World number two Ramy Ashour, the top-ranked Egyptian and one of the most exciting players in the world, will defend his title in September's ROWE British Grand Prix Squash Championship in Manchester.
The ROWE British Grand Prix - Manchester 2011, one of the year's nine PSA World Series championships and the biggest event to be staged in the UK in 2011, will take place at the National Squash Centre in Manchester from 19-25 September.
Two years after becoming one of the youngest ever World Champions at the venue in October 2008, Ashour returned to the National Squash Centre last September to win the 2010 ROWE British Grand Prix in style - beating home hope James Willstrop, the world No4 from Yorkshire, in a four-game final.
It was in August 2004 that Ashour first came to worldwide attention: The 16-year-old stunned the squash world by becoming the youngest ever World Junior Champion when seeded only to make the quarter-finals. Two years later he successfully defended his title in New Zealand to become the first man in history to win the world's leading junior title twice.
And Ashour's World Open win in Manchester three years ago made him only the second player in history - after the Pakistan legend Jansher Khan - to win both the junior and senior world crowns.
Cairo's "King of Squash", now aged just 23, has already notched up 20 PSA World Tour titles - and in January 2010 topped the world rankings for the first time.
"Ramy is one the game's most exciting players, who attracts crowds wherever he plays," said Paul Walters, CEO of event promoters internationalSPORTgroup.
"I am delighted that he has confirmed his entry for the 2011 championship, where he is set to renew his rivalry with Nick Matthew, the Englishman who replaced him as world number one at the beginning of this year."
The ROWE British Grand Prix, for the second year the biggest event to be held in England, will be the fourth PSA World Series event of the year, following the Australian Open in Canberra in August.