Farag & King lead VITAGEN Singapore Squash Open 2023 Draws

Defending women’s champion Joelle King and men’s World No.1 Ali Farag will be the headline acts at the VITAGEN Singapore Squash Open 2023 Gold-level event in November.

The tournament, which will take place between November 14-19 at the OCBC Arena in Singapore, will see 11 top 10 players across both the men’s and women’s PSA World Rankings take part.

In the men’s draw, all of the world’s top six players will make an appearance, with Farag named the top seed, while Diego Elias, Mohamed ElShorbagy and Mostafa Asal are also among the favourites for the title.

Farag, who claimed the opening two Platinum events of the season, is set for a second-round clash against one of Canada’s David Baillargeon or wildcard Marcus Phua after being awarded a bye in the first round. The Egyptian faces a potential quarter-final bout against No.7 seed Youssef Soliman if the event were to go to seedings.

Elsewhere in the top half of the draw, brothers Mohamed and Marwan ElShorbagy could be set to meet in the quarter-finals if they get through their respective second-round matches.

World No.3 Mohamed – the defending men’s Singapore Open champion – could face a repeat of his Qatar Classic quarter-final bout against Youssef Ibrahim in round two.

The pair delivered a blockbuster 81-minute encounter in Doha, which Mohamed eventually edged 11-7 in the fifth game. Meanwhile, England No.2 Marwan is due to play either Henry Leung or France’s Sebastien Bonmalais.

In the bottom half of the draw, No.4 seed Asal and New Zealand No.1 Paul Coll could be set to square off in the quarter-finals if they progress through their opening round fixtures. World No.5 Coll faces the prospect of a second-round clash against one of Lucas Serme or former World No.7 Mohamed Abouelghar, while Asal will play either the USA’s Todd Harrity or Saurav Ghosal.

Elias, meanwhile, finds himself in the same quarter of the draw as Egyptian No.8 seed Fares Dessouky.

In the top half of the women’s draw, New Zealand No.1 King is set to play either France’s Melissa Alves or Ka Yi Lee in round two before a potential quarter-final clash against No.6 seed and South Western Open semi-finalist Salma Hany.

Singapore wildcard Au Yeong Wai Yhann also finds herself in this bracket of the draw, with a first-round clash against 9/16-seeded Rachel Arnold awaiting.

Nele Gilis, who reached the last eight of the Qatar Classic Platinum event in September, finds herself in the same quarter of the draw as Egyptian Rowan Elaraby. However, before this potential bout against the No.7 seed, Gilis will have to progress past one of Tomato Ho or Salma Eltayeb in the second round.

The bottom half of the draw sees England No.1 Georgina Kennedy, who is seeded at No.3, play either Georgia Adderley or 9/16 seeded Nadine Shahin in round two, before a potential last-eight clash against the USA’s Sabrina Sobhy.

Elsewhere, South Western Open winner and No.2 seed Nour El Tayeb will square off against one of Sivasangari Subramaniam or Tsz-Wing Tong in round two, with Belgian Tinne Gilis her most likely opponent in the quarter-finals.

Don’t miss a second of the action by tuning in to the VITAGEN Singapore Squash Open 2023 on SQUASHTV. You can also keep up to date with all the action by visiting the PSA World Tour website or following the PSA on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, YouTube and TikTok.

VITAGEN Singapore Squash Open 2023: Men’s Draw

[1] Ali Farag (EGY) [bye]

[WC] Marcus Phua (SGP) v [9/16] David Baillargeon (CAN)

[9/16] Eain Yow Ng (MAS) v Balazs Farkas (HUN)

[7] Youssef Soliman (EGY) [bye]

[6] Marwan ElShorbagy (ENG) [bye]

Henry Leung (HKG) v [9/16] Sebastien Bonmalais (FRA)

[9/16] Youssef Ibrahim (EGY) v Tsz Kwan Lau (HKG)

[3] Mohamed ElShorbagy (ENG) [bye]

[4] Mostafa Asal (EGY) [bye]

Todd Harrity (USA) v [9/16] Saurav Ghosal (IND)

[9/16] Mohamed Abouelghar (EGY) v Lucas Serme (FRA)

[5] Paul Coll (NZL) [bye]

[8] Fares Dessouky (EGY) [bye]

Leandro Romiglio (ARG) v [9/16] Karim El Hammamy (EGY)

[9/16] Ramit Tandon (IND) v Rory Stewart (SCO)

[2] Diego Elias (PER) [bye]

VITAGEN Singapore Squash Open 2023: Women’s Draw

[1] Joelle King (NZL) [bye]

Ka Yi Lee (HKG) v [9/16] Melissa Alves (FRA)

[9/16] Rachel Arnold (MAS) v [WC] Au Yeong Wai Yhann (SGP)

[6] Salma Hany (EGY) [bye]

[7] Rowan Elaraby (EGY) [bye]

Zeina Mickawy (EGY) v [9/16] Hollie Naughton (CAN)

[9/16] Tomato Ho (HKG) v Salma Eltayeb (EGY)

[4] Nele Gilis (BEL) [bye]

[3] Georgina Kennedy (ENG) [bye]

Georgia Adderley (SCO) v [9/16] Nadine Shahin (EGY)

[9/16] Sarah-Jane Perry (ENG) v Nour Aboulmakarim (EGY)

[8] Sabrina Sobhy (USA) [bye]

[5] Tinne Gilis (BEL) [bye]

Marie Stephan (FRA) v [9/16] Aifa Azman (MAS)

[9/16] Sivasangari Subramaniam (MAS) v Tsz-Wing Tong (HKG)

[2] Nour El Tayeb (EGY) [bye]