World No.1s Farag and El Welily to Feature at China Open

September’s J.P. Morgan China Squash Open will welcome both the reigning male and female World No.1s to The Peninsula Shanghai for the first time since 2015 in September, with Egyptian duo Ali Farag and Raneem El Welily set to feature at the PSA World Tour Gold tournament.

Taking place between September 4-8, the China Open will be the first PSA World Tour event of the 2019/20 season, and the world’s best players will do battle on the rooftop of The Peninsula Shanghai, overlooking the spectacular Bund, for the biggest share of the total $224,000 prize fund.

Farag dominated the men’s tour throughout the 2018/19 campaign, winning six PSA titles and overtaking fellow Egyptian Mohamed ElShorbagy at the top of the PSA World Rankings. The 27-year-old Harvard-graduate will make his first appearance in China since finishing as runner-up two years ago to the legendary Ramy Ashour.

He is seeded to play 2016 winner ElShorbagy in the final of the men’s event, and they are joined by two other top 10 players in defending champion Mohamed Abouelghar and India’s Saurav Ghosal.

ElShorbagy’s younger brother, 2015 runner-up Marwan, will also compete in China alongside the likes of former World No.3 Omar Mosaad, Mexico’s Cesar Salazar and Adrian Waller.

Two-time champion Raneem El Welily returns 12 months after defeating France’s Camille Serme in the title decider, while three-time runner-up Nouran Gohar – who lost to El Welily in the 2015 final – also lines up in Shanghai.

World Championship runner-up Nour El Tayeb, New Zealand’s Joelle King and Hong Kong’s Annie Au are the other top 10 players in the women’s draws. World No.11 Alison Waters, World No.12 Victoria Lust and World No.14 Salma Hany take the rest of the top eight seeded positions.

2019 J.P. Morgan China Squash Open – Men’s Entry List
1) Ali Farag (EGY)
2) Mohamed ElShorbagy (EGY)
3) Mohamed Abouelghar (EGY)
4) Saurav Ghosal (IND)
5) Marwan ElShorbagy (EGY)
6) Omar Mosaad (EGY)
7) Cesar Salazar (MEX)
8) Adrian Waller (ENG)
9) Tom Richards (ENG)
10) Mazen Hesham (EGY)
11) Leo Au (HKG)
12) Mostafa Asal (EGY)
13) Greg Lobban (SCO)
14) Tsz Fung Yip (HKG)
15) Youssef Soliman (EGY)
16) Lucas Serme (FRA)
17) Abdulla Mohd Al Tamimi (QAT)
18) Eain Yow Ng (MAS)
19) Iker Pajares Bernabeu (ESP)
20) Karim Ali Fathi (EGY)
21) Todd Harrity (USA)
22) Ivan Yuen (MAS)
23) Alan Clyne (SCO)
Wildcard) Zhitao Zhou (CHN)

2019 J.P. Morgan China Squash Open – Women’s Entry List
1) Raneem El Welily (EGY)
2) Nouran Gohar (EGY)
3) Nour El Tayeb (EGY)
4) Joelle King (NZL)
5) Annie Au (HKG)
6) Alison Waters (ENG)
7) Victoria Lust (ENG)
8) Salma Hany (EGY)
9) Hania El Hammamy (EGY)
10) Yathreb Adel (EGY)
11) Joey Chan (HKG)
12) Zeina Mickawy (EGY)
13) Low Wee Wern (MAS)
14) Nadine Shahin (EGY)
15) Rachael Grinham (AUS)
16) Donna Lobban (AUS)
17) Hollie Naughton (CAN)
18) Milou van der Heijden (NED)
19) Julianne Courtice (ENG)
20) Nada Abbas (EGY)
21) Danielle Letourneau (CAN)
22) Liu Tsz-Ling (HKG)
23) Haley Mendez (USA)
Wildcard) Li Dongjin (CHN)