Oman Racket Sports Committee (ORSC) is all set to kick off its top squash domestic event as Oman Squash Open 2023 will begin the action on Thursday. The three-day championship will take place at the squash hall of Sultan Qaboos Sports Complex in Baushar.
In a first of its kind, Oman Squash Open 2023 will be the first PSA tournament in Muscat under the organization of ORSC in cooperation with global organization PSA and BWF. The main category of the tournament will be the Men’s senior Championship. The title of the Oman Squash Open 2023 will be vied by many top local players who already have BWF rankings besides other overseas players from Bahrain, Kuwait, Iran, Pakistan, Egypt, Philippines, India and Tunisia.
The draw of the 2023 Oman Squash Open took place on Tuesday in the presence of squash enthusiasts and fans. The technical rules of the draw were based on the top eight players' world rankings, followed by the remaining rankings drawn by lots. The three-day event will be played in a single-elimination system format with matches decided over the best of five games. The player needs to win three of them. Each game has 11 points, and the championship uses the Dunlop Double Dot ball. The draw ceremony was attended by the Secretary-General of ORSC, Eng—Taher Taghlab al Barwani in attendance of with national team players and participants.
ORSC targets to organise a tournament where local players compete to earn international points and rise in the rankings. The committee also aim to support and develop Omani players by attracting global expertise enhancing their performance and improving domestic players' skills.
The three-day tournament offers a total cash prize money of $1,900 for the first four toppers in the tournament. The first-place owner will receive $ 1,000 and the trophy while the second player will get $500 and a trophy. The third and fourth-placed players will be awarded $250 and $150 respectively.
Dr. Abdul Rahim Musallam al Droushi, Chairman of (ORSC), affirmed that this event is an entry point for hosting international squash tournaments and a first step to making it in advanced international tournaments shortly. “ as Oman Squash Open 2023 Championship is happening for the first time in the Sultanate of Oman in an international standard based to our collaboration with PSA and BWF,” he added
The chief of ORSC thanked the officials of PSA and BWF for their continuous support. A special thanks to the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Youth for moving this event to a higher level. Through this cooperation, we look forward to many future initiatives and programs with these international bodies to develop Squash and expand the horizons of its spread in the Sultanate of Oman. We also wish all the players participating in this tournament success and achieving all the goals they aspire to achieve through this participation.”