Islamabad squash events to feature 29 foreign players

KARACHI: As many as 29 foreign players are set to participate in two international squash tournaments to be held in Islamabad next month.

According to the entry list, 16 foreign players will feature in the $30,000 CAS International Squash Championship from April 1-5, while 13 foreign stars will participate in the $20,000 Serena Hotel Huawei International Squash Tournament from April 6-10. World No.27 Greg Lobban from Scotland will be top seed in CAS International Squash. Egypt’s World No.33 Youssef Soliman and

Mostafa Asal, ranked 41, are set to enter as second and third seeds, respectively. Pakistan’s Tayyab Aslam, ranked 53, will be seeded fifth. Omar Abdel Meguid from Egypt, ranked 56, will be seventh seed, while his 65th ranked compatriot Mazen Gamal will be seeded eighth.

The 9/16 seeded players are Egypt’s Shehab Essam, Mohamed El Sherbini and Ahmed Hosny, Pakistan’s Farhan Mehboob and Asim Khan, Hong Kong’s Henry Leung and Tsz Kwan Lau, and Carlos Cornes Ribadas from Spain.

There are only six players from Pakistan in the main draw. Waqas Mehboob from Peshawar and Israr Ahmed from Punjab got wildcard entries in the championship.

In the Serena Hotel Huawei Squash, World No.46 Karim Ali Fathi from Egypt will be top seed, followed by second seed Pakistan’s Tayyab Aslam, third seed Egypt’s Shehab Essam and fourth seed Pakistan’s Farhan Mehboob.

Ahmed Hosny from Egypt, ranked 76, will be sixth seed, Carlos Cornes Ribadas from Spain, ranked 81, will enter as seventh seed, while Pakistan’s Asim Khan, ranked 83, will be seeded eighth.

The 9/16 seed players are Pakistan’s Ahsan Ayaz, Farhan Zaman, Amaad Fareed and Israr Ahmed, Hong Kong’s Chi Him Wong, Kuwait’s Ammar Altamimi, Sean Conroy from Ireland, and Jean-Pierre Brits from South Africa. There are nine Pakistani players in the main draw. Haris Iqbal and Haris Qasim will be wildcard entries.