Defending Champ Ashour Withdraws From NetSuite Open With Hamstring Injury
by Blake Rhodes

September 6, 2014 -SAN FRANCISCO — Defending NetSuite Open Squash championship Ramy Ashour, who is currently ranked No. 4, has  withdrawn from this month’s tournament in San Francisco due to a hamstring injury Event Engine, Inc. announced today. Four-time world champion Amr Shabana, who is currently ranked No. 5, is now the second seed in the NetSuite Open field behind world No. 1 Gregory Gaultier.

“I am very disappointed that I will not be able to play in the NetSuite Open this year due to my ongoing hamstring injury,” said Ashour. “I enjoy playing at the spectacular location on the amazing San Francisco bay and hopefully next year I will be a part of this spectacular growing event again. Good luck to all of my colleagues.”

France’s Gregoire Marche, who is currently ranked 26th on the PSA Tour, has been added to NetSuite Open field and will face his countryman Gaultier on Friday, September 26 at San Francisco’s South Lawn of Justin Herman Plaza.

“We wish Ramy the best in his recovery and will certainly miss him, but we’re very excited about some of the great matches we’ll have in San Francisco,” said John Nimick, a U.S. Squash Hall of Famer and President of Event Engine, Inc., the tournament producer. “Our opening night match between Gregory and Gregoire will attract significant attention in both San Francisco and Aix En Provence – their hometown in France.”

Marche advanced to the second round of the Hong Kong Open last weekend. The 24-year-old owns an 86-60 lifetime record over his seven-year career on the PSA Tour.

The first round matches on September 26 will be held at the following locations:

·         No. 1 Gregory Gaultier (France) vs. No. 26 Gregoire Marche (France) – Glass Court, 7:00 p.m.

·         No. 5 Amr Shabana (Egypt) vs. Qualifier – Glass Court, 7:45 p.m.

·         No. 8 Peter Barker (England) vs. No. 58 Julian Illingworth (USA) – Bay Club, 6:00 p.m.

·         No. 14 Miguel Angel Rodriguez (Colombia) vs. Qualifier – Stanford, 8:00 p.m.

·         No. 15 Laurens Jan Anjema (Netherlands) vs. Qualifier – Stanford, 6:00 p.m.

·         No. 19 Mathieu Castagnet (France) vs. No. 24 Alister Walker (Botswana) – Bay Club, 5:00 p.m.

·         No. 20 Cameron Pilley (Australia) vs. No. 23 Chris Simpson (England) – Stanford, 7:00 p.m.

·         No. 22 Adrian Grant (England) vs. Qualifier – Glass Court, 8:30 p.m.

The 12 players in the main draw will be joined by four qualifiers who will advance from a field of 16 that will compete in the qualifying rounds Sept. 24-25 at the Bay Club, Olympic Club and University Club. Below is a rundown of the first round matches on Friday, Sept. 26:

About Event Engine
Event Engine, Inc. is a visionary event and entertainment marketing company specializing in the creation of unique athletic, musical, corporate and philanthropic events in extraordinary venues.  Founded in 2000 by US Squash Hall of Fame member John Nimick, Event Engine has grown from the management of a single, but unique, annual professional squash championship in Grand Central Terminal to a portfolio of successful events in some of the best known locations in North America and with some of the best-known entertainment celebrities in the world.  The Event Engine mission is to provide an unparalleled, highly valuable, highest quality result for clients, customer and corporate partners.  Event Engine is part of the Welldone Group, a global sports and entertainment agency based in Frankfurt, Germany.

About the NetSuite Open

The NetSuite Open Squash Championships return to San Francisco’s South Lawn of Justin Herman Plaza on an all-glass portable squash court for the third year September 24-30, 2014. Sanctioned by the Professional Squash Association, the PSA International 70 NetSuite Open is one of the top 15 professional tournaments in the world as determined by prize money.

Some 450 reserved seats are available for the NetSuite Open, ranging in price from $30 to $250. For tickets, draws, schedule and more information, please visit www.NetSuiteOpenSquash.com. Follow the NetSuite Open on Facebook and Twitter. 

NOTE: NetSuite and the NetSuite logo are service marks of NetSuite Inc. Third-party trademarks mentioned are the property of their respective owners.





 

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