Egypt’s Mohamed ElShorbagy and defending champion Laura Massaro claimed
the Men’s and Women’s titles, respectively, at the 2016/17 PSA Dubai
World Series Finals after prevailing in their final clashes inside the
stunning Dubai Opera.
The World Series Finals is the first sporting event ever to take place
in Dubai Opera and sees ElShorbagy and Massaro claim over $40,000 each
after respective wins over England’s former World No.1 James Willstrop
and Egyptian World Champion Nour El Sherbini.
ElShorbagy ended a difficult season on a high to lift his first ever
World Series Finals crown and his first Tour title since November after
beating Willstrop by an 12-10, 11-9, 11-8 in 57 minutes.
"To win this tournament has been a dream for so long," said ElShorbagy
after lifting his 25th Tour title.
"It’s a very emotional win. I lost some confidence in myself during the
season but I feel like I bounced back this week.
"I don't want to lose. I hate losing. This season I didn't play with my
spirit, but I'm really proud I got that back this week. It was my best
squash since being World No.1."
Meanwhile, Massaro has become only the second woman ever after Malaysian
legend Nicol David to win two World Series Finals titles after she
overcame El Sherbini in straight games.
Massaro was appearing in the final of the World Series Finals for a
third time in a row and had won one and lost one of her final
appearances against Egypt’s Raneem El Welily and Malaysia’s David,
respectively.
The pair had met earlier on in the tournament - with El Sherbini winning
the best-of-three games contest to qualify second in Group B - but in
the best-of-five games final, it was Massaro who emerged the victor
after claiming an 11-8, 12-10, 11-5 victory to capture her 22nd Tour
crown.
"I’m really happy with my performance overall," said Massaro.
"It took a lot of focus, discipline, hard work and I had to keep pushing
throughout the whole match. The first two games were really tight and I
managed to get that good lead in the third.
"I’m one of the oldest ones on Tour now and as long as I feel as though
I’m still in contention to win titles then I’m happy. To be able to win
the British Open, to reach the final of the ToC [Tournament of
Champions] and to win here really makes me think that I’m still in
contention and I can still win titles."
The World Series Finals brought together the top eight players on the
Men’s and Women’s PSA Road to Dubai Standings who were then split into
two groups of four, with matches played in a best-of-three games format.
Players then battled for points to qualify for the knockout semi-finals
and beyond, while the final was contested in the regular best-of-five
games format.
It will be England versus Egypt in the finals of the 2016/17 PSA Dubai
World Series Finals after a breathtaking night of semi-final action at
Dubai Opera saw James Willstrop, Mohamed ElShorbagy, Laura Massaro and
Nour El Sherbini seal their spots in the title-deciders.
Former World No.1 Willstrop will appear in the showpiece finale of the
World Series Finals for the first time in his career after he overcame
World Champion Karim Abdel Gawad, playing some superb squash en route to
an 14-12, 11-6 victory.
"I’m 33, I’ve had time out like a few of us have, but I’m not taking it
for granted that I’ll be able to get back to where I was when I was 29,
it’s not that simple," said Willstrop.
"So it’s a great feeling when you’ve kept pushing yourself and you’ve
gone down to No.20 in the world. To be able to do it again and to do it
over four days means you’re still there and it’s a big confidence
booster.
"Before I qualified I wanted to be here desperately and there are all
sorts of motivations here. Once I got there I was really focused on it.
I had other tournaments to play, but this was the big finale and I’ve
eyed it up certainly."
He will face ElShorbagy in a repeat of their Group B fixture after the
Bristol-based Egyptian twice overturned match balls for Germany’s Simon
Rösner to reach his first Tour final since November.
ElShorbagy, the 2013 runner-up, fell a game behind against an inspired
Rösner, but recovered from 8-4 down in the second to force a third game,
where Rösner was unable to convert his match balls, handing the win to
the World No.3 after a gladiatorial 62-minute battle.
ElShorbagy beat Willstrop 2-0 in their group stage clash, but the final
reverts back to the best-of-five games format used in all other PSA
World Tour events, meaning that it’s all to play for in what looks set
to be a thrilling finale to the Men’s tournament.
“I’m born for these kind of matches and these kind of moments and I
don’t accept myself being in another position," said ElShorbagy.
"There is the golden generation of [Amr] Shabana, Nick [Matthew], Greg [Gaultier],
James, [Karim] Darwish and [Thierry Lincou]. The only one I haven’t
played in a final is James, so it’s such an honour to be in the final
with him.”
Elsewhere, Massaro and El Sherbini set up a repeat of the 2015 PSA
Women’s World Championship final after they achieved respective
victories over Nouran Gohar and Camille Serme.
Massaro, the defending champion, was two match balls down to Gohar, but
dug into her mental reserves to take the win in three games and reach
the final of this tournament for the third time in succession.
"Saving two match balls is brilliant and I’m really proud of myself, but
I’m also really annoyed that I let three game balls in the first go,"
Massaro said.
"I just need to let it sink in, but I’m really happy to be through for
tomorrow."
Meanwhile, World Champion El Sherbini is through to a second Tour final
in a row after she ended World No.3 Camille Serme’s tournament.
Like Massaro, El Sherbini also fought back from two games down despite
injuring her hand in the third game and she will look to become the
first female Egyptian to lift the prestigious title when she locks horns
with Massaro, who she lost to in last year’s semi-finals.
"I thought that I was going to retire from the match because I couldn’t
hold the racket,” said El Sherbini.
“But I thought that I should go on and try and I think that it’s the
reason I won. Because of my hand I was just thinking that I wanted to
finish the points, so I attacked on every point and every opportunity."
With an equal, lucrative $160,000 prize purse up for grabs, the World
Series Finals brings together the top eight players on the Men’s and
Women’s PSA Road to Dubai Standings, who are then split into two groups
of four where matches are played in a best-of-three games format.
Players then battle for points to qualify for the knockout semi-finals
and beyond, while the final will be contested in the regular
best-of-five games format.
The finals of the 2016/17 PSA Dubai World Series Finals will take place
from 22:00 local time (GMT+4) on June 10 and will be broadcast live on
SQUASHTV, Eurosport Player and the following broadcasters:
Astro (Malaysia / Brunei)
beIN Sports (Middle East / North Africa)
BT Sport (United Kingdom)
DAZN (Japan)
Eleven Sports Network (Singapore / Taiwan)
Fox Sports Australia (Australia)
MNC Indonesia (Indonesia)
Now TV (Hong Kong)
Sky Sport NZ (New Zealand)
Super Sport (Sub-Saharan Africa)
Ten Sports (Indian Subcontinent)
Truevisions (Thailand)
Results - Semi-Finals: Men’s 2016/17 PSA Dubai World Series Finals [6] James Willstrop (ENG) bt [1] Karim Abdel Gawad (EGY) 2-0: 14-12,
11-6 (43m)
[3] Mohamed ElShorbagy (EGY) bt [7] Simon Rösner (GER) 2-1: 9-11, 11-8,
14-12 (62m)
Draw - Final: To Be Played June 10th [6] James Willstrop (ENG) v [3] Mohamed ElShorbagy (EGY)
Results - Semi-Finals: Women’s 2016/17 PSA Dubai World Series Finals [2] Nour El Sherbini (EGY) bt [1] Camille Serme (FRA) 2-1: 15-17,
11-3, 12-10 (60m)
[3] Laura Massaro (ENG) bt [5] Nouran Gohar (EGY) 2-1: 12-14, 12-10,
11-7 (47m)
Draw - Final: To Be Played June 10th [2] Nour El Sherbini (EGY) v [3] Laura Massaro (ENG)
Draw - Semi-Finals: To Be Played June 9th [1] Karim Abdel Gawad (EGY) v [6] James Willstrop (ENG)
[7] Simon Rösner (GER) v [3] Mohamed ElShorbagy (EGY)
Draw - Semi-Finals: To Be Played June 9th
[1] Camille Serme (FRA) v [2] Nour El Sherbini (EGY)
[5] Nouran Gohar (EGY) v [3] Laura Massaro (ENG)
The group stage of the 2016/17 PSA Dubai World Series Finals drew to a
close on day three of the season-ending tournament taking place in the
stunning Dubai Opera as World Champion Karim Abdel Gawad, former World
No.1 James Willstrop and Germany’s Simon Rösner all joined World No.3
Mohamed ElShorbagy in the semi-finals of the Men’s event.
Gawad began the tournament with a defeat to Rösner, but qualifies top of
Group A after following up a day two win over 2010 finalist Nick Matthew
with victory over compatriot Marwan ElShorbagy, which sees the World
No.1 go ahead of Rösner in the group due to a higher games won
percentage.
“I didn’t have the best start to the tournament,” admitted Gawad.
“I would say it’s the first time on court where I got too excited and
didn’t start the right way. I had no pressure on me afterwards and I
just wanted to enjoy playing in such a great venue.
“I just wanted to be on court as much as I could. I didn’t expect to get
to the semi-finals, especially at the top of the group. Playing here is
an unforgettable experience, you don’t have the chance to play at this
venue everyday and it’s great for our sport, we need more of these kinds
of tournaments."
World Series Finals debutant Gawad will clash with Willstrop for a place
in the final after the 33-year-old Englishman held off World No.5 Ali
Farag to reach the last four for the first time since the 2012 edition.
With one win and one defeat under his belt, 33-year-old Willstrop needed
to beat Farag to reach the last four, but was under cosh from the first
point as an inspired Farag surged to victory in the opening game.
Willstrop weathered the storm though in the second game to edge out an
11-9 victory and he closed out game three for the loss of six points to
seal second place in Group B.
"People throw it around when they say that someone can become World No.1
and it doesn’t happen that easily, but Ali’s an awesome squash player
and a credit to the game as well," said Willstrop.
"I didn’t think I did too badly really, he was just so good. It was
maybe a little bit short when I was hitting to the back and I thought
that all I could do at the start was to stay in it. I had to have a bit
of faith that, despite the fact it’s gone wrong on the scoreboard, I
could turn it around.
"You’ve got to regroup and you can’t let it get to you mentally. I
thought that I just had to win the two games, it’s as simple as that."
World No.3 Mohamed ElShorbagy topped Group B ahead of Willstrop and is
the only man to maintain a 100 per cent record after he dispatched
defending champion Gregory Gaultier 2-0 to leave the Frenchman without a
win. He will face Rösner after the World No.11 beat 2010 finalist Nick
Matthew to become the first German ever to reach the semi-final stage of
the World Series Finals.
The Women’s event saw World Champion Nour El Sherbini earn her place in
the knockout stages at the expense of England’s Sarah-Jane Perry after
she recovered from a game down to beat last year’s winner Laura Massaro.
Massaro was 1-0 up and match ball up in the second game until a spirited
fightback from El Sherbini saw the Egyptian World No.1 turn the match on
its head to triumph, meaning that she finishes second in Group B behind
Massaro due to the Englishwoman’s superior games won percentage.
El Sherbini’s games won percentage is higher than that of Perry’s, which
means Perry’s 2-1 win over two-time winner Nicol David wasn’t enough to
make it an English triumvirate in the semi-finals.
“I wanted to qualify so badly and last time I played Laura I was 2-0 up
[before losing],” said El Sherbini.
“It wasn’t going my way in the first game, but I’m really happy to
qualify. I feel sorry for SJ though, I know how it feels not to qualify
for the semi-finals."
El Sherbini will go up against French World No.3 Camille Serme, who is
the only female player to hold a 100 per cent record after she beat
World Championship runner-up Raneem El Welily to make it three wins out
of three.
It was a straight shootout between the pair to decide who would qualify
from Group A and El Welily held two game balls in the third game, only
to see Serme show nerves of steel to take four successive points to send
El Welily out.
"I can barely realise that I’ve made it,” said Serme.
“You can count on one hand the times I’ve beaten her, so I’ll take this
one. It could have gone either way, it was so close and I had a
different tactical plan from yesterday. I tried to fight as much as I
could and tried to retrieve every ball."
World Junior Champion Nouran Gohar is the other player from Group A to
make it through to the last four after she overcame England’s Alison
Waters and she will face off against Massaro.
The World Series Finals brings together the top eight players on the
Men’s and Women’s PSA Road to Dubai Standings who are then split into
two groups of four, with matches played in a best-of-three games format.
Players then battle for points to qualify for the knockout semi-finals
and beyond.
The semi-finals of the 2016/17 PSA Dubai World Series Finals will take
place from 22:00 local time (GMT+4) on June 9 and will be broadcast live
on SQUASHTV, Eurosport Player and the following broadcasters:
Astro (Malaysia / Brunei)
beIN Sports (Middle East / North Africa)
BT Sport (United Kingdom)
DAZN (Japan)
Eleven Sports Network (Singapore / Taiwan)
Fox Sports Australia (Australia)
MNC Indonesia (Indonesia)
Now TV (Hong Kong)
Sky Sport NZ (New Zealand)
Super Sport (Sub-Saharan Africa)
Ten Sports (Indian Subcontinent)
Truevisions (Thailand)
World No.3 Mohamed ElShorbagy sealed his place in the last four of the
Men’s 2016/17 PSA Dubai World Series Finals after the Egyptian beat
compatriot Ali Farag on day two in Dubai Opera - meaning last year’s
champion Gregory Gaultier crashes out at the group stage.
ElShorbagy followed up an opening day win over former World No.1 James
Willstrop with a dramatic victory over Farag, taking it 12-10 in the
third-game tie-break to seal qualification from Group B.
"I’m happy that I won using my own strengths, which is something I did
when I was World No.1," said ElShorbagy.
"I was challenged, but I threw myself into that challenge and being 1-0
down and one game away from losing the match was tough mentally. When I
was at my best that’s what I was good at and that’s what made me
different from other players because I could get through those kind of
situations.
"We had some issues in the first two matches we played in the season, in
Al Ahram and the World Championship, but it felt like we both got that
anger out of each other. Since those two matches we started to have so
much respect for each other."
Gaultier, meanwhile, has failed to make it to the semi-finals for the
first time in his career after he lost to Willstrop in straight games.
Gaultier, the current World No.1, had only lost once in 2017 prior to
the tournament and had won 27 matches in a row, in addition to claiming
six successive Tour titles.
However, the heavy schedule looks to have caught up with him in Dubai
after he slumped to a defeat to Willstrop which, added to his first
round loss to Farag, means that he is yet to win a game.
"If you get a result over Greg then something is clearly going well,"
said Willstrop.
"Nobody is beating him at the minute and it’s difficult for me not to
point out that he’s had a tough season.
"I know how difficult it is mentally to have to get yourself up for
every tournament for a whole season."
Willstrop and Farag will clash next to decide who joins ElShorbagy in
the semi-finals, while Willstrop’s compatriot, Nick Matthew, is on the
brink of elimination from Group A after he slipped to a 2-0 defeat to
World Champion Karim Abdel Gawad.
Egypt’s Marwan ElShorbagy defeated Germany’s Simon Rösner to go top of
Group A, which means Matthew must now beat Rösner 2-0 in his final match
while hoping that Marwan beats Gawad 2-0 to have any hope of reaching
the semi-finals, with the percentage of points won being the next
qualification criteria.
In the Women’s event, defending champion Laura Massaro is the first
player to qualify after she defeated compatriot Sarah-Jane Perry in
Group A
A confident display from Massaro saw her follow up her opening day win
over two-time winner Nicol David to take the opening game before
overturning five game balls in the second to seal the victory by an
11-6, 14-12 scoreline.
"I’m really happy, maybe it’s better that I need to go in and get a
result tomorrow," said Massaro.
"I’ll still want to win tomorrow regardless of whether I’m qualified or
not. It’s great to know that I’m in the semi-finals, but there’s still a
job to do tomorrow."
Nour El Sherbini sits in second place in Group A after she claimed an
eighth successive win over David, meaning that the Malaysian misses out
on a place in the semi-finals for the first time in her glittering
career.
A 2-0 win over Massaro for El Sherbini in her final group fixture will
see her top the group, while a 2-1 win could also see her qualify ahead
of Perry depending on how she does in her match with David.
French World No.3 Camille Serme made it two wins out of two to top Group
B, with World Junior Champion Nouran Gohar going down in a 2-1 thriller
to leave Serme on the cusp of qualification for the last four.
“I’m very happy, I saw myself winning, then losing, then winning again,
so anything could have happened,” said Serme.
“I guess we’ll know more about what’s going to happen after the second
group match, but it’s already better than last year, last year I only
won one match, so it’s positive and I’m going to give it everything
tomorrow."
Victory for Serme over World Championship runner-up Raneem El Welily
will guarantee her a place in the semi-finals, but it’s all to play for
as a defeat could allow any two of El Welily, Gohar or England’s Alison
Waters to qualify.
The World Series Finals brings together the top eight players on the
Men’s and Women’s PSA Road to Dubai Standings who are then split into
two groups of four, with matches played in a best-of-three games format.
The opening day of the 2016/17 PSA Dubai World Series Finals featured a
number of matches befitting of Dubai Opera’s status as one of the most
stunning squash venues of all time as World Champions Karim Abdel Gawad
and Nour El Sherbini both fell to shock defeats against Simon Rösner and
Sarah-Jane Perry, respectively.
The World Series Finals brings together the top eight players on the
Men’s and Women’s PSA Road to Dubai Standings, who are then split into
two groups of four as they battle for points to qualify for the knockout
semi-finals and beyond.
Rösner had never beaten Gawad on the PSA World Tour prior to the
tournament, but the best-of-three games format – which is used in place
of the normal best-of-five games scoring up until the final – looked to
play into the German’s hands as he claimed an impressive 11-9, 8-11,
11-7 victory in 48 minutes.
“We played some incredible squash today, I thought I managed to play
aggressively and at the same time I didn’t make too many errors, which
really helped,” said Rösner.
“Even though I was down a few times, I didn’t let it go, I just tried to
hang in there and made it as tough as I could for him. I think that the
key was the aggressive game plan, but I also kept the error count really
low.
“The whole group is so strong and the whole event is so open. Anything
can happen, you can finish first, you can finish last, but with my win
today I got one step closer to making the semis.”
Rösner sits at the top of Group A along with Marwan ElShorbagy, who
recovered from a game down to defeat three-time World Champion Nick
Matthew.
Group B was lit up by a masterclass from World No.5 Ali Farag who ended
World No.1 Gregory Gaultier’s incredible 27-match unbeaten run by
winning in straight games.
Defending champion Gaultier had lost just once in 2017, claiming six
titles in a row, which included victories over Farag in the finals of
the Grasshopper Cup and Bellevue Classic.
However, a superb display from Farag against an admittedly out-of-sorts
Gaultier saw the 25-year-old dominate the Frenchman in a way that few
have managed over the past six months to claim a huge win.
“The last two times I didn’t even take one game, so to win today in two
games was surprising to even myself,” said Farag, who was making his
World Series Finals debut.
“I think I played very well and towards the end I was very edgy because
I was 10-6 up in Seattle against him. When he lets loose he plays even
better, so I was always on my toes and I’m very happy to win in two
today.
“It’s my first World Series Finals, I’m playing best of three for the
first time in my life and I didn’t know what to expect. To get off to a
good start is crucial and it gave me a lot of confidence.”
Gaultier will take on former World No.1 James Willstrop next, who lost
out to World No.3 Mohamed ElShorbagy. Farag will take on ElShorbagy as
both players look to take a step closer to qualification from Group B.
The Women’s event saw World No.7 Perry claim her first ever win over El
Sherbini at the fifth attempt, with a superlative performance from the
27-year-old seeing her fightback from a game down.
El Sherbini took the opener, but Perry – who qualified for the World
Series Finals after the greatest season of her career saw her reach the
final of the British Open three months ago – refused to be beaten and
she came out fighting, taking the next two games to leave El Sherbini
needing a win in her next match with Malaysia’s Nicol David.
“I’m feeling pretty amazing, I think this is the first time I’ve beaten
Nour, but it’s also the first time that I’ve beaten the current World
No.1,” Perry said.
“I’ve earned my place here, especially in the second half of the season
and I want to be a contender. If I play well and move well on the day
then I believe that I can beat anyone.”
Defending champion Laura Massaro also won on day one against eight-time
World Champion David in the latest chapter of their rivalry on the PSA
World Tour.
The match started tentatively, with both players struggling to find
their lines and making errors, but it soon developed into a free-flowing
affair, with Massaro fighting back from three game balls down to take
the first game by a 12-10 margin and she claimed the second game by the
same scoreline to move to the top of Group B.
“I didn’t realise no one else had dropped a game, it was tight and in
that second game when I was in front I was thinking that I would be
gutted if I lost that one and it went to three,” said Massaro, who takes
on Perry next.
“I’m really happy to close it out in the end. You know you’ve got three
matches either way and you’ve got to do your best in all of them. If I
lost today I would have had a bit of an uphill battle tomorrow and the
day after, but a win under my belt doesn’t mean anything at this point
unless I can get at least one more win.”
Group A saw top seed Camille Serme recover from a game down against
England’s Alison Waters, while World Junior Champion Nouran Gohar
defeated World No.2 Raneem El Welily.
Live coverage from day two of the World Series Finals begins at 15:00
local time (GMT+4) and will be shown on SQUASHTV (rest of world) and
Eurosport Player (Europe only).
World
No.5 Nouran Gohar says she is determined to put nerves to one side and
improve on last year’s disappointing performance when the 2016/17 PSA
Dubai World Series Finals gets under way between June 6 – 10 at Dubai
Opera.
The 19-year-old – who qualified fifth on this season's PSA Road to Dubai
Standings – went out at the group stage last season in what was her
first ever appearance at the tournament, which brings only the top eight
players together to compete for one of the sport's most sought after
titles.
But the Egyptian, who claimed her first ever World Series title at the
2016 Hong Kong Open, is keen to learn from her experience and go further
at the end-of-season finale this time around.
“I am so excited to be back at the biggest event of the year," said
Gohar.
"All through the season players were battling in all the World Series
tournaments just to get the opportunity to play in the World Series
Finals. I am really happy that I was able to qualify again and I’m
looking forward to playing there.
“Making it last year was huge for me and to be honest I did not expect
it. It was a totally new experience for me.
"I was too excited to be there and I didn’t quite manage to play freely
without nerves or pressure. It was great to be among the top eight
players in the world but I think I could have dealt with the situation
in a better way.
"I still enjoyed the event a lot, everything was simply perfect - apart
from the results."
This year’s tournament takes place at the Dubai Opera and Gohar can’t
wait for the action to take place at the iconic venue.
“I was amazed by the pictures of the Opera when I saw them," she added.
"It looks so beautiful and I can’t wait to see how the glass court will
look in such a venue, it’s very exciting.”
Gohar will go up against World No.3 Camille Serme – who topped the Road
to Dubai Standings, World No.2 Raneem El Welily and World No.9 Alison
Waters in Group A.
And with the World Series Finals featuring a round-robin best-of-three
series for a place in the knockout semi-finals and beyond, the young
Egyptian admitted there is no room for error.
“It is a big difference to play in a best of three format.
"You have to be on your toes and very well prepared from the very first
rally. You can’t afford to lose the first game easily against a top
eight player.
“It is different but very challenging and I am really looking forward to
seeing how I can deal with it this year.”
The PSA Dubai World Series Finals takes place from June 6-10, 2017 with
all of the action to be shown live on SQUASHTV (rest of world) and
Eurosport Player (Europe only).
Group stage matches will take place at 3:00pm, 3:45pm, 16:45pm and
17:30pm (Group A) and 21:30pm, 22:15pm, 23:15pm and 00:00am (Group B)
between June 6-8 with the semi-finals due to take place from 22:00pm on
June 9. The finals will commence at 22:00pm local time on June 10.
Defending
champion Gregory Gaultier, the French World No.1 who has gone 27
matches and six consecutive tournaments undefeated in 2017, will
take on Egyptian World No.5 Ali Farag - a late replacement for the
injured Ramy Ashour - in the final match on the opening day of
action at the season-ending PSA Dubai World Series Finals on June 6.
Inside Dubai Opera, the duo will meet for the third time in three
events, after contesting both the Grasshoper Cup and PMI Bellevue
Classic finals, in what will be the climax to a day of competition
that will also see fierce rivals Laura Massaro, 2013 Women's World
Champion and defending Women's World Series Finals champion, and
Nicol David, eight-time Women's World Champion, go up against each
other for the 31st time in their careers.
The action gets underway at 15:00 when last season's Women’s
runner-up and former World No.1 Raneem El Welily of Egypt takes on
compatriot Nouran Gohar, the 19-year-old who won the Hong Kong Open
in August, before England's former World No.1 Nick Matthew begins
his quest for one of the few trophies to have eluded him during a
glittering career to date as he goes up against debutant Marwan
ElShorbagy of Egypt.
The two players who topped the PSA Road to Dubai Standing also make
their first appearance in the afternoon session, with France’s
Camille Serme playing England’s Alison Waters and World Champion
Karim Abdel Gawad, who will be making his debut at the tournament,
facing Germany’s Simon Rösner in a match that could prove vital for
both men's hopes of advancing to the latter stages.
With eight matches, split across two sessions, the opening day will
also see former World No.1s Mohamed ElShorbagy and James Willstrop
lock horns before Women’s World Champion and current World No.1 Nour
El Sherbini faces England’s Sarah-Jane Perry.
The World Series Finals sees the top eight players on the Men's and
Women's PSA Road To Dubai Standings compete in two groups of four in
a round-robin best of three format, with only two players from each
group progressing to the knock-out semi-finals.
The Professional Squash Association (PSA) have announced that a
reduction in the amount of time that players have to warm-up the
ball up on court at the start of matches will be trialled at the
upcoming PSA Dubai World Series Finals, while there will be an
increase in the time given to players between games.
Taking place in Dubai Opera between June 6-10, the World Series
Finals will see the warm-up period reduced from five minutes to
three minutes after which point players will be given 90 seconds in
which to prepare for the start of play.
Meanwhile, the time allowed between games has been increased from
two minutes to two minutes and 30 seconds at which point play must
begin immediately. A countdown clock will be visible for both
players and spectators in addition to announcements from the referee
to inform players as to how much time they have left.
Players not in a position to either serve or return a serve after
the interval is up will receive a time violation, with the potential
of penalty points being awarded against them for further time
violations.
"Squash is a vibrant and dynamic sport and we feel that altering the
time taken during the warm-up period and game intervals will improve
the flow of the matches for spectators and TV audiences," said PSA
Chief Operating Officer Lee Beachill.
"We believe that this trial period will be an important step into
further increasing the sport’s visual appeal and look forward to
witnessing the effects of the trial during what promises to be a
world-class week of squash in Dubai."
