Pittsburgh Open: Tournament Preview

7 February 2023

The Pittsburgh Open returns to the PSA Calendar this week for the first time since 2020 as 24 players head to the state of Pennsylvania looking to capture the Gold event title.

World Champion Ali Farag has been out of action with a knee injury and during that time has lost his World No.1 ranking to Mostafa Asal. Farag is back in action this week however as he looks to make an emphatic return and close the gap between himself and Asal with a win.

Probably the most in-form player in the game at the moment, Diego Elias, is the No.2 seed for the event and has enjoyed the perfect start to 2023, picking up both titles from the two tournaments he’s played this year, winning the J.P. Morgan Tournament of Champions for the first time and successfully retaining his Motor City Open title just last week. If Elias captures the title this week and Farag does not make the final, the Peruvian will overtake Farag and move to World No.2 in the next rankings.

Egyptian duo Marwan ElShorbagy and Tarek Momen are the No.3 and 4 seeds for the event and will both be looking to cause upsets to the top two seeds and pick up the title. ElShorbagy us set to face Farag in the semi-finals and is one of the few players who has managed to secure multiple wins against the World Champion. Whereas, Momen is due to play Elias in the final four in what would be their third meeting in a row, with Elias winning the previous two 3-0.

World No.37 Todd Harrity is the only home player in the draw and will be hoping for all the support he can get from the Pittsburgh crowd as he takes on France’s Gregoire Marche in round one for a spot in the last 16.

Coverage of this year’s Pittsburgh Open will be bigger and better than ever, with the SQUASHTV Lite cameras being present for the first time to capture the action. Play from the early rounds of the tournament will be shown live on the PSA World Tour website for free, with the semi-finals and finals being streamed live on SQUASHTV.

You will also be able to follow live scores from Pittsburgh here. For more on the Pittsburgh Open, you can visit the PSA website or follow the PSA on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, TikTok and YouTube.

2023 Pittsburgh Open: Draw

[1] Ali Farag (EGY) [bye]

Nathan Lake (ENG) v [9/16] Omar Mosaad (EGY)

[9/16] Gregoire Marche (FRA) v Todd Harrity (USA)

[7] Youssef Soliman (EGY) [bye]

[5] Mazen Hesham (EGY) [bye]

Karim El Hammamy (EGY) v [9/16] Saurav Ghosal (IND)

[9/16] Dimitri Steinmann (SUI) v Ramit Tandon (IND)

[3] Marwan ElShorbagy (EGY) [bye]

[4] Tarek Momen (EGY) [bye]

Sebastien Bonmalais (FRA) v [9/16] Mohamed Abouelghar (EGY)

[9/16] Eain Yow Ng (MAS) v Cesar Salazar (MEX)