Mall of Arabia to host CIB PSA World Tour Finals again in June
The 2020-21 CIB PSA World Tour Finals will be held from 22nd to 27th June when the world’s leading squash players will compete for the coveted title at Cairo’s Mall of Arabia.
The CIB PSA World Tour Finals – organised by Wadi Degla – is one of the most unique events on the PSA World Tour calendar and features only the very best players in the worlds, with eight men and eight women competing in a round robin best-of-three games group stage as they aim to progress to the knockout semi-finals and beyond.
To qualify, a player must either win one of the prestigious PSA Platinum tournaments throughout the season, while all other places are allocated to the highest ranked players on the CIB Road to Egypt Standings, with points on offer at all PSA World Tour events throughout the 2020-21 season.
“The CIB PSA World Tour Finals is one of our flagship tournaments and I look forward to watching the world’s best squash players compete at the Mall of Arabia in the summer,” said PSA Chief Executive Alex Gough.
“Karim Darwish did a magnificent job as tournament promoter of staging the 2019-20 CIB PSA World Tour Finals last October against the backdrop of the COVID-19 pandemic and we’re pleased to see the finals move back to its regular slot in the calendar.
“The CIB PSA World Tour Finals pits the best of the best up against each other right from day one and has a different structure to any other PSA World Tour event. All of this makes for an enthralling spectacle and I’m excited to see how the week plays out in June.”
CIB PSA World Tour Finals Tournament Promoter Karim Darwish said:
“The CIB PSA World Tour Finals is one of the most prestigious squash events in the world. It’s the only event that all matches are between the top eight male and female players, and this shows how exciting the event is.
“The event was successfully organised by Wadi Degla for the last couple of years and I’m so looking forward to be part of this year’s event for the third consecutive year, at the very special place, The Park Mall of Arabia. This event is one of a few other events that is sponsored by the best private bank in Egypt, CIB, and could not have happened without their tremendous support.”
CIB Chief Executive and Board Member Hussein Abaza, said:
“CIB is proud to sponsor one of the most anticipated sporting events of the year. We are looking forward to witnessing Egypt’s squash champions compete against the world’s best squash players.
“We are committed to supporting sport initiatives in Egypt as an integral part of the bank’s social responsibility and community development, especially seeing that Egypt is considered an international squash hub.”
World #1s Ali Farag and Nour El Sherbini have already qualified for the tournament after winning the CIB Egyptian Open titles in front of the Great Pyramid of Giza.
Tarek Momen, Fares Dessouky, Paul Coll, Marwan ElShorbagy, Mostafa Asal, Diego Elias and Joel Makin are the other men poised to qualify for the tournament as a result of their places on the CIB Road to Egypt Standings, but the likes of Mohamed ElShorbagy and Karim Abdel Gawad still have plenty of time to move up the standings between now and June.
El Sherbini tops the women’s CIB Road to Egypt Standings and is joined in the top eight by Nouran Gohar, Camille Serme, Nour El Tayeb, Hania El Hammamy, Sarah-Jane Perry, Amanda Sobhy and Joelle King.
$370,000 in total player compensation will be up for grabs during the tournament, split equally between the men’s and women’s draws.
Action from every match will be shown live on SQUASHTV, while matches will also be shown on the PSA Facebook page (excluding Europe and Japan) during the group stage. The semi-finals and finals will also be shown live on the channels of contracted broadcast partners.
