Upgrade Boosts Mamut English Open In Sheffield

One of the top squash tournaments in the world will be staged at the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield this summer from 15-19 August.

The Mamut English Open, hosted by Sheffield City Council and now in its fourth year in the city, has been upgraded to a five-star PSA Tour event, which puts it alongside the most prestigious championships on the sport's world circuit.

Tournament director Tim Garner says the news is a big boost for the event: "The Mamut English Open is already a very well-respected tournament amongst the players and the squash community.

"By being upgraded from a four-star to a five-star championship, it means we are able to offer more prize money, more ranking points and generally increase the profile of the English Open to a wider media audience."

With a $50,000 prize fund for the first time, Garner is confident that the majority of the world's top ten players will be joining Sheffield's number seven ranked Nick Matthew in the draw when entries close on July 12.

"We've $5,000 more in the pot this year and we've always had very strong fields anyway, so I'm expecting our strongest ever draw. Nick is always a favourite with the home crowd and will be hoping to break his Crucible duck but he will have to beat the world's best if he is to do so."

Matthew was runner-up last year, beaten by Commonwealth Games gold medallist and squash legend Peter Nicol.

Nicol, who combines organising the tournament alongside his business partners Tim Garner and Angus Kirkland with playing in it, will be among the favourites when the actions starts.

Garner said: "This is Pete's tournament and he loved winning it last year. There will probably be several world number ones in the draw this year, Pete, Lee Beachill, John White and Thierry Lincou. We're in talks with current world number one Amr Shabana as well.

"But if he does win it, it will mark the 50th PSA Tour title of his career - an incredible milestone that I'm sure he would love to achieve at the Crucible."

Tickets for the Mamut English Open are on sale from the Crucible box office, or via the ticket hotline 0114 249 6000, or via www.iSportTicketing.com (0870 220 0735)