Mall of Arabia Hosts CIB Professional Squash Association World Tour Finals
Mall of Arabia, MARAKEZ’s flagship mall and the preferred shopping destination in West Cairo, was selected by the governing body for the men's and women's professional squash circuit: the prestigious Professional Squash Association, as the host venue for the 2019/2020 CIB PSA World Tour Finals. The tournament will take place from September 28th to October 3rd at The Park and will feature Egyptian duo Ali Farag and Nour El Sherbini as the top seeds for the tournament.
This is the second successive year for Mall of Arabia to host this global event. In partnership with Wadi Degla Clubs, the CIB PSA World Tour season-ending tournament took place last year at The Park located within Mall of Arabia’s award-winning phase 2 “The Expansion” featuring seating for 1000 spectators for every match. The Park is the first-of-a-kind 8-acre outdoor park located within the mall and designed to host a wide variety of activities based on the four main pillars that cater to the various needs of the community: entertainment, fitness, F&B and sports.
“We’re happy to support the Squash World tour finals, bring the community together to cheer for the best local and international talents of Squash in a safe, friendly and green environment. Our aim for The Park is to become the heart and soul of West Cairo's community,” said Basil Ramzy, CEO of MARAKEZ. “We are glad we achieved this.”
All precautionary COVID-19 protocols have been established for the event. Those attending the event will be tested for COVID-19 before travelling and must produce a negative result. Upon arrival into the country, players and event staff will be tested again; testing will continue to take place every four days during the tournament with strict measures in place at all venues to keep all participants safe.
“I am so glad this year’s tournament will be hosted in The Park since the event wouldn’t have been possible unless it is held outdoors for the safety of the players, spectators and organizers,” said former world number 1 and winner of 23 PSA World Tour titles Karim Darwish. “The courts are outdoors meaning there is good ventilation and good oxygen levels that leads to an increase in agility, coordination and fitness as they run, leap and dive for the ball.”
The CIB PSA World Tour Finals feature over a five-day tournament the world’s top 16 male and female players, many of whom are Egyptian. The Egyptian duo Ali Farag and Nour El Sherbini will be joined by Nour El Tayeb, Nouran Gohar, World Champion Tarek Momen, world championship, runner-up Paul Coll from New Zealand, defending champion Karim Abdel Gawad, compatriot Marwan El Shorbagy, Diego Elias from Peru and Simon Rosner from Germany.
