World No.1 Ali Farag produced the best ever campaign on the PSA tour last season. The Egyptian claimed eight titles during the season, five Platinum events, two Gold events and the Xbox PSA World Tour Finals, maintaining his World No.1 status for the entire season.
Up until the Black Ball Squash Open in April, only Paul Coll had gotten the better of Farag throughout the season. That tally then increased to three players after the World Championships as Mostafa Asal and Diego Elias both managed to score rare wins over the World No.1.
Farag obviously reflects on last season with great fondness but has his sights firmly set on the new campaign and is determined to build on last season and become a better squash player.
“Obviously, it was the best season I’ve ever had in my career,” said Farag.
“It was a season that I would never have even dreamt of. I reflect on it with a lot of gratitude and a lot of pride and I’m only looking forward to getting better from here and replicating or even better it this season.
“It’s a lot of hard work. Keeping the body in good shape and the mind in even better shape. I try to play every match as if it’s the last match of my career. The season went a lot better than I thought and now obviously the goal is to win every match that I play.”
Like all of the top players, Farag’s season will start at the CIB Egyptian Open. Farag is the defending champion for the event after his win at the 2022 edition and was already excited for the season but a major event on Egyptian soil makes it even better.
“I’m very excited to start the season on home soil. It’s always an advantage to play in front of your family, friends and coaches. It’s also a Diamond event so that makes it more exciting, the first one ever, so I’m certainly excited to start the season like everyone else.”
As mentioned earlier, only three players bested Farag last season and those players make up the next three places in the world rankings. Coll defeated Farag on three occasions during the last campaign, Asal denied Farag a second successive British Open title and Elias dethroned Farag at the World Championships. The World No.1 admits that those three are his closest competitors but is still keeping an eye out for other players who can be dangerous.
“I was definitely tested by these three the most but I was tested my many other players throughout the season too. I had a couple of 3-2 matches with other guys who could have won on the day. I do see the major events being a battle between us three but every season throws a lot of surprises up so you just don’t know who will come into form and there’s so much quality lower down the rankings that you just have to be ready for everything.”
Farag finished the 23/24 campaign off in style at the Xbox PSA World Tour Finals and after taking some well deserved time off is now back to training and gearing up for the opening event of his 2024/24 season.
“My off season was good. I had some time off to spend with my family and friends, had some nice days out at the beach and a nice trip to Europe as well. I would say I’ve had 6/7 weeks of training now, which obviously has lots of ups and downs like always but it’s impossible to tell where my game is at. I’m excited to see where it’s at at the Egyptian Open and hopefully I can do well again in front of my family and friends.”
