Elias and Gohar head 2023 Draws

Elias and Gohar Top El Gouna International Draws

World Number Ones Diego Elias and Nouran Gohar will look to capture their maiden El Gouna International titles when they headline the draw for the PSA World Tour Platinum event between 26th May and 2nd June at the El Gouna Conference and Culture Center.

Elias – who became the sport’s first South American World No.1 this week – has never progressed beyond the quarter-finals in El Gouna, but this year the Peruvian is seeded first in the men’s draw.

The 26-year-old, who reached the British Open final last week, will get a bye into round two, where he has a difficult match against two-time runner-up Karim Abdel Gawad. Gawad played a pivotal role in Elias’s rise to No.1, with his third round win over World No.2 Mohamed ElShorbagy at the British Open guaranteeing the Peruvian would top the PSA World Rankings.

Elias is seeded to play Malaysia’s Eain Yow Ng in round three and former World Champion Tarek Momen in the quarter-finals. A mouthwatering semi-final clash between Elias and current World Champion Ali Farag could be in store, with the match being a repeat of last week’s British Open title decider.

Two-time champion ElShorbagy is seeded at No.2 and will go up against Frenchman Baptiste Masotti in round two. Matches against Fares Dessouky and then Paul Coll – who has finished runner-up in the last two editions of the El Gouna International – could follow, while the Englishman is seeded to play defending champion Mostafa Asal in the last four.

Gohar tops the women’s draw as she looks to reach a fourth successive El Gouna International final. Gohar lost to compatriots Raneem El Welily, Nour El Sherbini and Hania El Hammamy in the finals of the 2019, 2021 and 2022 events and will hope to make it fourth time lucky this year.

The 25-year-old will go up against either Hana Ramadan or Kenzy Ayman in round two before a potential meeting with England’s Gina Kennedy in the last 16. Matches against USA’s Olivia Fiechter and defending champion El Hammamy are then expected to follow in the quarter-finals and semi-finals.

World Champion Nour El Sherbini – who beat Gohar in the British Open final last week – is seeded second and will play either France’s Melissa Alves or fellow Egyptian Nour Aboulmakarim in the second round. El Sherbini’s path to the final could feature the likes of USA’s Olivia Clyne, England’s Sarah-Jane Perry and New Zealand’s Joelle King.

World No.150 Menna Walid and World No.206 Nour Khafagy have been named as the wildcards in the women’s event, while the men’s wildcards will be World No.92 Aly Hussein and World No.340 Mohamad Zakaria.

Action from the El Gouna Conference and Culture Center will be shown live on SQUASHTV, while the semi-finals and finals will also be shown live by PSA’s broadcast partners.

Streaming details for fixtures held at Squash Complex El Gouna – which will host action from round one, round two and selected round three matches – will be announced in due course.