Top seed and world no.1 Mohamed Elshorbagy faces the daunting prospect of taking on three-time British Open runner-up and home favourite James Willstrop (pictured above) in a titanic opening encounter in this year’s Allam British Open Men’s Championship in Hull in May.
The opening day on May 11 will also see Essex’s world no.8, Peter Barker, up against French world No.12 Mathieu Castagnet.
With world no.18 Cameron Pilley facing world no.20 Karim Abdel Gawad, world no.9 Simon Rösner against world no.14 Marwan Elshorbagy and world no.6 Miguel Angel Rodriguez against world no.16 Max Lee, the Allam British Open looks set to wreak havoc with the formbook in what will be a gripping week in Yorkshire from May 11 to 17.
“I am delighted to welcome the world’s best squash players back to Hull to compete for the 2015 Allam British Open title,” said tournament title sponsor Dr Assem Allam.
“Squash is a great passion of mine and to bring these amazing athletes from all corners of the globe to the UK, and particularly Hull in East Yorkshire, is an enormous pleasure.
“I look forward to watching some great matches, seeing the best of both the men and women in action, and seeing new talent coming through, all competing for this world-famous title.”
Gregory Gaultier, the maverick Frenchman, will begin his title defence with a theoretically easy tie against a qualifier, while the man he beat to the title in 2014, England’s three-time British Open champion, Nick Matthew, also faces a qualifier.
The full main men’s draw is:
1 Mohamed Elshorbagy (EGY) v James Willstrop (ENG)
Saurav Ghosal (IND) v Borja Golan (ESP)
Fares Dessouki (EGY) v [Qualifier]
[Qualifier] v 5 Amr Shabana (EGY)
8 Peter Barker (ENG) v Mathieu Castagnet (FRA)
Marwan Elshorbagy (EGY) v Simon Rösner (GER)
Nicolas Mueller (SUI) v [Qualifier]
[Qualifier] v 3 Nick Matthew (ENG)
4 Ramy Ashour (EGY) v Chris Simpson (ENG)
Cameron Pilley (AUS) v Karim Abdel Gawad (EGY)
Stephen Coppinger (RSA) v [Qualifier]
[WC] Adrian Waller (ENG) v 7 Tarek Momen (EGY)
6 Miguel Angel Rodriguez (COL) v Max Lee (HKG)
Omar Mosaad (EGY) v [Qualifier]
Daryl Selby (ENG) v [Qualifier]
[Qualifier] v 2 Gregory Gaultier (FRA)
Tickets costing from £10 are available to purchase from Ticketmaster.