Weybridge to Host Top Stars for Channel VAS Championships

Ali Farag

The third instalment of the Channel VAS Championships at St George’s Hill will feature a number of the world’s most in-form players when the main draw takes place between October 18-22 at the St George’s Hill Lawn Tennis Club in Weybridge, England.

Following on from his first ever World Series title last week at the U.S. Open Presented by Macquarie Investment Management, Egypt’s World No.5 Ali Farag comes into the draw in red hot form as he looks to make it back-to-back PSA World Tour titles for the first time since 2015.

Farag was sublime in Philadelphia and overcame World No.3 Mohamed ElShorbagy 3-0 in the final to follow in the footsteps of wife Nour El Tayeb, who won the women’s tournament, as they became the first married couple in sporting history ever to win the same major sports title on the same day.

The 25-year-old from Cairo has made a sensational start to the season after also reaching the final of the J.P. Morgan China Squash Open last month and he will kickstart his title assault against tournament wildcard Charlie Lee in round one.

A win for Farag could see him line up against defending champion Paul Coll in the last eight, with the Kiwi World No.10 set to face Australia’s Ryan Cuskelly in round one.

Coll shocked the squash world last December when he came all the way through qualifying to win the 2016 instalment of the Channel VAS Championships and, after a mixed U.S. Open which saw him upset World Champion Karim Abdel Gawad before going down against World No.31 Omar Mosaad, the 25-year-old will be eager to make amends against the eventual victory of that tournament.

ElShorbagy is seeded to met Farag in the final as he looks to build on an impressive start to the 2017/18 season.

In addition to his runner-up finish in Philadelphia, the Bristol-based Egyptian also claimed the Oracle NetSuite Open title on his first appearance of the new campaign as he looks to recover from an underwhelming 2016/17 season that saw him lose his World No.1 spot and bow out at the first round stage of the Channel VAS Championship last year.

ElShorbagy faces Spain’s former World No.5 Borja Golan in the opening round and he is seeded to meet his brother, Marwan, in the semi-finals, with Marwan winning the last two meetings between the pair. 2016 runner-up Tarek Momen is also involved in the draw and he lines up against a Cameron Pilley in round one.

Draw – 2017 Channel VAS Championships at St George’s Hill: First Round
[1] Mohamed ElShorbagy (EGY) v Borja Golan (ESP)
[Q] Miguel Angel Rodriguez (COL) v [5] Fares Dessouky (EGY)
[8] Mohamed Abouelghar (EGY) v [Q] Raphael Kandra (GER)
[Q] Saurav Ghosal (IND) v [3] Marwan ElShorbagy (EGY)
[4] Tarek Momen (EGY) v [Q] Cameron Pilley (AUS)
Diego Elias (PER) v [7] Daryl Selby (ENG)
[6] Paul Coll (NZL) v Ryan Cuskelly (ENG)
[WC] Charlie Lee (ENG) v [2] Ali Farag (EGY)