Qatar’s top squash player Abdulla Mohamed al-Tamimi will take on Lucas Serme of France in the opening round of the QTerminals Qatar Classic today. The hugely popular tournament has attracted the world’s best players who will be battling for a total prize bag of $187,500.Ali Farag, Diego Elias, Mohamed ElShorbagy, Paul Coll, Marwan ElShorbagy, Mazen Hesham, Victor Crouin and Tarek Momen are the top eight seeds at the Doha event. ElShorbagy beat Crouin in last year’s final. This week will give ElShorbagy the chance to win his 50th PSA title.The draw for this year’s men’s tournament is led by Farag, ranked number one in the world. The Egyptian star won in Doha in 2018 and 2020, while he was surprisingly eliminated last year in the third round but will be favourite to take the title this time around. However, he must navigate a tricky draw which contains fellow Egyptians Mohamed Abouelghar, Fares Dessouky and Tarek Momen, who is playing on the same court where he won the 2019-20 PSA World Championships.For the home fans, the first day of the main draw will be headlined by al-Tamimi’s clash against Serme.The 28-year-old, who lost in the opening round in Paris last week against Karim El Hammamy, will be looking for a positive start at the home event taking place at the iconic Khalifa International Tennis & Squash Complex.Earlier this year at Sturbridge Capital Motor City Open 2023, al-Tamimi prevailed over Serme in four games. The Qatari No 1 had strong competition in last year’s Qatar Classic, beating Coll in a 94-minute thriller.The local player then continued his impressive run with a win over Englishman George Parker in the third round, becoming the first Qatari player to reach the quarter-finals of a Platinum event. His run eventually came to an end against eventual finalist Crouin.In the build up to the home event, al-Tamimi said he had prepared well and that he would be using the competition in Doha ahead of forthcoming Asian Games in Guangzhou.Currently ranked 22, al-Tamimi only resumed playing in August after a gap of five months. "The training last summer was good and it paid off as I jumped from 48th in the world to 17th in the first half of the season. I had to undergo surgery, which made me sad, especially with the way I was playing and competing, but again, I always remind myself that everything happens for a reason,” al-Tamimi said ahead of the tournament. "It could be a hidden blessing as I had a time out and spent some quality time with family,” he added.In other matches involving Qataris today, Salem al-Malki will take on Patrick Rooney of Britain and Syed Azlan Amjad will face France’s Auguste Dussourd.In some other matches today, Mohamed Abouelghar of Egypt will face Henry Leung of Hong Kong, Karim El Hammamy of Egypt take on Dimitri Steinmann of Switzerland, Omar Mossad of Egypt will battle Hong Kong’s Tsz Kwan Lau, Timothy Brownell of the US play Britain’s Adrian Waller while Shahjahan Khan of the US will try to go past Britain’s George Parker.Tareq Zainal, Qatar Tennis, Squash and Badminton Federation Secretary-General, said squash fans in Qatar are in for a treat. "We are honoured to host the Qterminals Qatar Classic once again. This tournament has grown in stature over the years, attracting the world’s best squash players to Qatar. This year, fans will have another chance to see these incredible athletes compete in person. We hope to see a large turnout of fans to enjoy this week-long festival of squash,” Zainal said in the build up to the tournament.
September 10, 2023 | 01:00 AM