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13/03/2022
Optasia Championship 2022
Optasia Championship 2022
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Optasia Championship 2022
Men's Draw
06 - 11 Mar
London, England, $110k |
ROUND TWO
06 -08
Mar |
QUARTERS
09
Mar |
SEMIS
10
Mar |
FINAL
11 Mar |
[1] Ali Farag (EGY)
11-7, 11-6, 11-7 (32m)
[9/16] Mohamed Elsherbini (EGY) |
Ali Farag
11-9, 11-7, 11-3 (43m)
Joel Makin |
Ali Farag
17-15, 11-5, 11-4 (41m)
Nicolas Müller |
Ali Farag
4-11, 11-8, 11-8,
13-11 (53m)
Diego Elias |
[5] Joel Makin (WAL)
11-7, 8-11, 11-7, 11-3 (60m)
[9/16] Eain Yow Ng (MAS) |
[7] Grégoire Marche (FRA)
2-11, 11-9, 11-9, 11-4 (53m)
Nicolas Müller (SUI) |
Nicolas Müller
8-11, 11-9, 11-5, 11-6 (44m)
Marwan Elshorbagy |
[4] Marwan Elshorbagy (EGY)
w/o
James Willstrop (ENG) |
[3] Diego Elias (PER)
11-9, 11-8, 11-4 (38m)
[WC] Joe Lee (ENG) |
Diego Elias
9-11, 11-7, 11-6, 4-11, 12-10 (63m)
Mazen Hesham |
Diego Elias
15-13, 11-1, 11-7 (45m)
Mohamed Elshorbagy |
[6] Mazen Hesham (EGY)
w/o
[9/16] Saurav Ghosal (IND) |
[8] Karim Abdel Gawad (EGY)
11-6, 7-11, 11-8, 11-9 (70m)
[9/16] Youssef Soliman (EGY) |
Karim Abdel Gawad
11-6, 11-4, 11-4 (29m)
Mohamed Elshorbagy |
George Parker (ENG)
11-9, 11-6, 11-7 (29m)
[2] Mohamed Elshorbagy (EGY) |
[1] Ali Farag (EGY) bye
[9/16] Mohamed Elsherbini (EGY) bt Shahjahan Khan (USA) 11-9, 9-11,
11-5, 11-4 (55m)
[9/16] Eain Yow Ng (MAS) bt Adrian Waller (ENG) 7-11, 13-11, 11-6, 11-8
(58m)
[5] Joel Makin (WAL) bye
[7] Grégoire Marche (FRA) bye
Nicolas Müller (SUI) bt [9/16] Iker Pajares Bernabeu (ESP) 11-8, 11-5,
8-11, 11-2 (52m)
James Willstrop (ENG) bt [9/16] Raphael Kandra (GER) 11-9, 11-3, 11-6
(35m)
[4] Marwan Elshorbagy (EGY) bye
[3] Diego Elias (PER) bye
[WC] Joe Lee (ENG) bt [9/16] Cesar Salazar (MEX) 11-7, 11-1 ret. (24m)
[9/16] Saurav Ghosal (IND) bt Patrick Rooney (ENG) 11-4, 11-6, 11-8
(41m)
[6] Mazen Hesham (EGY) bye
[8] Karim Abdel Gawad (EGY) bye
[9/16] Youssef Soliman (EGY) bt Lucas Serme (FRA) 11-8, 11-6, 11-2 (39m)
George Parker (ENG) bt [9/16] Karim El Hammamy (EGY) 8-11, 11-6, 11-7,
11-9 (51m)
[2] Mohamed Elshorbagy (EGY) bye |
Farag Defeats Elias to Win Optasia Championships Title
Egypt’s World No.2 Ali Farag defeated Peru’s World No.6 Diego Elias to
win the Optasia Championships title after he triumphed 4-11, 11-8, 11-8,
13-11 at the Wimbledon Club in London.
The two were facing each other for the first time in a PSA final and it
was Farag who held an impressive advantage in the head-to-head with 13
wins to Elias’ two. However, there was drama before the match had even
been able to start as Farag required physio treatment after getting
injured in the warm-up.
Once the match was able to get started following a delay, it was clear
that Farag was struggling with his usual elegant movement as Elias was
comfortably able to test his physicality, dragging him around the court
to comfortably take the first game.
Former World No.1 Farag somehow found a way to dig deep in the second as
he put his injury woes to one side to find his rhythm and get back on
level terms at the PSA World Tour Gold event, formerly known as the
Channel VAS Championships.
The Egyptian continued to have physio treatment in between games, which
seemed to affect the concentration of Elias as he let himself get
distracted in the third which saw Farag use the opportunity to sneak a
2-1 lead.
It was a tight finish to the match with both players not giving each
other an inch. Elias saved match ball before holding a game ball
opportunity of his own to take it to a fifth, but Farag was able to
execute his shots to perfection to save it and then close out at the
second time of asking to win his first major title on UK soil and 25th
overall PSA title.
“First and foremost sorry for delaying the final,” said Farag during the
trophy presentation. “It was an unfortunate incident at the very last
minute before I got on court, in the last lunges I felt a spasm in my
back.
“I really didn’t want it to happen, but I can’t thank Gerry, the PSA
physio enough, they’ve worked magic and as long as they told me it
couldn’t get any worse, I just kept pushing and adapting my game plan
accordingly and I’m very happy with the way I got through it.
“My wife is playing a tournament at Black Ball in Egypt, so I have to be
doing the parenting duties next week, while she focuses on her
tournament and then I’ll be back training for the British Open at the
end of the month.
“Finally, I get a hand on a trophy on British soil. I’ve reached six
finals here, two of which were the Optasia and couldn’t convert any. I’m
extremely happy to win finally here.”
The next tournament is the CIB Black Ball Open in Cairo, Egypt for the
women which takes place March 12-17. While for the men, they will be in
action at the GillenMarkets Canary Wharf Squash Classic in London
between March. 13-18. Both tournaments will be shown live on
SQUASHTV.
For more information on the event, visit the
tournament website or follow the PSA
World Tour on
Twitter or Facebook,
Instagram, YouTube and TikTok.
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Peru’s Elias and Egypt’s Farag Set Up Optasia
Championships Final
Peru’s World No.6 Diego Elias and Egypt’s World No.2 Ali Farag will
contest the Optasia Championships final at the Wimbledon Club in London
after respective wins over Egypt’s Mohamed ElShorbagy and Switzerland’s
Nicolas Mueller.
 E
lias and Farag will go head-to-head in a PSA final for the first time in
their careers as they both look to win the tournament for a maiden time,
which was formerly known as the Channel VAS Championships.
Elias produced a stunning performance to build on an impressive
nail-biting five-game win over Mazen Hesham last night, as he put former
World No.1 ElShorbagy to the sword in straight-games.
The 2021 Qatar Classic champion was full of confidence as he saw out a
tight first game, before comfortably dominating ElShorbagy in the second
to take a 2-0 lead.
The Egyptian tried to fight back in the third, but continual errors
affected his game and Elias was able to keep his focus to claim his
second successive win over ElShorbagy and reach the final for the first
time at the event.
“I'm very happy with my performance today,” said Elias. ”Yesterday
helped me a lot for today. I was a bit nervous, I was coming from a bad
loss for me two weeks ago, I was just trying to get back to my game and
I'm very happy with this and I'm ready for tomorrow.
“We always have tough matches, even when I started we played maybe five
3-2s, I always expect a tough match, I’m just happy he's coming back
stronger, he was struggling for a bit and now he's on his way back and
it’s just great having him around.
“We've [Elias and Farag] played so many times, I don't have the best
record against him, but I'm starting to play better and better and we
haven't played in a while, so I'm ready for it.”
Meanwhile, top seed Farag was forced to do things the hard way in the
first game, saving four game balls, as Mueller came out of the blocks
firing, much to the delight of the packed-out crowd at the PSA World
Tour Gold event.
The Swiss player has enjoyed one of the best weeks of his career,
reaching a Gold semi-final for the first time. A tough first game that
went all the way to 17-15 looked to have taken a lot out of the World
No.26 though and broke his resolve as Farag was comfortably able close
out the next two games in stylish fashion as he continues his aim to win
a first major title on English soil.
“He threw more than just the kitchen sink at me, he was throwing
everything at me,” said Farag in his post-match interview. “You can
never match Nicci at such open squash, I tried to contain him in the
first, I wasn't aggressive enough in the back corners and he was finding
his targets pretty well and was playing better than me.
“I thought I needed to put some work into his legs even if you lose this
one it’s an investment, and it would pay off in the second and third
games and winning it as well made the physical difference and also the
mental difference because I was 1-0 up and I capitalised on it.”
The Optasia Championships final will take place tomorrow (March 11) at
19:00 (GMT) and will be shown live on
SQUASHTV.
For more information on the event, visit the
tournament website
or follow the PSA World Tour on
Twitter or Facebook,
Instagram, YouTube and TikTok.
|
Switzerland’s Mueller Gatecrashes Optasia Championships
Semi-Finals
Switzerland’s World No.26 Nicolas Mueller has reached his first PSA
World Tour Gold semi-final after he claimed a huge upset over World No.7
Marwan ElShorbagy at the Optasia Championships held in Wimbledon,
London.
Unseeded Mueller already had two upsets under his belt after claiming
wins over higher ranked Iker Pajares and Gregoire Marche in previous
days and added the Egyptian to the list with a mighty performance to
overturn a one game deficit to win 8-11, 11-9, 11-5, 11-6.
It was evenly contested opening two games before 32-year-old Mueller
fully hit his stride, executing his shots to perfection to claim his
first win over ElShorbagy since the 2013 PSA World Championships.
“I’ve got goosebumps here. The crowd here was amazing,” said Mueller in
his post-match interview. “That win was one of my better wins in my
career, considering it was the first quarter final of such a big
tournament. Obviously, it’s Wimbledon, and the Swiss do like to play
well here so I’ve heard over the years, I am just super pumped to be in
the tournament and to keep going.
“The conditions here suit my game style. The court is dead and it
doesn’t bounce much. I am a seasoned campaigner and I have finally
managed to be in a good position in my head, my body feels fine, and
when I am confident, I am a dangerous player.”
He will face top seed Ali Farag for a place in the final after the
Egyptian got the better of British No.1 Joel Makin in straight-games in
front of a packed out crowd at the Wimbledon Club.
Makin had beaten Farag 3-0 the last time the two players met at the 2021
U.S. Open with a formidable performance. However, the tables were turned
this time around as Farag played with his trademark elegance to win
11-9, 11-7, 11-3 as he continues his bid to win a first major PSA title
on English soil.
Speaking about the chase for the men’s World No.1 spot, he said: “I am
very grateful for the career I have had already, but as long I am here,
this time I am breathing down his [Paul Coll’s] neck. So are so many
great players, like Mohamed [ElShorbagy] who is the best player of our
generation, you’ve got Diego [Elias], Marwan [ElShorbagy], Tarek [Momen],
everyone is chasing that No.1 spot. I am just one of them, but I will do
my best to get it back hopefully.”
The other semi-final will see Peru’s World No.6 Diego Elias take on
World No.3 Mohamed ElShorbagy after they claimed respective wins over
Egypt’s Mazen Hesham and Karim Abdel Gawad.
The last match of the day provided all of the drama and excitement as
Elias was forced to save three match balls on his way to a thrilling
five-game victory against the unorthodox Hesham.
2021 Qatar Classic champion Elias was forced to come from a game behind,
before holding off a resurgent Hesham after he drew level in the fourth
with a nail-biting finish as Elias delivered under pressure to prevail.
“When I was 10-7 down, anything could have happened. He goes for it and
it could have been 11-7 and done within a second, or this,” said Elias.
“Everyone knows how much I hate playing Mazen. I am trying to change my
game because sometimes it doesn’t work. This court is a bit cold, it
bounces weird at times. I am very happy with the comeback and I am
excited for tomorrow.”
Meanwhile, a top form ElShorbagy triumphed in the repeat of the 2019
final, when it was known as the Channel VAS Championships and hosted at
the St George’s Hill Lawn Tennis Club.
In 2019 it was Gawad who reigned victorious in a five-game thriller, but
there was no faulting ElShorbagy today as he hit all his targets and was
too much for his old rival to handle as he comfortably took an 11-6,
11-4, 11-4 victory in 29 minutes.
“In two months, I will have been inside the top three for nine straight
years, so to do this, I have done it over generations,” said ElShorbagy.
“I came up playing against [Thierry] Lincou, playing [Amr] Shabana,
against Greg [Gaultier] and James [Willstrop]. Then I had to take some
time out a few years later because [Karim Abdel] Gawad came up to me,
and Ali [Farag] and my brother [Marwan ElShorbagy].
“Now I had to take some time out because Paul [Coll] stepped up and then
[Mostafa] Asal. Different generations, different times, different
speeds, and in order to keep up with these generations, you have to go
back and tell yourself that you’re not good enough and you can’t keep
up.
“You then go out and train and you can do better, you know. I wanted to
do better, to do myself justice, and I am just really happy to get off
in three.”
The semi-finals of the Optasia Championships take place tomorrow (March
10) at 19:00 (GMT) and will be shown live on
SQUASHTV
.
For more information on the event, visit the
tournament website or follow the PSA
World Tour on
Twitter or Facebook,
Instagram, YouTube and TikTok.
|
ElShorbagy Leads Seeds into Optasia Championships Quarter
Finals
Egypt’s World No.3 Mohamed ElShorbagy was in powerful form to put
England’s George Parker to the sword in straight games to reach the
quarter finals of the Optasia Championships taking place at the
Wimbledon Club in London.
No.2 seed ElShorbagy, a former winner of the event when it was known as
the Channel VAS Championships and hosted at the St George’s Hill Lawn
Tennis Club in Weybridge, came flying out of the blocks to take out the
World No.32 in just 29 minutes.
He has set up a thrilling last eight contest with former World No.1
Karim Abdel Gawad, who he lost in the final to in the 2019 instalment of
the PSA World Tour Gold event.
“I’ve played a lot of the English players, I think I’ve played all of
them now,” said ElShorbagy. “I’ve played George a couple of times now
and we’ve actually trained together a few times. He’s a great player and
I always told him he has great potential, but only when he’s interested
to play.
“It’s a great court and a great venue and I’m so happy to be playing
here. I love playing in England, it’s been a home for me since 2006. I
always feel at home playing here and I look forward to playing in front
of the English crowd for a few more days, hopefully.”
Gawad, meanwhile, was forced to hold off his compatriot Youssef Soliman
in an entertaining four-game battle.
The last time the two players met was at the 2018-19 PSA World
Championship when Soliman claimed a shock 3-2 victory. However, Gawad
got his revenge, playing sharp squash and hitting his trademark stylish
winners to take an 11-6, 7-11, 11-8, 11-9 victory in 70 minutes.
“Playing Youssef is always very tough,” said Gawad in his post-match
interview. “Last time I played him in the World Championship I was 2-0
up and then lost 3-2, so I’ve very bad memories of him.
“He’s a complete player and very tough to play. He’s pushing up the
rankings really well, so I had to really focus from the first game. I
can’t have a slow start against Youssef, so I warmed up very well and
focused. Luckily, in the last game, when he was 6-1 up, I managed to get
back into the game and finish it in four.”
The other quarter final in the bottom half of the draw will see Peru’s
Diego Elias take on Egypt’s Mazen Hesham.
Elias defeated spirited wildcard Joe Lee to get his tournament off to
winning start in London. Despite being separated by 83 places in the PSA
World Rankings, anyone watching would have been forgiven for being
unsure who the higher ranked player was at the start, as Elias edged an
evenly-contested first two games 11-9, 11-8 before closing out 11-4 in
the third.
 A
fter the match, Elias said: “It’s a very dead court and Joe has a very
good length game and the lobs he plays to the back are very accurate, so
at the beginning it was hard because it was my first time playing on
this court. But I’m very happy with the way it finished; I could play my
shots and hit a way better length. I’m very happy with this and looking
forward to tomorrow.”
Meanwhile, Hesham is yet to take to the Wimbledon court after receiving
a walkover in round two following the withdrawal of India’s Saurav
Ghosal due to injury.
The quarter finals of the Optasia Championships take place from 17:30
local time (GMT) tomorrow (March 9) and will be shown live on
SQUASHTV
.
For more information on the event, visit the
tournament website or follow the PSA
World Tour on
Twitter or Facebook,
Instagram, YouTube and TikTok.
|
Mueller Upsets Marche to Reach Optasia Championships
Quarter Finals
Switzerland’s Nicolas Mueller made it back-to-back upsets at the Optasia
Championships as he overcame World No.11 Gregoire Marche at the
Wimbledon Club to book a place in his biggest quarter final since 2018.
World No.26 Mueller produced a sublime display to take out the
higher-ranked Spaniard Iker Pajares Bernabeu in round one, and he was
even better against Marche as he came back from a game down to secure
his biggest win since beating former World No.1 Karim Abdel Gawad to
reach the quarter finals of the 2018 J.P. Morgan Tournament of
Champions.
Mueller showed impressive resolve to overcome a first-game defeat and
played some superb winners over the course of the next two games to hold
a 2-1 advantage. A strong start to the fourth game from the man from
Switzerland saw Marche capitulate, and Mueller wrapped up the win by a
2-11, 11-9, 11-9, 11-4 scoreline to reach the last eight.
“We go back roughly 20 years at least,” said Mueller.
“We have been playing all through juniors, I think when we first played
we were 11 or 12, it’s still the same difference in height. But he’s
become a much better player in the last couple of years and has been
playing very well. I don’t know how I won that, I think for the first
one and a half games he played at another level and I had to dig deep to
win, that second was crucial to get some confidence to win it.
“He’s No.11 in the world, so the pressure was on him. I played well
yesterday and got some confidence and when I’m confident, I think I’m a
dangerous person to play.”
Mueller will take on World No.7 Marwan ElShorbagy for a place in the
semi finals after ElShorbagy’s opponent - former World No.1 James
Willstrop - pulled out of tonight’s fixture due to injury.
Top seed Ali Farag kicked off his title challenge with a 3-0 triumph
over fellow Egyptian Mohamed ElSherbini.
Farag, a two-time runner-up at this event, which was previously known as
the Channel VAS Championships, was on fine form, sealing an 11-7, 11-6,
11-7 victory in 32 minutes to set up a quarter final clash with Welshman
Joel Makin.
“The venue is special and different and we enjoy that,” said Farag, who
is aiming to win his first PSA title in England this week.
“In our careers we rarely go to new places, so it’s exciting in front of
you guys [the spectators] and it’s definitely exciting for us players.”
Makin, the World No.8, got under way with a 3-1 win over Malaysia’s Eain
Yow Ng, winning by an 11-7, 8-11, 11-7, 11-3 scoreline in the longest
match of the tournament so far at 60 minutes.
Makin will now take on Farag for the fourth time on the PSA World Tour.
Makin won their most recent match, which saw him put on a masterclass to
nullify Farag in a 3-0 win at October’s U.S. Open.
"That was tough today,” said Makin.
“He’s so skilful and quick around the front, and if you take him in
without too much pace or running it in tight, he’s quick onto it and he
has a lot of options. You really need to get your tactics right on there
and it’s a difficult thing to do, but it’s a good quality match I
thought.”
An injury will also cut tomorrow’s second round fixtures short, with
India’s Saurav Ghosal withdrawing from his match against Egypt’s Mazen
Hesham, meaning there will be just three matches in store at the
Wimbledon Club.
The Optasia Championships second round continues tomorrow (March 8) and
play begins at 14:00 (GMT-6). All of the action will be shown live on
SQUASHTV
.
For more information on the event, visit the
tournament website or follow the PSA
World Tour on
Twitter or Facebook,
Instagram, YouTube and TikTok.
|
Wildcard Lee Reaches Second Round as Optasia
Championships Gets Under Way
Wildcard Joe Lee secured his place in the second round of the Optasia
Championships after claiming victory over Mexico’s Cesar Salazar as the
PSA World Tour Gold event got under way today.
Formerly known as the Channel VAS Championships, the Optasia
Championships this year has seen the event relocate from the St George's
Hill Lawn Tennis Club, where it had been held since 2015 to the
Wimbledon Club in London.
World No.89 Lee, who picked up three PSA Challenger Tour titles in 2021,
will face 2021 Qatar Classic champion Diego Elias in the next round
after he overcame Salazar, with the Mexican forced to retire due to
injury.
London-born Lee got off to a strong start, testing the movement of the
Mexican from the very first point to grind out a tough first game. That
signalled the beginning of the end for Salazar though with his lack of
movement fully exposed in the second as Lee doubled his lead before
Salazar was forced to retire before the start of the third game.
“It was just a bit of a mental challenge as I knew he wasn’t moving as
well as he usually does,” admitted Lee afterwards. “He still played
pretty constructively in that first game. I managed to do enough and
then found what I needed to do in the second. It would have been nice to
have a go at him at 100%, but I’ll take the win.
“I feel like I’m ready to start playing at this level again, maybe even
beyond what I was before my injury. This is great opportunity for me and
things have gone my way today and I have another great opportunity in a
couple of days.”
Lee will be joined by compatriots James Willstrop and George Parker in
the second round after they claimed respective wins over Germany’s
Raphael Kandra and Egypt’s Karim El Hammamy.
Former World No.1 Willstrop put on a display befitting of his ‘Marksman”
nickname to defeat Germany’s Raphael Kandra in straight-games.
The 38-year-old Yorkshireman was on fire throughout the 35-minute
fixture and there was very little Kandra could do to fight back against
Willstrop’s brilliance as he secured a second round meeting with Egypt’s
Marwan ElShorbagy.
Meanwhile, Parker made the most of his late call-up into the tournament,
following the withdrawal of Baptiste Masotti, as he came from a game
down to set up a round two clash with 2017 champion Mohamed ElShorbagy.
“It’s a weird one [being called up late into the draw], it’s sort of
less pressure in a way,” said Parker following his win.
“I didn’t expect much today, I just got the call up yesterday and I’m
happy to be in and playing. I got back from America last Saturday and
it’s just good to be back and playing after Covid.”
There will be no other English players in the second round after Patrick
Rooney and Adrian Waller both saw their tournaments come to an early end
as they lost out to India’s Saurav Ghosal and Malaysia’s Eain Yow Ng,
respectively.
Ghosal was in spellbinding form as he comfortably moved past a
lacklustre Rooney in straight-games, while Eain Yow was forced to come
from behind to defeat Waller. They will face Egypt’s Mazen Hesham and
Wales’ Joel Makin respectively in the second round.
Elsewhere, another upset came in the form of Switzerland’s Nicolas
Mueller after he defeated the in-form Iker Pajares of Spain in four
games.
Pajares recently recorded his best result to date at a Platinum event as
he reached the quarter finals of Chicago’s Windy City Open. However, the
Spaniard fell victim to a brilliant display of attacking squash from
Mueller, who held the ball well and played his angles to set up a next
round fixture with France’s No.7 seed Gregoire Marche.
"I was playing very well in the first two and a half games, I had a big
lead in the third but then I thought about winning the game instead of
focusing on what I was doing,” Mueller said.
“Iker had a few big rallies, he won those and got some confidence. I was
very happy to get a good start in the fourth, I wanted to make sure the
lead was big enough so he couldn’t come back again.”
Egypt’s Youssef Soliman and Mohamed ElSherbini were the other winners on
the first day of action after Soliman completed a dominant victory over
France’s Lucas Serme, while ElSherbini held off a comeback from USA No.1
Shahjahan Khan to set up a last 16 clash with World Champion Ali Farag
tomorrow.
Round two of the Optasia Championships will be shown live on
SQUASHTV
tomorrow (March 7) when the likes of top seeds Ali Farag and Marwan
ElShorbagy begin their tournaments.
For more information on the event, visit the
tournament website or follow the PSA
World Tour on
Twitter or Facebook,
Instagram, YouTube and TikTok.
|
World No.1 Farag Headlines Optasia Championships Draw
World No.1 Ali Farag will headline the draw for the Optasia
Championships, which will take place at the Wimbledon Club in London,
England between Sunday March 6 - Friday March 11.
Formerly known as the Channel VAS Championships, the Optasia
Championships is a PSA World Tour Gold event, which offers up $109,000
in total player prize compensation. This year sees the event relocate
from the St George's Hill Lawn Tennis Club, where it had been held since
2015.
Farag, a two-time runner-up in both 2017 and 2018, has been seeded first
for the event, which boasts a top-class draw featuring six of the
world’s top 10 players, including three former and current World
Champions, with Farag joined by Mohamed ElShorbagy and Karim Abdel Gawad
in the draw.
The 29-year-old has won three PSA titles already this season and
receives a bye into the second round, where he will face either fellow
Egyptian Mohamed ElSherbini or USA’s Shahjahan Khan.
Farag is seeded to meet No.4 seed Marwan ElShorbagy in the last four,
while Marwan’s older brother - World No.3 Mohamed - is seeded second for
the event. Mohamed won the Channel VAS Championships in 2017 - beating
Farag in the final - and the former World No.1 will look to win his
first PSA event since May, 2021.
ElShorbagy has a tricky path to the final, which includes 2019 champion
Gawad and Peruvian World No.6 Diego Elias.
England’s Joe Lee has been named as the wildcard for the event. The
32-year-old will take on Frenchman Baptiste Masotti in the opening round
and the winner of that clash will go up against Elias in the last 16.
2022 Optasia Championships: First Round Draw
[1] Ali Farag (EGY) [bye]
Shahjahan Khan (USA) v [9/16] Mohamed ElSherbini (EGY)
[9/16] Eain Yow Ng (MAS) v Adrian Waller (ENG)
[5] Joel Makin (WAL) [bye]
[7] Gregoire Marche (FRA) [bye]
Nicolas Mueller (SUI) v [9/16] Iker Pajares Bernabeu (ESP)
[9/16] Raphael Kandra (GER v James Willstrop (ENG)
[4] Marwan ElShorbagy (EGY) [bye]
[3] Diego Elias (PER) [bye]
[WC] Joe Lee (ENG) v [9/16] Baptiste Masotti (FRA)
[9/16] Saurav Ghosal (IND) v Patrick Rooney (ENG)
[6] Mazen Hesham (EGY) [bye]
[8] Karim Abdel Gawad (EGY) [bye]
Lucas Serme (FRA) v [9/16] Youssef Soliman (EGY)
[9/16] Karim El Hammamy (EGY) v Cesar Salazar (MEX)
[2] Mohamed ElShorbagy (EGY) [bye]
The Optasia Championships will be shown live on
SQUASHTV. For more
information on the event, visit the
tournament website or follow the PSA
World Tour on
Twitter or Facebook,
Instagram, YouTube and TikTok.
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