|
22-Apr-08:
Champion Gaultier gets Zaman in Dunlop British Open Draw
Frenchman
Gregory Gaultier will
begin the defence of his men's title in next month's
Dunlop British Open Squash
Championships in
Liverpool against Pakistan number one
Mansoor Zaman, according
to the draw for the
PSA Tour Super Series
event which is
revealed today by event promoters
internationalSPORTgroup
The longest-established
and most prestigious event in world squash, the
Dunlop British Open - Liverpool
2008
will be staged at the
city's new
ECHO Arena
Liverpool from 10-12
May following qualifying and early rounds at the
Liverpool Cricket Club
from 6 May.
Gaultier beat compatriot
Thierry
Lincou in last
year's Dunlop British Open final in Manchester to become the first
French champion in the 80-year history of the event. The
25-year-old from Aix-en-Provence is the event's third seed - and
would expect to meet Egypt's world number one
Amr Shabana in the
semi-final in the top half of the draw.
Shabana, who won the
World Open crown for the
third time in December, is seeded to win the British Open for the
first time. The 28-year-old from
Cairo faces Italy's
highest-ranked player Davide
Bianchetti in the opening round.
All eyes will be on the
sport's rising star Ramy Ashour,
the 20-year-old Egyptian who shot to second place in the world
rankings last year in only his third year on the World Tour. The
No2 seed - who beat Shabana for the second time this year in last
week's Hurghada International
final in his homeland - will meet Gloucestershire's
up-and-coming Alister Walker,
the 25-year-old England No7 who is based in
Leeds.
Remarkably, it will be
Ashour's maiden appearance in the 'Wimbledon'
of Squash.
Home interest in the
world’s most prestigious championships will focus on Yorkshireman
Nick Matthew who will
make an emotional return to British Open action in
Liverpool. Two years ago
in Nottingham, the world No6 from Sheffield became the first true
Englishman for 67 years to become British Open champion. Matthew
underwent shoulder surgery in January and will be making his Tour
comeback on Merseyside, where he will face fellow Englishman
Tom Pashley, the wild
card entrant from Sussex, in the opening round.
Fellow Yorkshireman
James
Willstrop, the
runner-up in 2005, is seeded to reach the semi-finals and will take
on Pakistan teenager Aamir Atlas
Khan - at 17, the youngest competitor in the main draw -
in the first round.
Australia's
former world champion David
Palmer will be making his 12th successive appearance in
the event when he steps onto the court to face a qualifier in the
first round. The 31-year-old from Lithgow in New South Wales - now
based in Boston, USA - is a three times winner of the British Open
trophy and one of five former world number ones competing in the
event.
|
