Stars return to Hull for a seventh year 
By ELLIE MAWSON

A record prize purse of $348,000 will be on offer at the 2019 Allam British Open when the world’s leading squash players line up at the University of Hull Sports and Fitness Centre between May 20-26, 2019.

Split equally between the men’s and women’s draws, the prize purse is the largest since the tournament began in 1922, and the event will take place in Hull for a seventh successive year.

Known as ‘The Wimbledon of Squash’, the British Open is the sport’s longest-running tournament and this year will be headed up by World No.1s Ali Farag and Raneem El Welily as they aim to add their names to the famous trophy.

Defending champion Miguel Rodriguez – who last year became the first South American ever to win the tournament – will return alongside runner-up and two-time winner Mohamed ElShorbagy.

Rodriguez and ElShorbagy are the only players in the men’s draw to have ever won the tournament, and will face stiff competition from World Championship runner-up Tarek Momen, Germany’s Simon Rösner, New Zealand’s Paul Coll, former World No.1 Karim Abdel Gawad and World No.8 Mohamed Abouelghar.

Raneem El Welily fell in last year’s final to World No.2 Nour El Sherbini and the two are seeded to meet in the final once again. World Championship runner-up Nour El Tayeb, 2015 champion Camille Serme, New Zealand’s Joelle King, England No.1 Sarah-Jane Perry, Egypt’s Nouran Gohar and 2017 winner Laura Massaro make up the rest of the top eight seeds.

Meanwhile, Malaysian icon and five-time winner Nicol David also features as she makes her final appearance at the tournament. The 35-year-old will retire at the end of the season, bringing an end to her association with the event, which stretches back to 2001.

The British Open also represents the penultimate chance for players to win points for the PSA World Tour Finals. Ali Farag, Mohamed ElShorbagy, Karim Abdel Gawad, Raneem El Welily, Nour El Sherbini and Joelle King have already qualified for the season-ending jamboree, while the other competitors will qualify if they claim a top eight spot on the PSA World Tour Finals leaderboard.

The University of Hull Sports and Fitness Centre hosts the British Open in its brand new state-of-the-art facility between May 20-26. Tickets are available for purchase via Ticketmaster.

All matches from the glass court will be shown live on SQUASHTV and Eurosport Player. Semi-finals and finals will be broadcast on mainstream channels around the world such as BT Sport, Fox Sports Australia and Astro.

For all of the latest news on the 2019 British Open, please visit www.allambritishopen.com or follow the tournament on Twitter: @BritOpenSquash 

2019 Allam British Open, Hull, England, May 20-26.

Men’s Entry List:
1) Ali Farag (EGY)
2) Mohamed ElShorbagy (EGY)
3) Tarek Momen (EGY)
4) Simon Rösner (GER)
5) Paul Coll (NZL)
6) Karim Abdel Gawad (EGY)
7) Miguel Rodriguez (COL)
8) Mohamed Abouelghar (EGY)
9) Diego Elias (PER)
10) Saurav Ghosal (IND)
11) Marwan ElShorbagy (EGY)
12) Omar Mosaad (EGY)
13) Raphael Kandra (GER)
14) Joel Makin (WAL)
15) Zahed Salem (EGY)
16) Declan James (ENG)
17) Gregoire Marche (FRA)
18) James Willstrop (ENG)
19) Tsz Fung Yip (HKG)
20) Max Lee (HKG)
21) Tom Richards (ENG)
22) Leo Au (HKG)
23) Mathieu Castagnet (FRA)
24) Daryl Selby (ENG)
25) Cesar Salazar (MEX)
26) Nicolas Mueller (SUI)
27) Greg Lobban (SCO)
28) Youssef Soliman (EGY)
29) Borja Golan (ESP)
30) Adrian Waller (ENG)
31) Lucas Serme (FRA)
32) Mazen Hesham (EGY)
33) Abdulla Mohd Al Tamimi (QAT)
34) Chris Simpson (ENG)
35) Eain Yow Ng (MAS)
36) Cameron Pilley (AUS)
37) George Parker (ENG)
38) Mostafa Asal (EGY)
39) Fares Dessouky (EGY)
40) Ivan Yuen (MAS)
41) Todd Harrity (USA)
42) Karim Ali Fathi (EGY)
43) Alan Clyne (SCO)
44) Campbell Grayson (NZL)
45) Ben Coleman (ENG)
46) Ramit Tandon (IND)
47) Joshua Masters (ENG)
48) Patrick Rooney (ENG)

Women’s Entry List:
1) Raneem El Welily (EGY)
2) Nour El Sherbini (EGY)
3) Nour El Tayeb (EGY)
4) Camille Serme (FRA)
5) Joelle King (NZL)
6) Sarah-Jane Perry (ENG)
7) Nouran Gohar (EGY)
8) Laura Massaro (ENG)
9) Tesni Evans (WAL)
10) Alison Waters (ENG)
11) Annie Au (HKG)
12) Amanda Sobhy (USA)
13) Victoria Lust (ENG)
14) Salma Hany (EGY)
15) Joshna Chinappa (IND)
16) Hania El Hammamy (EGY)
17) Joey Chan (HKG)
18) Yathreb Adel (EGY)
19) Nicol David (MAS)
20) Olivia Blatchford Clyne (USA)
21) Emily Whitlock (ENG)
22) Millie Tomlinson (ENG)
23) Rowan Elaraby (EGY)
24) Fiona Moverley (ENG)
25) Rachael Grinham (AUS)
26) Zeina Mickawy (EGY)
27) Mariam Metwally (EGY)
28) Mayar Hany (EGY)
29) Nele Gilis (BEL)
30) Milou van der Heijden (NED)
31) Samantha Cornett (CAN)
32) Hollie Naughton (CAN)
33) Coline Aumard (FRA)
34) Liu Tsz-Ling (HKG)
35) Danielle Letourneau (CAN)
36) Low Wee Wern (MAS)
37) Jenny Duncalf (ENG)
38) Lisa Aitken (SCO)
39) Julianne Courtice (ENG)
40) Amanda Landers-Murphy (NZL)
41) Tinne Gilis (BEL)
42) Olivia Fiechter (USA)
43) Haley Mendez (USA)
44) Alexandra Fuller (RSA)
45) Melissa Alves (FRA)
46) Rachel Arnold (MAS)
47) Pre-Qualifier – TBC
48) Lucy Turmel (ENG) 

Pictures courtesy of PSA