Amina Orfi
Egypt’s teenage sensation Amina Orfi has taken the PSA World Tour by storm in 2023. From reaching her first World Tour final in Washington in February in just her fifth PSA event, she hasn’t looked back. She’s beaten the likes of Georgina Kennedy & Joelle King and narrowly lost out to World No.3 Hania El Hammamy 3-2 at the World Championships.
The sky seems to be the limit for 17-year-old Orfi, who already sits at World No.17 and, with more experience in the latter stages of the big events, the top 10 surely beckons in 2024.
Aly Abou Eleinen
What a year it has been for Aly Abou Eleinen. The Egyptian started the year at No.39 in the PSA World Rankings, and after many impressive performances, has worked his way up to World No.14 and is knocking loudly on the door of the top 10.
The 23-year-old, who studied at Penn University, possesses a potent mix of attacking Egyptian flair and structured, tactical squash, which has seen him reach the third round of five Platinum events as well as the PSA World Championships. In that World Championships, he captured his biggest win as he downed French No.1 Victor Crouin.
Eleinen’s persuit of the top 10 was aided by his recent win in the Hong Kong Football Club Open, where he claimed his first World Tour crown. We think that more Bronze titles are within reach of the Egyptian in 2024 and he is also more than capable of reaching a first Platinum quarter-final in 2024.
Youssef Ibrahim
Dangerous Youssef Ibrahim is always a threat whenever he steps onto court and a confident, injury-free Ibrahim can beat anyone on his day. Since reaching the final at the Windy City Open in 2022, the Egyptian had struggled to replicate that form and has been plagued with injuries.
2023, however, has been a better year for the 24-year-old as his body has been in good shape, which has shown on court. Ibrahim defeated an in-form Mazen Hesham at the Grasshopper Cup and was been involved in one of the matches of the season against Mohamed ElShorbagy in Qatar, losing out 3-2, which he did again in Singapore.
If Ibrahim can keep his body healthy heading into 2024, and if he can replicate the form of 2023, he can cause some big upsets in the major events and potentially earn a first title since 2019.
Salma Eltayeb
Another 19-year-old who has big potential in 2024 is Salma Eltayeb. The World No.44 has been gathering confidence in recent months in World Tour events and her attacking, aggressive style of play could earn her some big scalps and ranking progress in 2024.
She scored wins against higher-ranked compatriots Mariam Metwally and Zeina Mickawy in 2023 and reached the final of the Nash Cup 20k event, narrowly losing out to home favourite Hollie Naughton in five games. These results will give her confidence to push further up the rankings heading into the new year.
Mohamed Zakaria
In just 23 matches, 16-year-old Mohamed Zakaria has already reached a World Ranking of 78. The World Junior Open 2023 runner-up has taken the PSA Challenger Tour by storm, and made history in Los Angeles, claiming the World Los Angeles Squash Open to become the youngest-ever male winner on the PSA Tour. He is currently boasting a 14 match unbeaten streak, picking up three consecutive Challenger Tour titles.
We expect that it won’t be too long before Zakaria is featuring in World Tour events and showcasing the attacking flair that has seen him rise so rapidly up the PSA rankings.
