Men's world number one Elshorbagy triumphed at the 2017 PSA World Championships in Manchester and is back to defend his title as the top seed in American city Chicago. 

Also competing will be his compatriot and Qatar Classic champion Ali Farag, who is ranked as the second seed, and Germany's Simon Rösner who is seed number three.

Egyptians Tarek Momen and Karim Abdel Gawad are the fourth and fifth seeds, with Colombia's Miguel Rodriguez, New Zealand's Paul Coll and Marwan Elshorbagy of Egypt completing the top eight seeds in that order.

El Welily was victorious at the 2017 competition when she defeated compatriot Nour El Sherbini, who is the number two seed for this year's tournament.

Fellow Egyptian Nour El Tayeb is the third seed. 

The remaining eight seeds are New Zealand's Joelle King, France's Camille Serme, England's Sarah-Jane Perry and Laura Massaro and Egypt's Nouran Gohar. 

The PSA World Championships is the most illustrious tournament in the squash calendar and this year there is $500,000 (£392,000/€434,000) on offer across both the men and women's competitions. 

The winner of the World Championships will also qualify for the season-ending PSA World Tour Finals, where the reigning world champions and PSA World Tour Platinum winners compete against each other. 

Chicago's Union Station will host the majority of this year's competition, from February 23 to March 2, on a specially erected exhibition glass court. 

Matches in the earlier rounds will also be played at MetroSquash and the University Club of Chicago.