World No.1 Gaultier to Top 2018 Swedish Open Draw in
February
World
No.1 Gregory Gaultier will return to defend his UCS Swedish Open title
between February 8-11, 2018 as he headlines a top-class draw that will
battle it out for the PSA M70 title inside Linköping Sporthall.
Gaultier, who turned 35 last month, is a three-time winner of the
Swedish Open and last year beat 2016 World Champion Karim Abdel Gawad in
the final.
This time around the charismatic Frenchman is seeded to meet World No.3
Ali Farag in the title decider, with Farag making his Swedish Open debut
at the 2018 edition of the tournament.
Gaultier begins his tournament against compatriot Mathieu Castagnet in
round one, with further matches against the likes of German No.1 Simon
Rösner and World No.7 Tarek Momen in store for the sport’s oldest ever
World No.1.
Farag, meanwhile, kicks off his tournament against a qualifier in round
one, with 2008 winner James Willstrop seeded to be his quarter-final
opponent before a predicted semi-final matchup with World No.11 Paul
Coll.
Stockholm-based Rasmus Hult takes the tournament wildcard spot for the
eighth successive year and he will look to make it past the opening
round for the first time when he takes on former World No.3 Omar Mosaad.
"We are looking forward to hosting another week of world-class squash
for the 2018 edition of the Swedish Open, which looks set to be the most
exciting instalment yet," said Tournament Promoter and ActiPro Event
Chief Executive, Fredrik Johnson.
"Not only do we have the support of the current World No.1, Gregory
Gaultier, we will also have four of the world’s top 10 players - and
nine of the top 20 - competing on the glass court here in Linköping,
which is further evidence of the Swedish Open’s status as one of the
biggest and most highly-regarded European tournaments on the PSA World
Tour."
The Swedish Open first began in the 1970s and the 2018 edition will see
ActiPro Event celebrate their 15th year running the tournament.
Qualification for the tournament takes place between February 6-7 at
Linköping Squash Center and Norrköping Squash Center, with main draw
matches taking place on the glass court at Linköping Sporthall between
February 8-11.
All main draw matches will be shown live on SQUASHTV (Rest of World) and
Eurosport Player (Europe only), while tickets start from 100 SEK and can
be purchased on the tournament website: www.swedishopensquash.se/tickets
Main Draw - 2018 UCS Swedish Open [1] Gregory Gaultier (FRA) v Mathieu Castagnet (FRA)
[Qualifier] v [5] Simon Rösner (GER)
[7] Daryl Selby (ENG) v Cameron Pilley (AUS)
Zahed Mohamed (EGY) v [3] Tarek Momen (EGY)
[4] Paul Coll (NZL) v [Qualifier]
[WC] Rasmus Hult (SWE) v [8] Omar Mosaad (EGY)
[6] James Willstrop (ENG) v [Qualifier]
[Qualifier] v [2] Ali Farag (EGY)
