|
03-Nov-16:
World Squash
stars head for Surrey
 The
second biggest squash event to be held in Europe this year will
be the $100K Channel VAS Championships which will take
place on the all glass court at the prestigious St George's
Hill Club in Weybridge Surrey from 6th-12th December.
The tournament will feature 16 of the world's top squash players
including World Numbers 1, 4, 7 and 9 Mohamed El Shorbagy,
Omar Mosaad, Marwan El Shorbagy and Tarek Momen,
four of the Egyptians who are currently the dominant nation in
international squash.
 Top
British hope in the draw is former World number one James
Willstrop, who has climbed back to number 11 after a career
threatening injury. Willstrop will be joined by two Brits
currently inside the top twenty in last year's champion Chris
Simpson, one of several top class squash players to have
come from the island of Guernsey, and former British Champion
Daryl Selby who is in the form of his life teaching the last
16 of the world championships just after winning the Macau Open.
The event will also display an impressive array of international
talent including Canary Wharf Champion Mathieu Castagnet,
the spectacular retriever Miguel Angel Rodriquez from
Columbia, Borja Golan the highest ever ranked Spaniard,
and Hong Kong Open semi finalist Max Lee,
Wild Card Joe Lee, world ranked 47, has played at the
host club since he was a small boy and completes the line up of
12 players automatically in the main draw.
The players above will be joined by four qualifiers from
the qualifying tournament which takes place on 6th and 7th
December.
The
DRAW
 The
qualifying tournament is also impressively strong with several
big names including Indian number one Saurav Ghosal, top
South African Steve Coppinger, Frenchman Gregoire
Marche, New Zealand number one Paul Coll and Swiss
number one Nicolas Mueller.
Local interest - apart from wild card Joe Lee - will centre
around Tom Richards, the England International who has
been ranked as high as number 12 in the world. Tom has also
played at St George's Hill since he was two years old.
England junior number one Charlie Lee, 18, brother of Joe
Lee and also a lifelong club member, will be competing in
qualifying alongside 19 year old Matthew Broadberry,
another impressive local who is currently studying at Nottingham
University.
 |
TICKETS
priced from £10-£45, tickets are available now from
Ticketmaster
The DRAW
St George's
Hill
The St George's Hill Club is a prestigious members club set in
beautiful grounds on the world famous St George's Hill estate.
The club has some of the finest grass courts in England and is
one of only two clubs in the UK with an all glass squash court.
The court has a capacity of 230, which is small for a $100K PSA
World Tour, event but it's sure to be full to the rafters with
fans who will provide an electric atmosphere for the players.
Origins
Bassim Haidar, the chairman of Channel VAS, is an
enthusiastic player at St George's Hill and it was his dream to
bring the world's to players to the club.
The event was conceived by promoter and club professional
Danny Lee, a former world top 30 player who ran a smaller
tour event with Channel VAS's support last season.
Mr Haidar was keen for the tournament to grow and along with
raising the profile of his company, he has decided to donate all
proceeds from ticket sales to CLIC Sargent, a charity
which helps support children with cancer and their families.
Mr Haidar's daughter Talia has suffered from leukaemia
for several years and has been helped by CLIC Sargent. She
presented last year's winner trophy to Guernsey's Chris
Simpson.
 |
