The El Gouna International is the final scheduled platinum event on this season's PSA World Tour ©PSA World Tour

World number one squash players Paul Coll and Nouran Gohar are top seeds at the El Gouna International, where they will aim to banish memories of defeats in last year's finals at this event.

The tournament is a platinum event on the Professional Squash Association (PSA) World Tour, with matches in the first two rounds set to be held at the El Gouna Squash Centre.

The Squash Centre and the El Gouna Conference and Cultural Centre will jointly stage matches in the third round, before the latter venue takes over as sole host from the quarter-finals onwards.

New Zealander Coll has climbed to the top of the PSA men's world rankings, and was victorious at the last platinum event on the World Tour, beating Egypt's Ali Farag in straight games at the British Open in Hull.

Coll reached the final in El Gouna last year, but lost in straight games to Egyptian home favourite Mohamed ElShorbagy.

He has been handed a bye through the first round, with Egypt's Mazen Hesham his first scheduled opponent on Saturday (May 28) in the second round.

Farag, ranked second in the world, was last week crowned world champion in Cairo with a 3-2 win against compatriot ElShorbagy.

New Zealand's world number one Paul Coll won the last men's platinum event on the PSA World Tour at the British Open in Hull ©PSA World Tour
New Zealand's world number one Paul Coll won the last men's platinum event on the PSA World Tour at the British Open in Hull ©PSA World Tour

Seeded second for the El Gouna International, Farag is set to face the winner of the tie between England's Adrian Waller and France's Auguste Dussourd in the second round.

In the women's competition, Egyptian player Gohar was a runner-up at the last platinum event on the World Tour, losing to compatriot Hania El Hammamy at the British Open.

She was also beaten by fellow Egyptian Nour El Sherbini in the final at the World Championships last week, an outcome matched in last year's El Gouna International final.

Gohar has been pitted against Canada's Hollie Naughton in the second round, with both players handed a bye through the first round.

World champion El Sherbini is seeded second, and is set to face a fellow Egyptian in the second round, with the winner of Mariam Metwally against Zeina Zein awaiting her.

A clash between World Championships semi-finalist Nour El Tayeb and rising star Farida Mohamed, both of Egypt, is tipped as one of the ties of the first round.

First round matches at the El Gouna International are scheduled for tomorrow, with the platinum event due to conclude on June 3.

This is the final platinum event on the PSA World Tour prior to next month's Finals, scheduled for June 21 to 26 in Cairo.