All star cast for PSA Dubai World Series Finals
DUBAI: After a thrilling finish in the last qualifying event for the 2017 PSA Dubai World Series Finals at El Gouna, Egypt, defending champion Gregory Gaultier of France is on track to take his fourth PSA World Series Finals title in a row when he heads to Dubai in June.
Gaultier, known as “The General”, defeated Karim Abdel Gawad to take his 38th career PSA World Tour title in El Gouna, and became the first non-Egyptian winner of the tournament. Gaultier heads the star studded lineup of players that includes the top eight ranked male and female players in the PSA Road to Dubai rankings that will contest the prestigious PSA Dubai World Series Finals June 6-10 at Dubai Opera.
The women’s lineup was finalized in March and will feature world No. 1 Nour El Sherbini of Egypt who just last week defended her world championship crown, 2016 defending champion Laura Massaro of England, France’s Camille Serme, eight-time World Champion Nicol David of Malaysia, Egypt’s Raneem El Welily and Nouran Gohar, and England’s Sarah-Jane Perry and Alison Waters.
Gaultier is in blistering form, winning the last three qualification events, and his current unbeaten run of 19 matches is the longest of his glittering 17-year career. Although he will surrender the world No. 1 position next month to Gawad, who finished the qualification race in first place just five points clear of Gaultier, the 34-year old’s recent form sees him come to Dubai as the favorite to defend the title he won last year.
Egypt’s impressive dominance of squash continues, claiming four of the eight qualification places. Former world No. 1 Mohamed Elshorbagy finished in third position with his brother Marwan, the PSA Men’s Young Player of the Year in 2016, in fourth. Another former world No. 1 Ramy Ashour finished in equal seventh despite battling injuries throughout the year.
England’s former world No. 1 Nick Matthew also had an injury interrupted season, but still managed two runner-up finishes and qualified in fifth.
His countryman, also a former world No. 1 James Willstrop came in sixth. Germany’s Simon Rosner made five quarterfinals throughout the season and finished in equal seventh with Ashour.
Tickets for the 2017 PSA Dubai World Series Finals are available to purchase through www. dubaiopera.com or from the Dubai Opera Box Office. For further information on both the PSA World Series and the PSA World Tour, please visit www.worldseriesfinals.com