World number one Mohamed Elshorbagy will be the most prominent of Egyptian representatives at the British Open Squash Championship, as stars Amr Shabana and Ramy Ashour won't be available due to injury.

The prestigious tournament will kick off at Hull's Airco Arena on Monday while the final will be played on 17 May.

"I'm really looking forward to playing at the British Open this year,” Elshorbagy was quoted as saying by the tournament's official website.

“It’s a tournament I feel I haven’t been able to play my best in so far in my career but I would love to be able to put my name on that prestigious trophy alongside some of the sport’s greats.

“I feel that the top guys all have an equal chance of winning this tournament. We’ve all had our ups and downs during the season so far but I think that each one of us will want to end his season on a high so it’s going to be a great event," the 24-year-old player added.

Alongside Elshorbagy, who will be hungry for his first British open title, Egypt will be represented at the tournament with nine players in the men's contest.

The stars Raneem El-Welily and Omneya Abdel Kawy are representing Egypt in the women's contest.

Three -time world champion and the 2013 British open hero Ramy Ashour has been ruled out after injuring his achilles tendon.

"Until next season Squash World, Hope u all have a great summer," the 28-year old player said via his Twitter account after the withdrawal.

Ashour recently returned to competitive action on the PSA World Tour following a four-month absence due to a knee-meniscus problem.

Four-time world champion Amr Shabana was forced to withdraw from the 2015 edition after failing to overcome a back-injury he picked up during last month’s El Gouna International.

The British Open, also known as the Allam Open, is named after Egyptian-born businessman Assem Allam, who is the sponsor of the tournament.

Allam is also the owner of English Premier League football club Hull City, where Egyptian winger Ahmed Elmohamady plies his trade.

Also, Swiss national champion Nicolas Mueller, the World No.22, has withdrawn from the sport’s oldest tournament due to a knee injury.

Elshorbagy's hopes of winning the title could be threatened by the existence of heavyweights such as England’s former World number one and three-time British Open finalist James Willstrop, Nick Matthew (2) of England and Gregory Gaultier (3) of France.

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