KARACHI, Sept 16: Egyptain Karim Darwish, ranked 17th in the world, has been installed as the top seed for the Chief of Naval Staff (CNS) International Squash Championship, scheduled here from Sept 20 to 28 at Roshan Khan/Jahangir Khan Squash Complex.

The tournament which carries a cash prize of US$25,000 will feature six foreign players comprising five Egyptians and an Australian who have been directly placed in the main round. The winner will pocket $6,600 and the runner-up $4,400.

The main round will be staged on Sept 25, followed by quarterfinals (Sept 26), semifinals (Sept 27) and the final (Sept 28).

Defending champion Anthony Ricketts of Australia has opted out for security concerns.

Three players will be selected from pre-qualifying rounds to join former world champion Jansher Khan in the qualifying round.

Khayal Mohammad, ranked 238th in the world, has been given a wild card.

Apart from Darwish, players in the 16-man main draw include second seed Omar Elborolossy, fifth seed Muhammad Abbas, sixth seed Wael El Hindi, Muhammad Essam Hafiz (all from Egypt), seventh seed John Williams of Australia and the five Pakistanis, third seed Mansoor Zaman, fourth seed Shahid Zaman, eighth seed Amjad Khan, Ajaz Azmat and Shams-ul-Islam (all from Pakistan).

Darwish, who has been placed in the upper half of the draw, will take on Ajaz Azmat.