(AFP File Photo)
The world’s top squash player, Ramy Ashour, announced on Monday his withdrawal from PSA’s World Tour event, the 2014 J.P Morgan Tournament of Champions (ToC), following an injury.
Ashour was injured in the quarterfinals of the Hong Kong Open in December 2013 after having recurring problems with his hamstring.
The top-seeded 26-year-old squash player wouldn’t be able, at least this time around, to grab his fourth title from the tournament a year after obtaining his third title in the 2013ToC. Ashourhad sought to emulate the four-title record held by Canada’s Jonathan Power before his injury.
Doctors advised Ashournot to play inthis tournament due to his current condition. He withdrew earlier in November from the Qatar Classic Squash Championship due to an injury.
John Nimick, who is the chairman of the J.P. Morgan Tournament of Champions, described Ashour’s withdrawal from the event as “unfortunate”. However, he asserted that the passion of the other contending PSA World Tour players will create a spectacular competition, the Professional Squash Association (PSA) reported on Monday.
Ashour won the title of the tournament in 2008, at the age of 21, to become the youngest player ever to win the Tournament of Champions.
The tournament’s roster lists several Egyptian players, such as Mohamed ElShorbagy, Amr Shabana, Tarek Momen, Karim Darwish and Omar Mossad.
The 17th edition of J.P. Morgan Tournament of Champions is scheduled to take place from 17 to 24 January in New York’s iconic Grand Central Terminal in the United States.
The championship was named the Tournament of Champions (ToC) in 1993 after its debut as the US Professional Championship in 1930. The tournament was moved to its current location in New York in 1995.
