The tournament, due to take place at the El Gouna Marina, will feature a men's Professional Squash Association (PSA) World Series event alongside the men's tournament for the first time.

A prize fund of $330,000 (£232,000/€268,000) will be split equally between both draws. 

El Sherbini and El Welily contested the final of the women’s PSA World Championships at this venue 12 months ago.

They are the leading names in  top-class draw that also features the likes of Windy City Open champion Nour El Tayeb, also Egyptian, the in-form New Zealander Joelle King, England's former world number one Laura Massaro and Malaysia's eight-time world champion Nicol David.

El Sherbini is due to get her tournament under way against England’s Emily Whitlock in round one on April 20, while El Welily, El Tayeb, King, Massaro and David all face qualifiers.

Should the tournament go to seeding, El Sherbini will line up against Massaro in the semi-finals, while the other last four fixture will be contested between El Welily and El Tayeb before the final on April 27. 

There is a return to action for Egypt's former world number one Omneya Abdel Kawy, who makes her first PSA World Tour appearance since January 2017 after taking time off the tour due the birth of her son, Selim, in September.

The 32-year-old is set to play Hong Kong’s world number 32 Joey Chan in round one and could come up against Massaro in the second round.

Another Egyptian world number one, Mohamed ElShorbagy, heads up the men’s draw opposite number two seed and France's defending champion Gregory Gaultier, who faces countryman Mazen Hesham in the opening round, while ElShorbagy will line up against a qualifier.

ElShorbagy is set to meet younger brother Marwan in the semi-finals as he looks to improve on last year’s quarter-final finish, where he lost out to Marwan in what was only the younger ElShorbagy’s second win over his older sibling.

World number two Ali Farag is seeded to meet Gaultier in the other semi-final, with the 25-year-old Harvard-graduate playing Switzerland’s Nicolas Mueller in round one.

Last year’s runner-up Karim Abdel Gawad also features and he plays Hong Kong’s Leo Au in the opening round of action.

The qualifying rounds are due to take place on April 18 and 19 at the El Gouna Squash Complex.

The main draw will be staged will split matches between the glass court situated at El Gouna Marina and the qualification venue.

Points for the PSA World Series Standings are also up for grabs as players aim to join the ElShorbagy brothers, Farag, Tarek Momen, Switzerland's Simon Rösner, El Sherbini, El Tayeb, El Welily and King in guaranteeing a top eight berth on the standings, which brings with it qualification for the PSA World Series Finals in June.