Despite competition from three former champions and the reigning four-time champion, England's Nick Matthew is seeded to become the world squash champion for the first time in next month's Saudi PSA World Open Championship at Sunset Beach Resort in the Saudi Arabian city of Al-Khobar.
It will be the 32nd staging of the premier annual PSA World Tour event which was first held in 1976 - but its first time in Saudi Arabia. The championship, featuring 64 players from 23 countries, boasts a $327,500 prize fund - making it the richest of all-time.
Matthew, the 30-year-old world number two from Sheffield, is hoping to become the first Englishman to win the sport's coveted title. No stranger to breakthrough successes in the sport, Matthew became the first true Englishman for 67 years to win the British Open trophy in 2006 - and earlier this year became the country's first world number one for six years.
The Yorkshireman has enjoyed the best year of his career so far: He followed PSA Super Series title triumphs in the North American Open, the Sky Open in Egypt and the Australian Open in Canberra by winning two gold medals in last month's Commonwealth Games in India.
Matthew begins his 2010 World Open campaign against Australian qualifier Ryan Cuskelly, and is expected to face France's 2004 champion Thierry Lincou in the quarter-finals, before a likely semi-final clash with Amr Shabana.
It was last year, in the event's maiden appearance in Kuwait, that distinguished Egyptian Shabana clinched his fourth title in seven years - becoming only the fourth player in history, after Australia's Geoff Hunt and Pakistanis Jahangir Khan and Jansher Khan, to win four World Open crowns.
Matthew is expected to renew his rivalry with another Egyptian, 2008 champion Ramy Ashour, in the final. The 23-year-old from Cairo wrested back the world number one ranking from the Englishman in September - and went on to build up an unassailable lead at the top of the 2010 PSA Super Series Rankings after winning his third Super Series title of the year at last week's Kuwait Open.
Ashour begins his Saudi campaign against top-ranked German Simon Rosner - and is expected to line up against compatriot Karim Darwish, the fourth seed and runner-up in 2008, in the semis.
Darwish will arrive in Saudi fresh from title triumphs in two Super Series events this year - including the most recent, the Qatar Classic in Doha where he beat fellow countryman Amr Shabana in the final to win the established title for the second time in three years.
Australia's David Palmer is a dark horse lurking in the middle of the draw. The 34-year-old tenth seed is a two times winner of the title - in 2002 and 2006 - and one of three players celebrating an 11th successive appearance in the championship. Palmer opens against Italian qualifier Stephane Galifi before a likely last 16 clash with fifth-seeded Frenchman Gregory Gaultier, runner-up in 2006 and 2007.
Saudi PSA World Open 1st round draw:
[1] Nick Matthew (ENG) v Ryan Cuskelly (AUS)
[27] Shahier Razik (CAN) v [Q] Joe Lee (ENG)
[12] Laurens Jan Anjema (NED) v [Q] Mohammed Abbas (EGY)
[24] Hisham Mohd Ashour (EGY) v Chris Ryder (ENG)
[7] Thierry Lincou (FRA) v [Q] Kashif Shuja (NZL)
[22] Omar Mosaad (EGY) v [Q] Julien Balbo (FRA)
[16] Alister Walker (ENG) v Stephen Coppinger (RSA)
[29] Joey Barrington (ENG) v [Q] Alan Clyne (SCO)
[3] Amr Shabana (EGY) v [Q] Chris Simpson (ENG)
[28] Mohd Ali Anwar Reda (EGY) v [Q] Karim Abdel Gawad (EGY)
[14] Mohd Azlan Iskandar (MAS) v [Q] Jan Koukal (CZE)
[31] Miguel Angel Rodriguez (COL) v Mark Krajcsak (HUN)
[5] Gregory Gaultier (FRA) v Mohammed Taher Al-Saif (KSA)
[30] Farhan Mehboob (PAK) v [Q] Muhd Asyraf Azan (MAS)
[10] David Palmer (AUS) v [Q] Stephane Galifi (ITA)
[21] Jonathan Kemp (ENG) v Rafael F Alarcon (BRA)
[18] Stewart Boswell (AUS) v Davide Bianchetti (ITA)
[15] Adrian Grant (ENG) v Renan Lavigne (FRA)
[19] Ong Beng Hee (MAS) v [Q] Robbie Temple (ENG)
[8] Peter Barker (ENG) v [Q] Mohd Nafiizwan Adnan (MAS)
[20] Tarek Momen (EGY) v Aaron Frankcomb (AUS)
[11] Wael El Hindi (EGY) v Gregoire Marche (FRA)
[32] Tom Richards (ENG) v [Q] Adrian Waller (ENG)
[4] Karim Darwish (EGY) v Julian Illingworth (USA)
[25] Olli Tuominen (FIN) v Omar Abdel Aziz (EGY)
[9] Daryl Selby (ENG) v Campbell Grayson (NZL)
[26] Saurav Ghosal (IND) v [Q] Borja Golan (ESP)
[6] James Willstrop (ENG) v Nicolas Mueller (SUI)
[17] Cameron Pilley (AUS) v [Q] Mathieu Castagnet (FRA)
[13] Mohamed El Shorbagy (EGY) v Martin Knight (NZL)
[23] Aamir Atlas Khan (PAK) v [Q] Steve Finitsis (AUS)
[2] Ramy Ashour (EGY) v Simon Rosner (GER)