Pakistan's top rank Tayyab Aslam to feature in $162,000 Allam British Open 2019
Unseeded Tayyab Aslam will face world rank no 34 Mazen Hesham of Egypt in the first round of Allam British Open 2019 from 20th- 26th May at Hull, England.
Pakistan’s top squash player Tayyab will participate in the $162,000 Allam British Open 2019. 23-years-old Tayyab, who is ranked 51st and won three PSA events in 2018, is the only Pakistani player to have entered the main round, on the basis of his ranking.
Unseeded Tayyab Aslam will face world rank no 34 Mazen Hesham of Egypt in the first round of Allam British Open 2019 on 20th May at 9:45 pm(PST) at Hull, England.
Taking place between May 20-26 at the University of Hull Sports and Fitness Centre, the British Open is squash’s longest-running tournament and Miguel Rodriguez will return to defend his crown 12 months after becoming the first South American ever to lift the prestigious title.
This year tournament will be headed up by World No.1s Ali Farag and Raneem El Welily as they aim to add their names to the famous trophy.Defending champion Miguel Rodriguez has been pitted on the same side of the draw as last year’s runner-up Mohamed ElShorbagy after the draws for the 2019 Allam British Open
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The World No.7 is seeded to play World No.2 ElShorbagy in the quarter-finals in a rematch of last year’s final. ElShorbagy, a two-time British Open champion, also receives a bye in round one and could come up against crowd favourite and three-time runner-up James Willstrop in the last 32 if the Englishman can get the better of India’s Ramit Tandon.
A record prize purse of $348,000 will be on offer at the 2019 Allam British Open as the equal amount of $162,000 is set for men & women respectively.
No Pakistani player has entered the main draw of this championship since 2012. Tayyab got this feat due to the new qualification system of Professional Squash Association (PSA) according to which there are no qualifying rounds and players get entry into the main draw on the basis of their rankings.
In 2015, Nasir Iqbal lost in the qualifying final and Farhan Zaman was beaten in the first qualification round. In 2014, Nasir Iqbal lost in the qualifying final. There was no Pakistani player even in the qualification round of British Open in its editions of 2012, 2013, 2016, 2017, and 2018.
