Corren Heads International Field in Palmerston North

World rankings points are up for grabs as top class squash returns to Palmerston North this weekend.

The Fitzherbert Rowe Lawyers Manawatu International Squash Classic includes a professional Men's event which has been sanctioned by the World Professional Squash Association (PSA).  The field for the tournament has a truly international field, with players from New Zealand, Australia, Pakistan and Japan taking part, vying for a share of the $13,000 in prizemoney.

Australian Mike Corren heads the field.  The world number 77 has won an incredible 40 PSA events since turning pro in 1994, and although he is in the twilight of his career, the 38-year-old will still be hard to topple this weekend.

His biggest challenger should come in the form of second seed Kashif Shuja, who is now based in Palmerston North.  Shuja moved to the central north island city three months ago and has been working with the Clubs juniors and training with other top local players. Shuja reached a career high of 36 in the world in 2009 and now sits at 93. He has big game experience and has been on court with the best players in the World which will make him tough opposition for Corren this weekend.

Third seed Evan Williams (Wellington) will also be one to watch. The New Zealand number three at last year's World Championships in Germany has played tournaments in Australia and Brazil this year.  The classy left hander and regular visitor to Palmerston North is a player of great talent and promise.  He is likely to meet Corren in the Semi-finals.

Local hopes will rest with Palmerston North Boys High old boy Joseph Watts. Watts has been travelling the Australian PSA circuit the past two years and his ranking rose to a high of 198 in March. He will be looking for a good performance on his home courts.

The surprise packages may be the visiting Pakistani players of Suleman Khan, Naseem Khan and Yashir Sarwar. Little is known about these three except they have travelled a long way to try to qualify for the main draw of the Classic. All three are ranked between 300 and 400 in the World. Pakistan has a long, proud history of producing great players and the top seeds will need to be wary if they make it through to the main draw.

Meanwhile, the Women's Open is headlined by Joelle King who returns to Palmerston North after spearheading the NZ Team to the semi-finals of the World Champs the city hosted in 2010. The world number 12 should prove too good for the rest of the field which includes World number 46 Kylie Lindsay of Waikato. King, who at 23 has a big future ahead of her, will be looking to perform well locally before representing New Zealand again at the World Teams Champs in France later this year.

Third seed Emma Millar is another Waikato player on the rise while Palmerston North and Central number one Danielle Fourie is fourth seed and will be looking to gain valuable experience playing against the likes of King and Lindsay.

Qualifying for the final four spots in the Men's PSA draw is on Thursday night with both the Men's and Women's main draws beginning Friday night.

The Women's Open final will take place at 2.00pm on Sunday with the Men's final following at 2.45pm.

For more information and tournament draws visit http://www.squashgym.co.nz/.