The Allam British Open will celebrate its centenary year when the longest-running tournament in professional squash takes place between 28th March and 3rd April in Hull’s Allam Sports Centre.
Since beginning in 1922 with a women’s event – won by England’s Joyce Cave – the Allam British Open has established itself as one of the most iconic tournaments on the PSA World Tour and has seen the sport’s biggest names lift the famous trophy, including greats such as Australia’s Heather McKay and Pakistan’s Jahangir Khan, who hold the record for most British Open wins, with 16 and 10, respectively.
This year will also see the tournament celebrate 10 years of support from title sponsor Dr Assem Allam, who first became involved with the tournament in 2012. Since then, the tournament has become synonymous with Hull and has gone from strength-to-strength, culminating in last year’s dramatic event which saw Paul Coll become the first male New Zealander to win the title, while Nour El Sherbini captured her third British Open crown.
Dr Allam has himself created a record with a 10th consecutive year as title sponsor for one of the most prestigious events on the PSA World Tour calendar.
Both Coll and El Sherbini will return to defend their titles. Coll, who will become the first male Kiwi to reach World No.1 prior to the event, is the No.2 seed and will play either three-time runner-up James Willstrop or Frenchman Auguste Dussourd in round two.
From there, he is seeded to face the likes of World No.12 Gregoire Marche, Qatar Classic champion Diego Elias and World No.4 Mostafa Asal, before a potential final clash against last year’s runner-up and current World No.1 Ali Farag.
Farag has a tricky path to the final which includes three Egyptian former World Champions in Karim Abdel Gawad, Tarek Momen and three-time Allam British Open champion Mohamed ElShorbagy.
The highest-ranked British player in the men’s draw is Welshman Joel Makin, who is seeded eighth for the event. He is seeded to meet Asal in the quarter finals.
In the women’s draw, El Sherbini will begin her attempts to record a fourth Allam British Open triumph. The Egyptian will face either Zeina Mickawy or Cindy Merlo in round two, before a potential third round fixture against the in-form Georgina Kennedy.
From there, the 26-year-old could face No.7 seed Salma Hany and No.3 seed Hania El Hammamy, before a potential rematch with 2019 champion Nouran Gohar, who El Sherbini beat in the 2016 and 2021 finals.
Gohar is on the same side of the draw as 2017 champion Sarah-Jane Perry – the highest-ranked British player in the draw – and USA No.1 Amanda Sobhy.
The wildcards for the event are English quartet Nick Wall, Sam Todd, Mille Tomlinson and Katie Maliff.
Dr Allam commented : “This is a great honour for me to have been able to sponsor such an iconic sports event with so many stories and memories.
The event has touched every corner of the world and I am so proud to now create another story as the longest consecutive title sponsor (10 years) in the 100-year history of the event.”
In addition to the $360,000 in total player prize compensation, a place at the season-ending CIB PSA World Tour Finals is also up for grabs, with all winners of PSA World Tour Platinum events being granted a spot at the tour’s showpiece event, which will be held in Cairo, Egypt in June, 2022.
2022 Allam British Open – Men’s Draw
[1] Ali Farag (EGY) bye[17/32] Victor Crouin (FRA) v [WC] Nick Wall (ENG)
[9/16] Karim Abdel Gawad (EGY) bye
[17/32] Eain Yow Ng (MAS) v George Parker (ENG) [17/32] Karim El Hammamy (EGY) v Borja Golan (ESP)
[17/32] Baptiste Masotti (FRA) v [WC] Sam Todd (ENG)
[9/16] Saurav Ghosal (IND) bye
[5] Tarek Momen (EGY) bye [7] Marwan ElShorbagy (EGY) bye
[17/32] Todd Harrity (USA) v Yip Tsz Fung (HKG)
[9/16] Mazen Hesham (EGY) bye
[17/32] Mohamed ElSherbini (EGY) v Tayyab Aslam (PAK) [17/32] Lucas Serme (FRA) v Ramit Tandon (IND)
[17/32] Nicolas Mueller (SUI) v Leonel Cardenas (MEX)
[17/32] Raphael Kandra (GER) v Bernat Jaume (ESP)
[3] Mohamed ElShorbagy (EGY) bye [4] Mostafa Asal (EGY) bye
[9/16] Fares Dessouky (EGY) bye
[17/32] Patrick Rooney (ENG) v Declan James (ENG)
[17/32] Omar Mosaad (EGY) v Greg Lobban (SCO) [17/32] Adrian Waller (ENG) v Dimitri Steinmann (SUI)
[9/16] Youssef Soliman (EGY) bye
[9/16] Miguel Rodriguez (COL) bye
[8] Joel Makin (WAL) bye [6] Diego Elias (PER) bye
[9/16] Youssef Ibrahim (EGY) bye
[17/32] Shahjahan Khan (USA) v Alan Clyne (SCO)
[17/32] Iker Pajares (ESP) v Sebastien Bonmalais (FRA) [9/16] Gregoire Marche (FRA) bye
[17/32] Moustafa El Sirty (EGY) v Nathan Lake (ENG)
[17/32] James Willstrop (ENG) v Auguste Dussourd (FRA)
[2] Paul Coll (NZL) bye
2022 Allam British Open – Women’s Draw
[1] Nour El Sherbini (EGY) bye[17/32] Zeina Mickawy (EGY) v Cindy Merlo (SUI)
[9/16] Olivia Clyne (USA) bye
[9/16] Georgina Kennedy (ENG) bye [17/32] Tinne Gilis (BEL) v Anna Serme (CZE)
[17/32] Rachael Grinham (AUS) v Milou van der Heijden (NED)
[9/16] Joshna Chinappa (IND) bye
[7] Salma Hany (EGY) bye [6] Joelle King (NZL) bye
[17/32] Lucy Turmel (ENG) v Jasmine Hutton (ENG)
[17/32] Danielle Letourneau (CAN) v [WC] Katie Maliff (ENG)
[17/32] Nada Abbas (EGY) v Lisa Aitken (SCO) [17/32] Farida Mohamed (EGY) v Ineta Mackevica (LAT)
[9/16] Nour El Tayeb (EGY) bye
[17/32] Hollie Naughton (CAN) v [WC] Millie Tomlinson (ENG)
[3] Hania El Hammamy (EGY) bye [4] Amanda Sobhy (USA) bye
[17/32] Emily Whitlock (WAL) v Liu Tsz-Ling (HKG)
[17/32] Mariam Metwally (EGY) v Alexandra Fuller (RSA)
[17/32] Melissa Alves (FRA) v Emilia Soini (FIN) [9/16] Olivia Fiechter (USA) bye
[9/16] Tesni Evans (WAL) bye
[17/32] Hana Ramadan (EGY) v Haley Mendez (USA)
[8] Rowan Elaraby (EGY) bye [5] Sarah-Jane Perry (ENG) bye
[9/16] Nadine Shahin (EGY) bye
[9/16] Nele Gilis (BEL) bye
[17/32] Donna Lobban (AUS) v Rachel Arnold (MAS) [17/32] Sabrina Sobhy (USA) v Yathreb Adel (EGY)
[17/32] Aifa Azman (MAS) v Ho Tze Lok (HKG)
[17/32] Sivasangari Subramaniam (MAS) v Enora Villard (FRA)
[2] Nouran Gohar (EGY) bye
Action from the 2022 Allam British Open will be shown live on SQUASHTV, while the semi-finals and finals will be broadcast live by PSA’s broadcast partners.
