ElShorbagy and Rodriguez On Course for San Francisco
Showdown at Oracle NetSuite Open
British
Open finalists Mohamed ElShorbagy and Miguel Angel Rodriguez are seeded
to meet in a blockbuster quarter-final fixture when the 2018 Oracle
NetSuite Open brings world-class squash back to San Francisco’s
Embarcadero Plaza between September 27 - October 2.
Rodriguez’s win over the
World No.1 in the final of the sport’s oldest competition in May was one
of the most dramatic moments of the 2017/18 season and the pair are
likely to meet once again in the last eight of the men’s PSA World Tour
Gold event.
Both players receive a bye
into the second round, where ElShorbagy will play either France’s
Gregoire Marche or Welshman Joel Makin, while Rodriguez will face one of
fellow South American Diego Elias or tournament wildcard Charlie Johnson
in round two.
Second seed Ali Farag will
lock horns with either 2016 finalist James Willstrop or Scotland’s Alan
Clyne in the second round, with a victory against either of the two
British players taking him through to a potential quarter-final clash
with two-time champion Ramy Ashour.
The winner of that match is
seeded to face either three-time champion Gregory Gaultier or Tournament
of Champions winner Simon Rösner, while one of World No.4 Tarek Momen or
2016 World Champion Karim Abdel Gawad is also seeded to reach the
semi-finals on the opposite side of the draw.
In the women’s PSA World
Tour Silver event, defending champion Sarah-Jane Perry is drawn on the
same side of the draw as New Zealand’s Joelle King, with the pair seeded
to play in the quarter-finals in a repeat of their final meeting in
April’s Commonwealth Games.
Elsewhere, 2016 champion
Laura Massaro and last year’s runner-up Nicol David are also predicted
to meet in the last eight, while top seed Raneem El Welily could play
England’s Alison Waters.
United States interest comes
in the form of World No.14 Olivia Blatchford and 2015 winner Amanda
Sobhy. Blatchford will play France’s Coline Aumard in round one, while
Sobhy will lock horns with 2007 World Champion Rachael Grinham.
A record prize fund of $206K
is split between the men’s and women’s tournaments, both of which will
feature a 24-player draw after the new PSA tour structure came into
effect on August 1.
First and second round
action will be split between the Bay Club Redwood Shores, Squash Zone,
Bay Club San Francisco, the Olympic Club and the University Club while
the quarter-finals onwards will be held at the Oracle NetSuite
SuiteSuccess court erected on Embarcadero Plaza from September 29.
Fixtures shown on the Oracle
NetSuite SuiteSuccess court will be broadcast live on SQUASHTV (Rest of
World) and Eurosport Player (Europe only).
Follow the tournament on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
Tickets start from $20 and can be purchased via
the tournament
website.
Main Draw – 2018
Men’s Oracle NetSuite Open
[1] Mohamed ElShorbagy (EGY)
(bye)
Joel Makin (WAL) v [9/16]
Gregoire Marche (FRA)
[9/16] Diego Elias (PER) v
[WC] Charlie Johnson (ENG)
[5] Miguel Angel Rodriguez
(COL) (bye)
[7] Karim Abdel Gawad (EGY)
(bye)
Omar Abdel Meguid (EGY) v
[9/16] Abdulla Mohd Al Tamimi (QAT)
[9/16] Saurav Ghosal (IND) v
Campbell Grayson (NZL)
[3] Tarek Momen (EGY) (bye)
[4] Simon Rösner (GER) (bye)
Karim Ali Fathi (EGY) v
[9/16] Cesar Salazar (MEX)
[9/16] Ryan Cuskelly (AUS) v
Mazen Hesham (EGY)
[6] Gregory Gaultier (FRA)
(bye)
[8] Ramy Ashour (EGY) (bye)
Lucas Serme (FRA) v [916]
Mathieu Castagnet (FRA)
[9/16] James Willstrop (ENG)
v Alan Clyne (SCO)
[2] Ali Farag (EGY) (bye)
Main Draw – 2018 Women’s Oracle
NetSuite Open
[1] Raneem El Welily (EGY)
(bye)
Hollie Naughton (CAN) v
[9/16] Yathreb Adel (EGY)
[9/16] Olivia Blatchford
(USA) v Coline Aumard (FRA)
[7] Alison Waters (ENG)
(bye)
[6] Nicol David (MAS) (bye)
Danielle Letourneau (CAN) v
[9/16] Fiona Moverley (ENG)
[9/16] Donna Lobban (AUS) v
Amanda Landers-Murphy (NZL)
[4] Laura Massaro (ENG)
(bye)
[3] Camille Serme (FRA)
(bye)
Rachael Grinham (AUS) v
[9/16] Amanda Sobhy (USA)
[9/16] Millie Tomlinson
(ENG) v Milou van der Heijden (NED)
[8] Annie Au (HKG) (bye)
[5] Sarah-Jane Perry (ENG)
(bye)
Rowan Elaraby (EGY) v [9/16]
Salma Hany (EGY)
[9/16] Dipika Pallikal
Karthik (IND) v Nadine Shahin (EGY)
[2] Joelle King (NZL) (bye)
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