What’s at stake – WTF spots & World #1

Obviously the main incentive for the players this week is to become the El Gouna Champion – but there are also ramifications in the World Rankings and World Tour Finals qualification

World Tour Finals

The top eight in the “Road to Cairo” standings will compete in June’s World Tour Finals at the Mall of Arabia, and while most of the places are already confirmed, there’s still a chance for some to win, or lose, their spot.

With the withdrawal of Olivia Fiechter, who was the only woman who could dislodge one of the top eight with a good result in Gouna, we know the eight who will compete but results this week will determine the seedings.

For the men, Tarek Momen is the only player who could force his way through, with Mazen Hesham and Victor Crouin needing the results to maintain their current spots in the top eight.

World Number One

Since the move to weekly rankings, the “battle for world number one” seems to be a constant headline, although the number of changes at the top have been few.

Results in Gouna could have a bearing on both the top spots, with four men and two women in contention to be World Number One on 5th June.

The women’s permutations are fairly simple – Nour El Sherbini will remain #1 if she reaches the final, while Nouran Gohar would need to win the event with Sherbini falling early.

There are four men who could come out on top – Diego Elias, Mohamed ElShorbagy, Mostafa Asal and Ali Farag.

The potted version of what they need is this :

Diego just needs to reach the final
Ali needs to win the event with Diego not reaching the final
Mohamed needs to win the event with Diego not reaching the semis
Mostafa needs to win the event with all the others going out early

Again, there are more permutations than that, but the above are the most likely scenarios.

Confused ? Just enjoy the squash this week and the new rankings will be revealed !