Egypt's world number one Karim Darwish is seeded to win his maiden World Open squash title, according to the draw for the Kuwait Men's World Open 2009 which is announced today (Wednesday) by the Professional Squash Association (PSA).
The $277,500 PSA World Tour championship - the richest in the history of the men's professional game - features players from 24 nations, and will take place at the Salmiya Club and Green Island Resort in Kuwait from 1-7 November.
Darwish, who has held the world's top ranking throughout 2009, is drawn to face Pakistan left-hander Mansoor Zaman, the world number 49 from Peshawar, in the first round.
The 28-year-old from Cairo, who was runner-up last year, will be boosted by his home town title triumph last week in the Sky Open, the first PSA Super Series Platinum event of the year.
The likely last sixteen clash which awaits the favourite is against England's former world number two James Willstrop, the 12th seed from Leeds who opens his 2009 campaign against fellow countryman Robbie Temple.
Frenchman Thierry Lincou, the 2004 champion who is the No8 seed, is Darwish's predicted quarter-final opponent - before the Cairo king takes on fellow countryman Amr Shabana in a possible semi-final. Shabana is a three-time win of the title - in 2003, 2005 and 2007. The 30-year-old left-hander from Giza will no doubt be hoping to maintain his 'odd-year' success in the championship in 2009.
France's Gregory Gaultier, runner-up in 2006 and 2007, is the event's second seed and the candidate expected to face Darwish in the final. The 26-year-old world number two from Aix-en-Provence, who stretched Darwish to five games in last week's Sky Open final, opens his Kuwait campaign against Scottish qualifier Alan Clyne - and is expected to line up against Englishman Nick Matthew, the British Open champion who is ranked five in the world, in the quarter-finals.
The other semi-final predicted by the draw sees Gaultier take on Egypt's world No4 Ramy Ashour, the defending champion from Cairo. The pair staged a mighty last four clash last week in Cairo, with the Frenchman ultimately emerging successful in five games, after 70 minutes.
Australia's David Palmer is another former champion who represents a formidable threat. Winner of the title in 2002 and 2006, the US-based world No6 is in Shabana's quarter of the draw - and faces French qualifier Julien Balbo in the opening round.
Wildcard Abdullah Almezayen, the Kuwaiti number one, has been drawn to face Omar Mosaad of Egypt, the 25th seed.
The championships will also include a glittering Opening and Closing Ceremony as well as hosting an Official Championship Gala Dinner.
Kuwait World Open 1st round draw:
[1] Karim Darwish (EGY) v Mansoor Zaman (PAK)
[29] Saurav Ghosal (IND) v [Q] Mathieu Castagnet (FRA)
[11] James Willstrop (ENG) v [Q] Robbie Temple (ENG)
[28] Jonathan Kemp (ENG) v Arturo Salazar (MEX)
[8] Thierry Lincou (FRA) v [Q] Yasir Butt (PAK)
[18] Stewart Boswell (AUS) v [Q] Scott Arnold (AUS)
[15] Alister Walker (ENG) v Mark Krajcsak (HUN)
[30] Shahier Razik (CAN) v Renan Lavigne (FRA)
[4] Amr Shabana (EGY) v [Q] Shaun le Roux (ENG)
[24] Omar Mosaad (EGY) v Abdullah Almezayen (KUW)
[12] Mohd Azlan Iskandar (MAS) v Aaron Frankcomb (AUS)
[22] Daryl Selby (ENG) v [Q] Stephen Coppinger (RSA)
[6] David Palmer (AUS) v [Q] Julien Balbo (FRA)
[25] Tarek Momen (EGY) v Ben Ford (ENG)
[9] Wael El Hindi (EGY) v Stephane Galifi (ITA)
[26] Joey Barrington (ENG) v Amr Swelim (ITA)
[21] Hisham Mohd Ashour (EGY) v Chris Simpson (ENG)
[10] Adrian Grant (ENG) v Chris Ryder (ENG)
[19] Olli Tuominen (FIN) v [Q] Martin Knight (NZL)
[7] Peter Barker (ENG) v [Q] Nicolas Mueller (SUI)
[17] Aamir Atlas Khan (PAK) v Simon Rosner (GER)
[14] Laurens Jan Anjema (NED) v [Q] Rasmus Nielsen (DEN)
[23] Miguel Angel Rodriguez (COL) v Omar Abdel Aziz (EGY)
[3] Ramy Ashour (EGY) v Jorge Isaac Baltazar Ferreira (MEX)
[20] Cameron Pilley (AUS) v [Q] Joe Lee (ENG)
[16] Mohamed El Shorbagy (EGY) v [Q] Mohd Nafiizwan Adnan (MAS)
[27] Davide Bianchetti (ITA) v [Q] Yann Perrin (FRA)
[5] Nick Matthew (ENG) v [Q] John Rooney (IRL)
[31] Tom Richards (ENG) v [Q] Arthur Gaskin (IRL)
[13] Ong Beng Hee (MAS) v Mohd Ali Anwar Reda (EGY)
[32] Julian Illingworth (USA) v Kashif Shuja (NZL)
[2] Gregory Gaultier (FRA) v [Q] Alan Clyne (SCO)
For further information, visit the Kuwait Men’s World Open 2009 official website www.kuwaitworldopen2009.com