World number two Ramy Ashour has pulled out of next week's Endurance World Open with an ankle injury.

The absence of the 20-year-old rising star of squash rules out the eagerly anticipated showdown for the world number one ranking with his Egyptian compatriot Amr Shabana in the week-long tournament at the Fairmont Southampton .

Two other players have also withdrawn from the event, Egyptian Karim Darwish, ranked seven in the world, and Englishman Stacey Ross.

Tournament director Ross Triffitt said yesterday that a new draw had been made since the withdrawals, meaning that Bermudian wild-card James Stout will now open the event on Sunday evening against Australia's Stewart Boswell, ranked 15 in the world and a former world number four. He had originally been drawn to to play against Egyptian Mohammed Abbas.

"We were notified on Sunday that Ramy would not be taking part because he has not fully recovered from an injury he suffered at the Qatar Classic," Triffitt said.

"We heard that Karim would not be coming at 6 a.m. today (yesterday).

"This is a real blow for the players. The reason they play this sport is to try to be number one in the world and to play in the world championships. For any athlete, there is nothing worse than being injured and our sympathies are with these players.

"This does not affect the tournament as we still have the top players in the world aiming to win the championship."

Many squash aficionados had been relishing the prospect of a final between Ashour and Shabana with the world championship at stake and Triffitt conceded that there would be disappointment among fans.

"We have people flying in from all over the world who had been looking forward to a Shabana versus Ashour final, but maybe that will happen next year," Triffitt said.

Construction of the 16,000-square-foot arena, with seating for 1,400 spectators and a glass court, is virtually complete. Some of the players competing in the qualifying event for places in the 32-man draw have already arrived on the Island and the tournament court was due to host its first practice session at 6 p.m. yesterday.

The venue is at Turtle Hill, in the grounds of the Fairmont Southampton hotel and the arena is housed under a 43-foot high steel framework supporting a huge clear-span tent, with see-through plastic panels allowing the matches to be played with an ocean-view backdrop.

The $175,000 purse equals the highest amount of prize money ever offered for a World Open and the $2 million raised to fund the event is believed to be the largest budget for any squash tournament.

New York-based professional Stout earned his wild-card by winning the Bermuda national championship and his clash with Boswell will be the first match on court on Sunday's opening night.

Four other Bermuda players — Patrick Foster, Nick Kyme, Chase Toogood, and Melrindo Caines — have the chance to get into the main draw after they were allowed to compete in the qualifiers, which will be held on Friday and Saturday at the Bermuda Squash Racquets Association in Devonshire.