Top foreign players withdraw from CNS Squash

KARACHI: Four foreign players, including two top seeds, have withdrawn from the 16th CNS International Squash that is to be held in Karachi from May 8-12.

According to the entry list, Egypt’s Ibrahim Elkabbani and Aly Hussein, ranked 61st and 62nd, respectively, were top seeds. M Moustafa Elsirty, ranked 100th, and M Nasser, ranked 119th, also withdrew their entries. They have been replaced by Hazem Hossam from Egypt, Sebastiaan Hofman from Netherlands, Jan Wipperfurth from Germany, and Will Salter from England.

All in all, 19 foreign players from Egypt, Malaysia, England, Hong Kong, Czech Republic, and Japan are participating in this high-prize event. Now, Pakistan’s top players Asim Khan and Tayyab Aslam, ranked 67 and 71, respectively, are top and second seeds while Yassin Elshafei, ranked 72, and Mohamad Zakaria [U19], ranked 76, from Egypt are third and fourth seeds.

Perry Malik from England, ranked 82, and Tang Ming from Hong Kong, ranked 85, are seeded fifth and sixth while Noor Zaman from Pakistan and Matthew Lai from Hong Kong have been seeded seventh and eighth.

The 9/16 seed players include Wong Chi Him from Hong Kong, Mohammad Syafiq Kamal and Darren Pragasam from Malaysia, Ondrej Vorlícek from Czech Republic, Leo Chung and Ka Hei Ho from Hong Kong, and Ong Sai Hung and Bryan Tze Kang Lim from Malaysia.

The unseeded players are Hafiz Zhafri from Malaysia, Tomo Endo from Japan, Hazem Hossam from Egypt, Sebastiaan Hofman from Netherlands, Jan Wipperfurth from Germany, and Will Salter from England. The organisers have given wildcards to Nasir Iqbal and Abdul Basit Khan [U19].