ElShorbagy & Mohamed Top Draws For Open Squash Classic 2024

World No.10 Marwan ElShorbagy and World No.15 Farida Mohamed have been named as the top seeds for the Open Squash Classic 2024, which will take place between 6-10 October in New York.

The Bronze-level event will be held at Open Squash FiDi and be available to watch live on SQUASHTV.

ElShorbagy, 31, enjoyed a strong start to the campaign at the season-opening Egyptian Open, where he reached the semi-finals and defeated the likes of World No.6 Karim Abdel Gawad and World No.2 Paul Coll. After a first-round bye, the Englishman will face one of Aly Hussein or Yahya Elnawasany, while also sitting in the same half of the draw as No.4 seed Greg Lobban, No.5 seed Adrian Waller, and No.6 seed Gregoire Marche.

Elsewhere in the men’s draw, French No.1 Victor Crouin will be vying for his first PSA Tour success since February 2023 and will arrive in New York as the No.2 seed. The World No.11 will begin his tournament against Henry Leung or Abhay Singh. Further back in the seedings, there are a number of players who will be hopeful of runs into the latter stages of the tournament, including former British Open champion Miguel Rodriguez, who is the No.3 seed, No.7 seed Nathan Lake, and No.8 seed Omar Mosaad. Rising stars Mohamad Zakaria and Jonah Bryant will also be two names to keep an eye on after bursting onto the scene over the course of the 2023/24 season and scoring a number of impressive upset victories along the way.

In the women’s draw, Egypt Mohamed will be attempting to pick up her fourth title of the 2024 calendar year, with her previous three having all come on American soil. The 22-year-old, who resides in New York, will have to come through a string of tough opponents if she is to pick up the title, with compatriot and No.7 seed Hana Moataz in the same quarter of the draw, and No.3 seed Hollie Naughton a potential semi-final opponent, if the event were to go to seeding.

A number of dangerous players lie in the bottom half of the draw, most notably No.2 seed Nada Abbas, who produced some of the squash of her life to reach the semi-finals of the Diamond-level Egyptian Open. The 24-year-old will face Tsz-Wing Tong or Cindy Merlo in her opening match of the event, before a potential quarter-final bout with French No.1 Melissa Alves, who has been named as the No.6 seed. World No.20 Lucy Beecroft and World No.24 Rachel Arnold will also be hoping for strong runs, having been named as the No.4 and No.5 seeds, respectively.

There will be four American players looking to put on a show for the home crowds in New York, with Shahjahan Khan, Hollis Robertson, and Andrew Douglas named in the men’s draw – the latter two of whom will face each other in Round 1 – and Audrey Berling competing in the women’s event.

Tickets for the event can be found by clicking here.

Meanwhile, you can keep up to date on all the action from the PSA Squash Tour, by following the PSA on X, Facebook, Threads, Instagram, WhatsApp, YouTube, and TikTok. 

Men’s Draw

[1] Marwan ElShorbagy (ENG) [bye]

Aly Hussein (EGY) v Yahya Elnawasany (EGY)

Shahjahan Khan (USA) v Ibrahim Elkabbani (EGY)

[6] Gregoire Marche (FRA) [bye]

[5] Adrian Waller (ENG) [bye]

Peter Creed (WAL) v Velavan Senthilkumar (IND)

Tsz Kwan Lau (HKG) v Mohamad Zakaria (EGY)

[4] Greg Lobban (SCO) [bye]

[3] Miguel Rodriguez (COL) [bye]

Hollis Robertson (USA) v Andrew Douglas (USA)

Juan Camilo Vargas (COL) v Yannick Wilhelmi (SUI)

[8] Omar Mosaad (EGY) [bye]

[7] Nathan Lake (ENG) [bye]

Jonah Bryant (ENG) v Mohamed Abouelghar (EGY)

Henry Leung (HKG) v Abhay Singh (IND)

[2] Victor Crouin (FRA) [bye]

Women’s Draw

[1] Farida Mohamed (EGY) [bye]

Sin Yuk Chan (HKG) v Katie Malliff (ENG)

Nicole Bunyan (CAN) v Ineta Hopton (LAT)

[7] Hana Moataz (EGY) [bye]

[8] Mariam Metwally (EGY) [bye]

Hannah Craig (IRE) v Marie Stephan (FRA)

Nadine Shahin (EGY) v Audrey Berling (USA)

[3] Hollie Naughton (CAN) [bye]

[4] Lucy Beecroft (ENG) [bye]

Haya Ali (EGY) v Alicia Mead (ENG)

Kenzy Ayman (EGY) v Emilia Soini (FIN)

[5] Rachel Arnold (MAS) [bye]

[6] Melissa Alves (FRA) [bye]

Ainaa Amani (MAS) v Ka Yi Lee (HKG)

Tsz-Wing Tong (HKG) v Cindy Merlo (SUI)

[2] Nada Abbas (EGY) [bye]