Panel Predictions: Qatar Classic 2023

8 September 2023

The second Platinum event of the new season kicks off tomorrow as a women’s event returns to Doha, Qatar for the first time since 2015 to join the long standing men’s event.

The quality of the squash at the tournaments is so strong with multiple players able to capture the titles in both the men’s and women’s draws. For this season, we’ve decided to enlist the help of a few recognisable names from squash to predict who they think will triumph and who they will be keeping their eyes on to do better than their seeding.

Here is what our panel think about the Qatar Classic 2023:

Daryl Selby

Men’s Winner: Diego Elias
Women’s Winner: Nour El Sherbini

Men’s One to Watch: Karim Abdel Gawad
Women’s One to Watch: Tinne Gilis

“I’ve gone for Diego Elias to win. Without looking at the draw I would have picked Ali [Farag] after the way he played in Paris last week but I feel you couldn’t handpick too much more of a difficult draw for him in Doha, which could well take its toll on him physically later on in the tournament.”

“We all know the quality that Gawad possesses and although he lost out to Coll in Paris, he looked in good form. Gawad won in Doha in 2016 and I feel he can play really well on the glass court there. Huge first match v Marwan ElShorbagy on the back courts though which isn’t an ideal draw for either of them, but if he can get through that and onto the glass then he’ll be difficult to beat for anyone he faces.”

“It’s a difficult choice for the women’s winner but Nour El Sherbini was imperious in the final in Paris and looked to have Gohar under control for most of the match. Gohar will be very keen to turn the tables this week in Doha, but I still feel El Sherbini will carry confidence through and come out on top. I’ll be interesting to see if any of the other top players can really mount a strong challenge to the top two this season. El Hammamy’s form seems to have dipped a little but I’m sure she will be back firing soon. Nour El Tayeb and Amanda Sobhy both have the skill and firepower to challenge at any given moment.”

“For the women’s one to watch I’m going to say Tinne Gilis. Really impressed with her squash last season and making huge improvements in her game. Played well last week in Paris narrowly losing to El Hammamy and feel like she will cause some big upsets this coming season. Definitely going to be one to watch..”

Vanessa Atkinson

Men’s Winner: Paul Coll
Women’s Winner: Nour El Sherbini

Men’s One to Watch: Abdulla Al Tamimi
Women’s One to Watch: Amina Orfi

“For the men’s winner I’m going with Paul Coll after his form in Paris. He has a tough first match against Makin but he looks ready for a big result. For the surprise player, I’ll say Abdulla Al Tamimi. He always plays well on home soil and it’s a great court for his game.

“For the women’s winner I can’t see anyone beating El Sherbini at the moment if her form continues and the surprise player can be Amina Orfi as I expect her to make last 16.”

Cameron Pilley

Men’s Winner: Diego Elias
Women’s Winner: Nour El Sherbini

Men’s One to Watch: Karim Abdel Gawad
Women’s One to Watch: Amina Orfi

“Diego was close last week and I feel it was good for him to get some matches under his belt and get his body into tournament mode again. The only question mark over Diego is whether his body has recovered since Paris. The only reason I’m opting against picking Farag again in this event is because of how his draw looks. A couple of potential banana skins in there. I believe Gawad will only get better and better over the next few months and this could be the event which kick starts a run of form. One of my favorite players to watch.”

“I just can’t back against El Sherbini. She looks in great form and finished Paris looking stronger than ever. She’s just so dominant and I think she’ll go back to back here to kick off the season. It’s a really tough one to pick for the One to Watch. A lot of close match ups throughout the women’s draw and I think we may see quite a few upsets early in the event. I’ve gone with Amina Orfi after she showed decent form in Paris and will have gained more confidence and self assurance after playing well last week.”

Aisling Blake

Men’s Winner: Ali Farag
Women’s Winner: Nour El Sherbini

Men’s One to Watch: Karim Abdel Gawad
Women’s One to Watch: Amina Orfi

“For the men’s event I’ll say Ali Farag. I just can’t see him slipping up on his route through to the finals and I think with the roll that he’s on, he can do it again. Again, I’ll go for Karim Abdel Gawad for the One to Watch as I think the court can suit him.

“I’m going to go for El Sherbini to win the women’s event. She was immense in Paris and i think she has a smoother ride to the finals than some others. Amina Orfi looked sharp in Paris and I’ll back her to reach round three and she’s due to play Amanda Sobhy there and attack that with no fear.”

Borja Golan

Men’s winner: Paul Coll

Women’s winner: Nouran Gohar

Men’s One to Watch: Abdulla Al Tamimi

Women’s One to Watch: Tinne Gilis

“A clever move would be to change my last prediction and put last weeks winner Nour El Sherbini as first choice but I think Nouran Gohar will be even hungrier for that one after losing in Paris. Also in Paris she didn’t drop a game until the final and for me is still one of my favourites. I said Nouran but Hania also can beat everyone. Next time, maybe I’ll choose a different player but this time my choice is Gohar.

“The player to watch for me will be Tinne Gillis. She is playing great squash and in the last event she went down in 5 with one of the best, Hania El Hammamy. She is young and I’m sure she will make a break-through in one of this events, hopefully this one.

“Like I said in Paris I had three or four candidates and one of them is Paul Coll. He has a tough first round with Joel but if he wins I think he can do well. He had a brutal match with Ali [Farag] in the last event so he is able to beat anyone, no doubt!

“The player to watch for me is Abdulla Al Tamimi. He didn’t have a very good run in the last event but is always a dangerous player specially in Qatar. If he is motivated and hungry he can do very well and he hasn’t got a bad draw.”

Jenny Duncalf

Mens winner: Paul Coll
Women’s winner: Nour El Sherbini

Men’s One to Watch: Karim Abdel Gawad
Women’s One to Watch: Amina Orfi

“In the Women’s, I’m going for Nour El Sherbini as champion. Obviously she’s started the season well winning in Paris but also faces Hania [El Hammamy] potentially in the semi-finals in the top half and they tend to have pretty emotional matches, so if she can get past the tricky match-up with Sabrina Sobhy then I’m going to go with Nour as the women’s winner.

“For my women’s One to Watch, I’m gonna go with the youngster and World Junior Champion Amina Orfi. I saw her live recently at the World Juniors in Melbourne and she’s definitely a force to be reckoned with. So I fancy her to potentially take out two of her compatriots in the early rounds.”

“In the men’s draw, I’m going pretty risky here with a Paul Coll win, which is extremely risky because he’s got a massive first match against Joel Makin. So I’m gonna go with Paul to get through Joel and then he has got a day off in the next couple of rounds to hopefully refresh if he can get past Joel. Then for the One to Watch in the men’s draw I’ll probably say the same as everyone else and go for [Karim Abdel] Gawad again. Tough match against Marwan [ElShorbagy] first up, but if he wins that I think he gets through more big matches and can make a good run on that court.”

Paul Johnson

Mens winner: Ali Farag
Women’s winner: Nour El Sherbini

Men’s One to Watch: Karim Abdel Gawad
Women’s One to Watch: Sivasangari Subramaniam

“Looks like another cracking Qatar classic we have in store. Some enticing second round matches to look forward to in both men’s and women’s draws.

“Two belters in the men’s. Marwan ElShorbagy taking on Karim Abdel Gawad will be one to keep an eye on. Gawad is always a danger man for any of the top five as he continues his return after a long period out of the game. Coll vs Makin. These two set the bar when it comes to the physicality in our sport. Both players also have worked hard on their short games so I think it will be long with a bit more activity into the front of the court.

“Sabrina Sobhy taking on Rowan Elaraby in the women’s is also an exciting prospect. If the TOC earlier this year is anything to go by then it should be a terrific game to watch.”

Laura Massaro