Africa-Press – Mauritius. Official draw for the first Necker Mauritius Open 2022 has been revealed, with 24 players competing in the PSA World Tour Gold event, which will take place from June 7 to 11.
Gregory Gaultier, the former World No. 1 and 2015 World Champion, will make a one-time comeback to PSA World Tour competition because his sponsors are the event’s major sponsors.
Last year, ‘The French General’ announced his retirement from the tour, with the PSA World Championships in Chicago in July 2021 serving as his final event.
Gaultier and World No. 3 Mohamed ElShorbagy have 44 tournament wins apiece on the PSA World Tour, with the Frenchman’s most recent victory coming in the Czech Pro Series 1 2021 Challenger 10 event in January 2021.
In the first round of the competition, Gaultier will face Egyptian Youssef Soliman. Gaultier won 3-0 in 65 minutes in the CIB PSA Black Ball Squash Open 2021, the pair’s only previous meeting on the PSA World Tour.
The winner will face Fares Dessouky, the Canary Wharf Classic Champion, who will have a bye in round one. World No. 1 Paul Coll leads the draw and will play the winner of France’s Baptiste Masotti and Egypt’s Karim El Hammamy in the second round for his 20th career title and fifth of the season.
The event has drawn nine of the top 10 players in the world, making it the strongest Gold event of the season so far. Ali Farag, the reigning World Champion, already has five PSA World Tour Gold event victories under his belt and will be determined to add to that total and cut the gap on the World No. 1 slot.
He’ll face either Matthieu Castagnet, a veteran of the tour, or Karim Abdel Gawad, a former World Champion. On day one, Mauritius fans will be entertained by an intriguing first-round match between Egyptian combo Youssef Ibrahim and Omar Mosaad.
Ibrahim enjoyed his best tournament of his career earlier this year at the Windy City Open, where he reached the Platinum event final. Mosaad, on the other hand, is a former World No. 3 who is always a threat to the top players.
Winner will compete against Mostafa Asal, current US Open Champion. On day one, former World No. 1 James Willstrop will face Switzerland’s Nicolas Mueller in an all-European showdown.
‘The Swiss Rocket’ has been in incredible form this year, winning several huge matches against higher-ranked opponents and reaching the quarterfinals of British Open for the first time.
In the second round, winner will face Mohamed ElShorbagy, runner-up of the Manchester Open and World No. 3. In addition to men’s Challenger 30, a women’s Challenger 30 will be held at the same time.
Nele Gilis of Belgium will be the top seed in the RMCLUB Women’s Open 2022 presented by Expression Networks. In four of her seven tournaments this year, World No.12 has advanced to the quarterfinals or better, including a last 16 appearance at the Windy City Open Platinum event in February.
Tinne, Nele’s younger sister, is No.4 seed for the event and has been in excellent form recently, following up her quarter-final participation at the British Open with a triumph at Annecy Rose Open, where she defeated her older sister in straight games to win the championship.
In the second round, Tinne will face either Egypt’s Nadeen Kotb or Scotland’s Georgia Adderley. Coline Aumard of France will compete in this event for the last time on the PSA World Tour, having announced her retirement after 16 years on the circuit.
She is the eighth seed in the tournament and will face strong competition in round two, as she awaits the winner of either Marie Stephan of France or Millie Tomlinson of England.
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