Kiwis In Top Tournaments In Egypt

It’s a busy time for New Zealand squash players in Egypt this week with Waikato’s Joelle King set to play the women’s world championships, while Paul Coll and Campbell Grayson compete in a big men’s PSA prizemoney tournament at the same venue.

King seeded ninth for the world champs in El Gouna, Egypt faces Heba El Torky (Egypt) who is ranked 24 in the world. A win in the first round for the 28-year-old King would see her likely to play Englishwoman Laura Masaro the fifth seed.

It is the sixth time King has appeared in the world champs for a best result of the quarter-finals in 2013.

The tournament is worth big money for the international squash circuit, US$165,000  total with a cheque of US$24000 for the winner. Technically it is the 2016 tournament being held in the following year after issues with sponsorship and the overall organisation of last year’s event.  

In the US$150,000 men’s tournament, also in El Gouna there’s a good opportunity for Kiwi rising star Coll from Greymouth who is at a world ranking of 13. He faces qualifier Tom Richards from England who is ranked 35th in the world.

West Auckland’s Grayson won through to the main draw after a four game win over Yossef Ibrahim (Egypt) in the final round of qualifying, but now has to face Australian veteran Cameron Pilley who is the  17th ranked player in the world.