DOHA (Qatar): The Qatar Classic, a part of PSA World Tour event, is an annual international event that was renamed from Qatar International in 2001.
The tournament features both men and women, the men’s event is part of PSA World Series while women’s in WSA World Series.
This year’s event will be held in the Qatari capital from November 1 to 7, and a host of top names including defending champion Ali Farag of Egypt will be seen in action.
England’s Peter Nicol had won the inaugural edition in Doha and added his second in 2002 by beating Australian David Palmer in the final.
However, in later editions following the rise of Ramy Ashour (2007 winner) saw Qatar Classic become a happy hunting ground for the Egyptian players.
Meanwhile, Ali and compatriot Nour El Sherbini became the first players to qualify for the 2020-21 PSA World Tour Finals after they captured the CIB Egyptian Open, PSA Platinum titles in front of the Great Pyramid of Giza last week.
The CIB PSA World Tour Finals includes both a men’s and women’s tournament featuring eight players each and brings together the reigning PSA World Champions and all PSA World Tour Platinum title winners.
Any remaining places are allocated to the highest ranked players on the CIB Road to Egypt Standings, with points on offer at all PSA World Tour events during the season
El Sherbini and Farag will both go back to World No.1 on November 1 following their exploits at the Egyptian Open last week and both sit atop the CIB Road to Egypt Standings following the first two events of the 20-21 season.
Despite missing the Manchester Open, El Sherbini sits atop the women’s CIB Road to Egypt Standings with 2,750 points, 425 points ahead of second-placed Manchester Open winner Nour El Tayeb.
Current World No.1 and Egyptian Open runner-up Nouran Gohar sits in third on 1,810 points ahead of the 2019-20 CIB PSA World Tour Finals victory Hania El Hammamy, who completes an all-Egyptian top four.
Manchester Open runner-up Camille Serme sits in fifth and is joined in the top eight by Egypt’s Salma Hany, Belgium’s Nele Gilis and England’s Sarah-Jane Perry, who holds the final qualification spot. New Zealand’s Joelle King sits just 30 points behind Perry.
Farag leads the way in the men’s standings with 3,050 points giving him a 940-point lead over World Champion Tarek Momen in second. World Tour Finals winner Marwan ElShorbagy sits in third while Manchester Open champion and current World No.1 Mohamed ElShorbagy makes it an all-Egyptian top four to match the women’s standings.
Kiwi Paul Coll sits at No.5 and is followed by World Junior Champion Mostafa Asal and 2018-19 World Tour Finals winner Karim Abdel Gawad. Peru’s Diego Elias, French veteran Gregory Gaultier and World No.14 Mazen Hesham all sit joint eighth with 675 points each. (Inputs: psaworldtour.com)
