U.S. Open Draws Released; Asal and Gohar Target Title Defense

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The path to the 2022 U.S. Open Squash Championships titles presented by Truist is now clear with the release of the draws, October 8-15, at the Arlen Specter US Squash Center in Philadelphia.

Draws and match times for all matches are now available on usopensquash.com/draws. Get your tickets today on usopensquash.com/tickets to watch the world’s best squash players vie for one of the sport’s most prestigious titles.

Egypt’s defending champions Nouran Gohar and Mostafa Asal open their title defenses as the one and three seeds, respectively.

Gohar is bidding to equal Nicol David’s record of winning three consecutive U.S. Open titles. The twenty-four-year-old could face 2017 champion Nour El Tayeb or Team USA’s four seed Amanda Sobhy in the semifinals. Should Sobhy progress as seeded, the American could face a difficult quarterfinal match up against England’s six seed Sarah-Jane Perry.

The U.S. Open remains the only major title in the sport of squash to elude world No. 2 Nour El Sherbini, who at twenty-six years old has already won six world titles. El Sherbini enters the bottom half of the draw as the two seed, and could face Commonwealth Games gold medalist and Harvard graduate Georgina Kennedy in the quarterfinals. Should El Sherbini progress, the Egyptian could face a rematch of her 2021 U.S. Open semifinal loss against compatriot and 2021 finalist Hania El Hammamy.

El Hammamy will face a difficult tournament opener with the home crowd against her, however, as she faces Team USA’s 2021 semifinalist Olivia Fiechter Sunday, October 9, at 7:15pm.

World No. 20 Sabrina Sobhy and world No. 22 Olivia Blatchford Clyne both open their tournaments against Hong Kong opposition Saturday, October 8. Sobhy will face Columbia sophomore Chan Sin Yuk at 6pm, and Blatchford Clyne will take on World No. 45 Kay Yi Lee at 5:45pm.

American sisters, Marina and Lucie Stefanoni, return for their second U.S. Open Wild Card appearances together. Marina will face Canada’s Commonwealth Games silver medalist Hollie Naughton on the west glass court at 7:15pm, while Lucie faces world No. 23 Nadine Shahin.

Twenty-one-year-old Asal is seeded to meet compatriot and eight seed Mazen Hesham in what would be a highly-anticipated quarterfinal. 2021 finalist Tarek Momen also enters the top half of the draw with a potential quarterfinal against world No. 1 and two-time champion Ali Farag.

After exiting the 2021 U.S. Open in the quarterfinals against Asal, New Zealand’s world No. 2 Paul Coll targets his first title as the two seed in the bottom half of the draw. Coll’s predicted quarterfinal match up could come against five seed Mohamed Elshorbagy, who will be motivated to win what would be a record-setting fourth U.S. Open title, surpassing the likes of three-time champions Gregory Gaultier, Peter Nicol and Jansher Khan. Coll or ElShorbagy could face 2021 semifinalist and four seed Diego Elias from Peru in the semifinals.

Four American men will aim to harness the home crowd in the first round Saturday, October 8. World No. 31 Shahjahan Khan will face Switzerland’s world No. 44 Dimitri Steinmann on the West glass court at 6:30pm. World No. 39 Todd Harrity, a Princeton graduate, will face a former Columbia star and Indian international Ramit Tandon on the East glass court at 5:15pm.

Americans Faraz Khan, world No. 56, and Timmy Brownell, world No. 68, both return for their second U.S. Open Wild Card appearances. Khan will take on England’s world No. 23 Patrick Rooney on the West glass court at 5pm, while Brownell will play Spain’s world No. 26 Iker Bernabeu on the East Glass Court at 6:45pm.