Egypt’s World No.7 Fares Dessouky has withdrawn from the upcoming CIB PSA World Tour Finals due to a back injury, meaning Frenchman Gregoire Marche has been called up to take part in the event held at Cairo’s Mall of Arabia between June 22-27.
Dessouky, who came second on the men’s CIB Road to Egypt Standings, was due to appear at the CIB PSA World Tour Finals for the first time, but it will be Marche who lines up in Cairo instead after he finished ninth on the CIB Road to Egypt Standings, meaning he was next in line to compete at the event in case of any withdrawals.
As part of PSA’s COVID-19 protocols, Marche had taken a PCR test to ensure that he could join the tournament bubble in case their was a withdrawal and was on a flight to Cairo within five hours of being invited to take part in the tournament.
Dessouky’s withdrawal means the group draws have been reshuffled, with World Champion Tarek Momen taking Dessouky’s spot as the No.2 seed and moving into Group B as a result.
He will line up alongside New Zealand’s Paul Coll, Welshman Joel Makin and Marche in Group B.
Meanwhile, defending champion Marwan ElShorbagy moves over to Group A, meaning he will feature in the same group as World No.1 Ali Farag, World No.2 and older brother Mohamed, and World Junior Champion Mostafa Asal.
The women’s groups remain unchanged. World No.1 Nour El Sherbini heads up Group A alongside World No.2 Nouran Gohar, World No.4 Camille Serme and World No.9 Salma Hany.
Meanwhile, defending champion Hania El Hammamy is the highest seed in Group B, ahead of World No.6 Amanda Sobhy, World No.7 Sarah-Jane Perry and World No.8 Joelle King.
To qualify for the CIB PSA World Tour Finals, players either had to secure a top eight finish on the CIB Road to Egypt Standings – for which points were on offer at all PSA World Tour events throughout the 2020-21 season – or win a prestigious PSA World Tour Platinum trophy.
A $370,000 prize fund will be split equally across both the women’s and men’s events as players compete in a best-of-three games group stage between June 22-25. The top two from each group qualify for the knockout semi-finals, where a place in the best-of-five games title decider will await the winner of those fixtures.
Group stage action will begin on Tuesday June 22 at 19:00 (GMT+2). Six matches will be played per night for the first four days of the event until the group stage has drawn to a close.
Group stage matches will take place at 19:00, 19:30, 20:15, 20:45, 21:30 and 22:00 between June 22-25. The semi-finals will be held at 19:00 on Saturday June 26.
The finals will begin at 19:30 on Sunday June 27.
