Farag to start title defense in Qatar Classic 2020
Doha, November 2, 2020-World No.1 and defending champion Ali Farag of Egypt will begin his quest to join an elite group of two-time winners at the Qatar Classic with a Round 2 match against England's Richie Fallows on Tuesday.
A total of eight games are slated for the day, and all the matches will be held on the Glass Court of the Khalifa International Tennis & Squash Complex.
The 28-year-old 2018/2019 world champion Farag, who reclaimed the No.1 spot this month after winning last month's CIB Egyptian Open, has been in the devasting form of recent, and he is expected to maintain the momentum in Doha. The Harvard-graduate managed to drop just three games only throughout the Cairo tournament on his way to winning the title.
Farag, who together with his professional squash player wife, Nour El Tayeb, set a new record as the first married couple to both win the same major title on the same day in 2017, is expected to easily overcome any challenge from the London-resident Fallows.
Meanwhile, Qatar's Abdullah Mohd Al Tamimi, who defeated England's Patrick Rooney on Sunday, will be looking to make it four wins in four encounters against the World No.7 Diego Elias of Peru when the two clash again on Tuesday.
Despite the difference in rankings between them, Al Tamimi is the World No. 30, and the Qatari has always ended up on the winning side against Elias. The 24-year-old Peruvian will be hoping to finally break the jinx which, however, may prove difficult considering Tamimi's impressive form at home of recent.
Other games to look forward to include current world champion Tareq Momen of Egypt versus fellow compatriot Youssef Soliman and Mohamed Abouelghar vs eighth-seed Joel Makin of Wales.
The tournament's three-time champion and the World No.2 Egypt's Mohamed ElShorbagy advanced into the third round of the Qatar Classic courtesy of a 3-1 (11-8, 11-6, 9-11, 11-8) defeat of England's George Parker in 62 minutes on Monday.
Though the result of the last match of the day was in favour of the Egyptian who was until the beginning of this month the World's topmost-ranked player, it was, however, a hard-fought victory as the 24-year-old Parker made him sweat for the points.
ElShorbagy will next be up against compatriot Youssef Ibrahim on Wednesday for a chance at the quarter-finals.
Share this News
Google
Apple
Facebook