Egypt's Amr Shabana defends his world title tomorrow at the Giza Pyramids. Inas Mazhar reports The preliminaries of the one-week Al-Ahram Squash World Open were scheduled to start yesterday at the International Squash Complex of Cairo Stadium. Altogether 56 players representing 20 countries are taking part in the competition, 32 of which will compete for eight places to join the 24 who have already made it to the main draw according to their world rankings. The main draw starts tomorrow. Six Egyptians are taking part in the preliminaries with a shot at joining their top six teammates in the main draw. The draw of the preliminaries was held at noon yesterday; an hour later the matches began. The main draw is scheduled for this evening in an official ceremony to be held at the site of the competition and inside the glass court. The draw will be attended by top state officials, players and international media. Procedures will be broadcast live on worldwide TV stations. On Tuesday, all the players were invited to train in the glass court at the Pyramids for media people who were also invited to interview the players before entering the venue and seeing its new look. The $160,000 prize money Al-Ahram tournament returns to where it started 10 years ago when the first edition was held. The last time an Al-Ahram Squash Open tournament was held at this historic place site was four years ago, just after the retirement of Egypt's former squash champion Ahmed Barada who bowed out because of injury. The long absence has led to Al-Ahram promising squash fans an unforgettable and enjoyable event, just as it used to be. The crowds are invited from tomorrow to fill the 5,000-seat stadium. Tickets are available at Ahli, Maadi, Shams, Gezira and Shooting clubs. Leading the Pharaohs will be Amr Shabana, the world champion and the top ranked player, according to the latest PSA Men's world rankings published earlier this month by the Professional Squash Association. The 27-year-old retains his status as the world number one for the fifth successive month, ahead of Australian David Palmer, at No 2, and Frenchman Thierry Lincou at No 3. England's James Willstrop leapfrogs Anthony Ricketts to move into fourth place, while the Australian slips to No 5. England's Peter Nicol and Nick Matthew come in 6th and 7th places respectively, followed by France's Gregory Gaultier in 8th place, Egypt's Karim Darwish 9th and England's Lee Beachill rounding off the 10-man list. The other five Egyptians who joined Shabana in the main draw are participating according to their status amongst the top 30 -- world number 9 Karim Darwish, No 17 Mohamed Abbas, No 20, the world junior champion Rami Ashour, No 21, Wa'el Hatem and Omar Mossad, runner-up of the world junior championship last month, as a wild card. All six players are training under the supervision of head coach, Egypt's former champion Amir Wagih, who led the juniors men last month to the first two places in the world championship and the Egyptian squad to first in the teams' event as well. Shabana is the first Egyptian to win the world title twice. A third crown would be unprecedented. "It's different winning at home and in front of your fans. It sounds different," Shabana said. "Winning in the glass court in the pyramids will have a sweet taste. My last two world titles were achieved abroad where I was surrounded only by my officials and teammates, but now it's going to be a different atmosphere. "The Egyptian crowd will be there at the Pyramids. I know they will be coming to support and push me forward and I hate to disappoint them. That's why I'm really focused and hope to win with all my fans' backing and support."
