For a brief time it seemed that the Super Series super stars would miss their chance to play for the title of “best of the Series.” But thanks to some last minute super heroes, they will indeed battle each other in an end of season knock out.
This year’s Super Series Finals hit a major roadblock when longtime promoter Satinder Bajwa was unable to secure a sponsor for the event and announced he would not be able to stage it. In late April, Ziad Al-Turki—who recently confirmed a record breaking five-year deal to hold four Super Series events, as well as the 2010 Men’s World Open—and internationalSPORTgroup founder, Paul Walters, reached an agreement with PSA Chief Executive Gawain Briars to re-launch the event later this year. The five-year agreement, with a first option for two further years, has a minimum prize fund of $675,000.
The Super Series Finals annually brings together the top-eight players in point totals from the Super Series tournaments. The players who qualified for the Finals this year, in no particular order, are: Ramy Ashour, Amr Shabana, Nick Matthew, James Willstrop, David Palmer, Thierry Lincou, Gregory Gaultier and Karim Darwish. Neither dates nor a venue have been selected yet, but it is expected that the Finals will be held in late summer before the main events of next season begin.
