QFS 3 Preview: James Returns, Al Tamimi Defends Title

Home favourite Abdulla Mohd Al Tamimi returns to defend his title at the QSF 3, which also sees England’s Declan James return to action for the first time in almost a year. 

The former World No.15 has not played competitively on tour since last November, with a ruptured achilles tendon ending his 2022/23 season early. 

He is set to make his return as the No.5 seed in Qatar, though, using a pegged ranking to join the likes of Eain Yow Ng and compatriot Simon Herbert among the seeds. 

Eain Yow comes in as the No.1 seed having won his last Challenger Tour event, the Cannon Kirk GillenMarkets Irish Squash Open back in April, and more recently claimed individual gold at the Asian Games. 

He will face either Yannik Omlor or Yassin Elshafei in the second round and could play James in the last four, should both players progress that far. 

For that to happen, James would need to get through his second-round match and then potentially beat No.4 seed Rui Soares, who is in the same half of the draw. 

The bottom half is headlined by Qatar’s Al Tamimi. 

The No.2 seed is the highest-ranked Qatari player in the world and will carry the hopes of home success on his shoulders once again, having lifted this trophy as the No.3 seed 12 months ago. 

He comes into this event in relatively good form too, having reached the last 16 of the recent QTerminal Qatar Classic at this same venue, beating former World No.3 Omar Mosaad along the way. 

Al Tamimi will play either Muhammad Asim Khan of Pakistan or Czechia’s Daniel Mekbib in round two, with Sebastien Bonmalais, Herbert and 2021 runner-up Mazen Gamal the other seeds in his half. 

Among the first-round matches to look out for will be Toufik Mekhalfi against India’s Abhay Singh, who will be playing his first match since the Asian Games. 

Like Eain Yow, Singh left Hangzhou with a gold medal around his neck. He played an integral part in helping India beat Pakistan to win men’s team gold, saving two championship points in the decider before claiming a dramatic victory, sparking jubilant scenes in the process.

Draw: Round One

Abdullah Almezayen (KUW) v [9/16] Yassin Elshafei (EGY)
[9/16] Martin Svec (CZE) v Perry Malik (ENG)
Khaled Labib (EGY) v [9/16] Aly Hussein (EGY)
[9/16] Velavan Senthilkumar (IND) v [WC] Ahmad Mohammad Altamimi (QAT)
[WC] Salem Al Malki (QAT) v [9/16] Yannick Wilhelmi (SUI)
[9/16] Zahed Salem (EGY) v Wong Chi Him (HKG)
Toufik Mekhalfi (FRA) v [9/16] Yannik Omlor (GER)
[9/16] Muhammad Asim Khan (PAK) v Daniel Mekbib (CZE)