The main draw of the GillenMarkets British Open 2025 gets underway tomorrow with the top half matches of round one taking place from Solihull Arden Squash Club as players look to start well in the sport’s most prestigious event.
The PSA Squash Tour Diamond event runs from May 31 to June 8 with all action available to watch live on SQUASHTVand selected broadcast partners.
All round one matches will take place in Solihull before the glass court at the iconic REP Theatre commences from round two. The theatre has been described as the perfect venue for squash over the last couple of seasons and is once again the venue to witness more British Open history.
World No.1s Mostafa Asal and Nouran Gohar top the draws and both come into the event in top form as they look to defend their 2024 titles. The Egyptian duo both captured the inaugural Palm Hills Open titles just last week and will be the ones to beat in Birmingham over the next 9 days of competition.
Due to the immediate retirement of World No.2 Ali Farag, World No.3 Diego Elias is now the No.2 seed, sitting at the bottom of the draw. He’ll be hoping to end the season in strong style and with his often Achilles heel Farag no longer in the draw, he can mount a big charge towards a first British Open title.
Now eight-time World Champion, Nour ElSherbini, would be forgiven for being slightly flat coming into the British Open after the highs experienced in Chicago, but that has never been her style. ‘The Warrior-Princes’ will be determined to close the gap between herself and Gohar in the world rankings with another win on British soil.
The 3/4 seeds in both draws have changed slightly due to the withdrawals of Farag and Hania El Hammamy. World No.5s Amina Orfi and Joel Makin have now become the No.4 seeds and will be looking to make their mark on the event, Makin more so given his connections with the city of Birmingham. Whilst two-time champion Paul Coll and USA’s Olivia Weaver will see this as a big opportunity to reach first Diamond event finals.
Both draws are full of home interest giving spectators opportunity to get behind the British players. Special attention will be on former World No.5 Sarah-Jane Perry who announced that this year’s British Open will be her last event on tour. She’s up against Malaysian qualifier Ainaa Amani in round one.
There were eight qualifiers in total after three gruelling days of play over in Solihull. Only one home player made it through as Emyr Evans joined the likes of 2015 champion Camille Serme and 17-year-old Anahat Singh. The draw will also feature four Luck Loser spots after late withdrawals from main draw players.
Round one action gets underway at 12:00 (GMT+1) tomorrow with two courts in operation.
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