(MENAFN- The Peninsula) By Armstrong Vas / The Peninsula
The qualifying round of the Qatar Circuit squash tournament will begin from today at Khalifa International tennis and Squash Complex, organisers of the event informed here yesterday.
Twenty-six players drawn from six countries will be vying for the eight spots at the main draw of the PSA event in the two days of qualifying action.
The main round matches begin on Friday and will feature 24 players, who have earned direct qualification for the tournament, and eight qualifiers.
Players from England, India, New Zealand, Iran, Pakistan, France, Kuwait, Egypt, Malaysia, Germany and Zimbabwe will be seen in action in the tournament which ends with the final on Monday.
The quarter-finals will take place on Saturday and the semi-finals on Sunday.
Qatar will have 12 players in the qualifying rounds.
In the main draw, the hosts challenge will be led by Abdulla Al Tamimi, an Aspire Academy graduate.
The 22-year-old broke into the world's top 40 for the first-time last year following strong performances on the PSA World Tour and is the top seed at the home tournament.
Tamimi, who has scripted a few memorable wins this season against players ranked much higher to him is eager to do well in the championship.
'I have many challenges ahead of me and the Qatar Circuit will be an ideal preparation for next month's World Championship in Manchester. I have been training very hard for the Qatar Circuit and it is a challenge for me to play well and perform well before the home crowds, said Tamimi, who turned professional in 2011.
Besides Tamimi, Umair Zaman, Syed Azlan Amjad and Abdulrahman Al Malki are the three other home players who will vie for the top prize in the main draw.
The other seeded players include World No. 49 Nathan Lake of England, Ben. Coleman (Eng, 52), Youssef Soliman (Egy, 56), Angus Gillams (Eng, 67), Shehab Essam (81, Egy), Karim Hammamy (Egy,77) and Ammar Altamimi (117, Kuw).
Tamimi will begin his challenge against Victor Crouin of France on Friday while Umair Zaman and Syed Azlan Amjad, both will take on qualifiers and Abdulrahman Al Malki faces Darren Rahul Pragasam of Malaysia.
In the qualifying rounds Qatar challenge will be led by Hamad Al Amri, who is one of the six players who has got a first-round bye.
Five other players who will not see action today but will be playing tomorrow include Tobias Weggen of Germany, Muhammad Farhan of Pakistan, Abdullah Al Muzayen of Kuwait, Ahmed Hassan and Faisal Hassan, both of Zimbabwe.
The other players from Qatar, who will be seen in action in the qualifying, include Mohamed Tarek Desouky Ouda, Ibrahim Ahmed Al Darwish, Mohammad Salim Saadi Al Yaafei, Ali Saeed Al Dosari, Yousuf Al-Kubaisi, Waleed Zaman, Salem Yousaf Al Malki, Abdulwahab Al-Ishaq, Deepak Nalla, Yousef Essam Farag and Ahmad Mohammed Al Tamimi.
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