Any sports fans wanting to see some of the best players in the world practise their art should head to the Bermuda Squash Racquets Association this week.

The Starr Bermuda Open has attracted a number of players ranked inside the world’s top 50, with five days of action set to start at 2pm on Tuesday afternoon.

The winners of the male and female competitions are guaranteed to win $31,000 and Micah Franklin, the association’s head of squash, is delighted that the tournament has again attracted 48 ― 24 men and 24 women ― players of the highest class.

“We have such a high-class field of players from around the world,” Franklin said.

“I’m ecstatic to see the calibre of player we have attracted. Egypt are such a strong squash nation, so we have top seeds in both the men’s and women’s events who are Egyptian.

“But we have players from Israel, South Africa and South America. I was even speaking with a girl today who has flown from Hong Kong and there is another girl all the way from New Zealand that took two days to get here.

“That is testament to the kind of tournament we run here, that we’ve enticed the players from around the world to come.”

Mohamed Zakaria, who won the event last year, is not returning after rising to No 8 in the world, but that just reinforces Franklin’s belief that the sport’s future stars will be seen on island this week.

“He would have been maybe 25 in the world when he won our event last year and it’s amazing to see what has happened to him since,” Franklin said.

“The top seed in the women’s event is Sabrina Sobhy, of the United States, and she is ranked nineteenth in the world. We are excited to get her to come.

“In the men’s side, the top seed Karim El Torkey is ranked 21st in the world, but the cool thing is that the top eight seeds are all in the top 50 in the world, so it is really strong.”

Despite the strong overseas entry, Bermuda will be proudly represented by Taylor Carrick, who is 184th in the world and has been drawn in the first round against world No 73 Leandro Romiglio, of Argentina, with his match scheduled to start at 5.45pm.

“We have just one local player this year in Taylor Carrick,” Franklin said.

“That’s because Bermuda Squash took the stance that we want to support any Bermudian athlete trying to make a career out of this sport and who are looking to dedicate their lives to it.

“That’s what Taylor’s doing. He’s out there, trying his best and working hard. He’s trying to chase around the world for points, all for the dream of being the best squash player in the world — and we're doing our part to help support that.

“On the girls side, we had some candidates that we were considering, but they’re just not there yet with the pro decision or not yet at the level. However, the girls that we spoke with are going to step up and hopefully look to get that wild-card spot next year by dedicating themselves to the sport.

“This year we decided to extend our wild cards to the Caribbean for Meagan Best and Khamal Cumberbatch, who are from Barbados. They won the Caribbean championships back in November and I can’t wait to see them play because I think they're going to be fabulous additions to the draws.”

Franklin is hands-on in the build-up to the big event and has been preparing the courts and the building in the hope of welcoming some huge crowds, with tickets for every day available to purchase at ptix.bm.

“We’ve been putting in a lot of work in behind the scenes, getting the squash club prepped and ready, the court conditions immaculate and the seating arrangements for everybody to squeeze in,” he said.

“It gets a slight bit easier and every year we are more prepared but this is a great thing for Bermuda and Bermuda Squash.

“I urge everyone on the island to head on down to the Squash Club but I couldn’t stress any higher the level that these guys are. Whether you know squash or not, I highly recommend it.”