THERE will be no leap in to the unknown for Laura Massaro when she begins her quest to defend her PSA World Dubai Series finals title this evening.

The 33-year-old usually prefers not to know who she is playing in the lead-up to tournaments but, with the top eight players in the world coming together to contest the lucrative $160,000 end of season prize, there was no avoiding that this time around.

The Chorley ace is not normally one for scrutinising draws and worrying about unknown qualifiers or lowly-ranked rivals when she prepares to compete around the world.

However Dubai is a different story and for Massaro, it will be more like usual suspects rather than a tale of the unexpected.

“As soon as the draw was made, Twitter went mad,” said the Chorley ace, who is drawn in Group B and plays Nicol David at 6.30pm UK time. “So there was no escaping it.

“Usually I don’t like to look at draws until I really need to because there are so many permutations and anything can happen. It’s just something I like to do.

“Obviously I don’t go to tournaments not having a clue who I am playing, but I generally don’t look until I feel the need to.

“But it’s a bit different with the World Series because you play in groups and you know who the eight players involved are going to be.

“So in that respect, you all know what to expect and who you are playing.”

But Massaro won’t need to do her homework, even if she wanted to, on who stands between her and a second successive World Series title.

The Hoghton-based star has also been drawn alongside England teammate Sarah-Jane Perry, who she plays tomorrow before facing Nour El Sherbini on Thursday.

The top two will progress to Friday’s semi-finals and will compete against the qualifiers from Group A which includes Camille Serme, Raneem El Weleily, Nouran Gohar and Alison Waters.

Massaro, ranked fourth in the world, believes her game is ideally suited to the World Series format.

“I loved competing in Dubai last year, obviously winning it helped matters,” she said. “I like the fact that you go there knowing you have at least three matches in your group and I like the intensity of the tournament.

“You can’t play or feel your way in and possibly work on a few things like you might do against a qualifier or someone who is lesser ranked. With this event, you are straight in against the best players in the world and you have to be on top of your game from the off.

“So that is the challenge I really enjoy.”

Massaro hasn’t played for two months but says she will be in peak condition by the time she competes in Dubai.

Her last competitive match was the World Championships quarter final defeat to El Welily on April 12

“Immediately after the worlds we took our holiday, so since then it has been a case of getting back in to training and over the course of five weeks, build it up in preparation for Dubai,” she added.

“The aim was to make sure I am match sharp before the first match and be prepared as best I can be to be in the mix and give myself a 50-50 chance to win every match.

“The standard on the current tour is very high and anyone can beat anyone and the results of the major tournaments have shown that over the last 12 months.

“There is no stand-out player and it will be a case of who can produce the most consistent squash over the course of the week in Dubai.”