Pakistan is set to host a top-level squash event after two decades. The PSA World Tour Gold event, Karachi Open, will take place in Karachi from January 6 to January 11, featuring some of the biggest names in international squash.
The tournament carries a total prize purse of $243,000, with $121,500 allocated for each of the men’s and women’s competitions.
Five of the world’s top 10 players have confirmed their participation. Former world champion and current World No. 5 Karim Gawad of Egypt has been named the top seed. World No. 7 Marwan El Shorbagy is the second seed, while World No. 6 Youssef Ibrahim will enter as the third seed.
World No. 9 Mohamed ElShorbagy has been seeded fourth, World No. 10 Youssef Soliman fifth, and World No. 11 Mohamed Zakaria will compete as the sixth seed.
Pakistan’s own Noor Zaman, Ashab Irfan, Tayyab Aslam, and Nasir Iqbal will also feature in the men’s draw.
In the women’s event, Egypt’s World No. 3 Amina Orfi will headline as top seed. Malaysia’s World No. 6 Sivasangari Subramaniam is seeded second, while Egypt’s World No. 9 Fayrouz Abouelkheir is seeded third.
Running from January 6 to 11, the Karachi Open will be Pakistan’s most expensive squash tournament in 23 years.
The last event with a similar profile was the 2003 World Open in Lahore, which carried a prize money of $175,000.
Earlier this year, in April, Karachi also hosted the World Under-23 Squash Championship, which had a prize fund of $60,000.
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