"Playing the TOC in Grand Central is a great experience. I am always excited to step onto the court for this event because there's always a huge number of people", Amr Shabana (ri) said. Four-time World Champion Amr Shabana (ri) says he is relishing the prospect of returning to New York for the 2015 J.P. Morgan Tournament of Champions to defend his last year’s title at Grand Central Terminal.
The 35-year-old Egyptian, dubbed the ‘Maestro’ by his peers, got past current World No.4 Nick Matthew and World No.2 Gregory Gaultier en-route to the 2014 title and he’s hoping to find his rhythm again in 2015. “Starting the new year at the TOC is very exciting especially because it is the first major of the year and I have had some good memories there over the years there,” said Shabana.
“Winning the TOC title in 2014 was very important for me. I had been putting in a lot of time training leading up to that point, with no real success, and that win was a reminder for me that hard work does pay off,” the Champion added.
Shabana goes into the 2015 edition ranked World No.3 and is scheduled to meet World No1 Mohamed Elshorbagy (le) in the semi-finals.
1st round draw:
[1] Mohamed Elshorbagy (EGY) v [WC] Todd Harrity (USA)
Nicolas Mueller (SUI) v [Qualifier]
Chris Simpson (ENG) v [Qualifier]
[Qualifier] v [6] Borja Golan (ESP)
[7] Tarek Momen (EGY) v Adrian Waller (ENG)
Saurav Ghosal (IND) v [Qualifier]
Karim Abdel Gawad (EGY) v Cameron Pilley (AUS)
Olli Tuominen (FIN) v [4] Amr Shabana (EGY)
[3] Nick Matthew (ENG) v Daryl Selby (ENG)
Omar Mosaad (EGY) v [Qualifier]
Mathieu Castagnet (FRA) v [Qualifier]
Stephen Coppinger (RSA) v [8] Simon Rösner (GER)
[5] Peter Barker (ENG) v Gregoire Marche (FRA)
Miguel Angel Rodriguez (COL) v [Qualifier]
Alister Walker (BOT) v [Qualifier]
Max Lee (HKG) v [2] Gregory Gaultier (FRA)
