time in her career after her 2017 triumph. She will face compatriot Nadine Shahin in round two after the pair both receive byes in round one.
Defending champion King – who beat Raneem El Welily in the final to capture the only Platinum event win of her career – is seeded at No.4 for this year’s event and faces either England’s Lucy Beecroft or Egypt’s Nardine Garas in round two. King is seeded to set up a rematch of the Manchester Open final against Sarah-Jane Perry in the quarter-finals, if all seedings go to plan.
CIB Egyptian Open champion Hania El Hammamy is the No.3 seed and will be looking to secure a second Platinum title of the season after her victory in Cairo earlier in the season. El Hammamy is seeded to play dangerous compatriot and No.5 seed Nour El Tayeb in the quarter-finals if both players progress. The World No.3 will be up against either Ka Yi Lee or Zeina Zein in her opening match in round two after receiving a bye.
Action from the Hong Kong will be streamed live on SQUASHTV, while the semi-finals and finals will also be shown on the channels of PSA’s broadcast partners.
