Former World Champion Tarek Momen will top the draw for the upcoming Windsor Cup, which will kick off the 2023-24 PSA World Tour season between August 15-19, with 24 players aiming to start the season strongly at the Bronze-level event in Canada.
The inaugural Windsor Cup will take place on a spectacular all-glass court inside the Devonshire Mall (Windsor, ON). It’s the latest impressive venue to host a professional squash tournament in Canada, following on from last season’s Canadian Open events, which took place at the Bow Valley Mall in Calgary and the Allen Lambert Galleria in Toronto.
No.1 seed Momen – the 2019 World Champion – reached two finals last season but will be looking to score a first victory since the 2020 Troilus Gold Canada Cup in Toronto.
Momen’s compatriot, Youssef Soliman, is the No.2 seed for the event and will be looking to start the new season the same way he started the last when he won the first World Tour event of the 2022-23 season at the ZED Open without dropping a single game. He’ll be up against the winner of England’s Nathan Lake or Canada’s Salah Eltorgman – one of two event wildcards – in round two after receiving a first round bye.
Mohamed ElSherbini and Gregoire Marche occupy the No.3 and No.4 seeding positions. The former enjoyed the best campaign of his career last season, reaching two finals and performing well in several major tournaments to earn a current highest world ranking of No.18. Marche, the World No.23, will be hoping for a better season this time out. The Frenchman only progressed to the quarter-final stages in two out of 17 events last season as well as dropping 11 ranking places from where he started last August.
The entertaining Qatari Abdulla Mohd Al Tamimi is set to return to action in the event after five months on the sidelines following an injury sustained at March’s Black Ball Open. Al Tamimi is regarded as one of the most flamboyant players on the men’s tour and will compete against either Egypt’s Yahya Elnawasany or Argentine Leandro Romiglio in round one.
20-year-old Canadian Amin Khan takes the other wildcard spot and he will be competing in his first event above the WSF & PSA Satellite Tour level. He takes on Hong Kong’s Henry Leung for the chance to play No.3 seed Mohamed ElSherbini in the second round.
The Windsor City Open – comprising a women’s PSA Challenger Tour 9 event and a men’s Challenger Tour 6 event – will be held alongside the tournament with play split between Devonshire Mall and the Windsor Squash & Fitness Club. USA’s. World No.55 Marina Stefanoni and Canadian World No.139 Connor Turk are the top seeds for that tournament.
The legendary six-time World Champion Jahangir Khan will be in attendance at the tournament and will present the trophies on finals day.
Streaming details will be released in due course via the Windsor Cup Twitter, Facebook and Instagram channels. Squash fans can get updates on the event via the PSA World Tour website
Tickets are available for purchase here.
2023 Windsor Cup: Draw
[1] Tarek Momen (EGY) [bye]
Ryunosuke Tsukue (JPN) v [9/16] Todd Harrity (USA)
[9/16] Rory Stewart (SCO) v Juan Camilo Vargas (COL)
[6] Omar Mosaad (EGY) [bye]
[8] Greg Lobban (SCO) [bye]
Rui Soares (POR) v [9/16] Balazs Farkas (HUN)
[9/16] Henry Leung (HKG) v [WC] Amin Khan (CAN)
[3] Mohamed ElSherbini (EGY) [bye]
[4] Gregoire Marche (FRA) [bye]
Bernat Jaume (ESP) v [9/16] Cesar Salazar (MEX)
[9/16] Yahya Elnawasany (EGY) v Leandro Romiglio (ARG)
[7] Abdulla Mohd Al Tamimi (QAT) [bye]
[5] Leonel Cardenas (MEX) [bye]
Andrew Douglas (USA) v [9/16] Karim El Hammamy (EGY)
[9/16] Nathan Lake (ENG) v [WC] Salah Eltorgman (CAN)
[2] Youssef Soliman (EGY) [bye]