Nick
Matthew Out Of World Series Finals
England's world champion Nick Matthew
admitted today that he will be unable to compete in this
week's ATCO PSA World Series Finals, the flagship
PSA World Tour squash event in London which
features the eight players who earned the most points from
the nine PSA World Series championships in 2011.
The $110,000 event will take place for the
third time at The Queen's Club, from 4-8 January.
The 31-year-old from Sheffield, who topped
the world rankings throughout last year, is still undergoing
treatment for the adductor injury sustained during last
year's Kuwait PSA Cup - and which later caused him to
pull out of the Punj Lloyd PSA Masters, the last
World Series event of the year in India in December.
"Worst kept secret in Squash - but have
officially decided to withdraw from the World Series Finals
this week in London," tweeted Matthew this afternoon.
"The injury, however, is coming along nicely
& I hope to be 100% by the Tournament of Champions in New
York c/20th Jan," added the world number two, who reached
the final of the 2010 World Series Finals at Queen's.
Matthew will be replaced by Dutchman
Laurens Jan Anjema, the world No9 from The Hague who
will be making his debut in the championship.
"Just got the message that due to Nick
Matthew's injury, I will be playing the World Series in
London on Thursday," Anjema said on Twitter. "Very
excited!!"
The six-time Dutch national champion will
begin his campaign against Gregory Gaultier, the
world No3 from France.
Matthew's announcement follows last week's
news that former champion Ramy Ashour will also be on
the sidelines as the result of a hamstring injury. The
24-year-old from Cairo, champion in 2007, finished in third
place in the 2011 Dunlop PSA World Series Standings
after winning three World Series titles in the year.
First Pool round line-up
(Wednesday 4 January):
1800: Group 1 - James Willstrop (ENG) v Karim
Darwish (EGY)
1845: Group 1 - Mohamed El Shorbagy (EGY) v Mohd
Azlan Iskandar (MAS)
2020: Group 2 - Laurens Jan Anjema (NED) v Gregory
Gaultier (FRA)
2100: Group 2 - Amr Shabana (EGY) v Peter Barker
(ENG)
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