the season gets into full swing

The CUPRA FIP TOUR enters its hot phase, with the first of three FIP STAR scheduled for May. It starts in Saudi Arabia, in Riyadh, in a calendar that in the next two weeks also includes Il Bosco (Egypt, which also will host a RISE) and Trani (Italy). Some players in the top 100 of the world ranking will be starting in this tournament, which consists of 32 pairs.

Leading the entry list are Chile’s Javier Valdés (number 64) and Spanish Jose David Sanchez (number 46). On the other side of the draw, in the bottom half, the number 2 seed is Spanish Raul Marcos (number 37, the player with the best ranking) paired with Qatari Mohammed Saadon Alkuwari.

The third and fourth seeds, however, come from Spain: Mario Ortega and Carlos Martì (winners at the end of April in the FIP RISE in Burriana) number three, Sergio Icardo and Ignacio Sager number four.