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Finals
[1] Nouran Gohar 3-1 [8] Amina Orfi 9-11, 11-7, 11-6, 11-7 (52m)
[2] Mostafa Asal 3-2 [1] Ali Farag 6-11, 7-11, 11-9, 11-9, 11-5 (91m)
PSA report
World No.1s Nouran Gohar and Mostafa Asal have claimed the El Gouna International Squash Open 2025 titles, beating first-time Platinum finalist Amina Orfi and four-time World Champion Ali Farag to win the final Platinum event of the 2024/25 PSA Squash Tour season.
Both matches held significance aside from winning the tournament. The win for Asal will see him retain his World No.1 position on Monday 21st April after he recently overtook Farag after his Optasia Championships win. In the women’s final, Orfi had the chance to make history as the youngest ever winner of a women’s Platinum event but Gohar spoilt her party.
The women’s final was up first with two similar styles of play treating the El Gouna crowd as Gohar hunted a third El Gouna International title in a row. The teenager came out to a flying start leafing 7-2 after a somewhat slow start by Gohar. The World Champion worked her way back in however and suddenly the score was 7-7. Orfi moved ahead to 9-7 and took the game 11-7 to shock the El Gouna crowd.
Another strong start followed for the 17-year-old as she won four of the first five points to lead 4-1. ‘The Terminator’ responded however and showed why she is the current World No.1 and World Champion. She started to hit her lines to perfection and took away the weapons that Orfi possesses around the middle. It wasn’t long before she captured the next two games 11-7, 11-6.
The fourth game started in quite scrappy fashion with a couple of refereeing decisions interrupting play. Gohar handled the stoppages better than Orfi and marched through the game, knowing a third consecutive El Gouna title was within sight. Gohar fired in a terrific forehand drop to led 5-3 and stormed ahead to set herself up with five championships balls at 10-5. At the third time of asking, a trademark backhand kill sealed a fourth title of the season and third El Gouna International in a row.
“I can definitely say that this is my favourite tournament” said Gohar.
“I struggled to win the tournament. I had to reach four finals to win my first El Gouna title but since then, it has been a lucky charm for me. It opened me up to play really well in the World Championships so I’m hoping that its before the Worlds every season.
“I’m super happy, this crowd is just amazing, not just Egyptian there’s lots of nationalities here and that just highlights how good El Gouna is. Thank you to everyone who makes it possible to come back every year because it’s a favourite of all the players.
“Egyptian women’s squash is in a great place. Someone that we need to mention is Raneem El Welily. She was the first ever Arab female athlete to be ranked World No.1 in any sport. She taught me a lot of lessons on and off court. Whenever I need someone to help me, she’s always there for me. Omneya [Abdel Kawy] also, has been so generous with advice and I think that’s the reason that we have all of the champions in our sport.”
With the World No.1 spot on the line between the two, the stakes could not have been higher in the men’s final between Asal and Farag. Both players started in great style, using all four corners of the court with a mixture of paces, showcasing their skill level for the El Gouna crowd. Asal took a narrow lead in the mid stage to lead 6-5 but a flurry of errors from the current World No.1 allowed Farag to win six points in a row to lead 1-0.
The second game followed a similar pattern with both players eager to try and dictate the pace. Asal was trying to increase it whilst Farag looked to trying to slow it but inject pace at the right time. The four-time World Champion’s tactics were working perfectly as he took a huge 2-0 lead, winning 11-7.
Farag continued his web-weaving in game three and looked to be frustrating Asal, who was struggling to find winners against the three-time El Gouna champion. Farag looked to be storming to victory as he lead 7-4 but the current World No.1 was not done yet. He capitalised on some loose Farag drops to thunder the ball past the top seed and levelled at 7-7. As the score reached 9-9, another thunderous cross court followed by a devastating kill sealed the game for Asal to breathe more life in the contest. Asal continued his momentum from winning the third game and rattled off the winners in game four to level the tie at 2-2.
Asal found top form in the fifth game, he twisted and turned the fading Farag, moving the No.1 seed into all four corners at pace, which Farag was struggling to keep up with. Asal stormed to a 7-1 lead in the decider and looked sure to be lifting the trophy. Despite Farag claiming a few more points, the ‘Raging Bull’s’ charge couldn’t be halted. He took the final game 11-5 to win a second El Gouna International title and a fifth title of the season.
“I was super lucky today to get over the line,” said Asal.
“It was such a battle today between me and Ali. Ali is such a legend of the sport and he’s one of a kind. I’m happy with my performance, I wanted to dig in and that’s what Jimbo [James Willstrop] was telling me and I’m really proud of myself today.
“I want to thank everyone for watching us here, it’s such a unique tournament and we love coming her every year. There’s lots of tournaments every season but its a good thing. We’re very proud that there are so many events for fans to watch us and hopefully mine and Ali’s rivalry can continue.
“James was telling me to stay calm and it’s a credit to him and all of my team. My fitness coach, the physio, my father, my uncle. Everyone.”
Semis
[1] Nouran Gohar v [3] Hania El Hammamy
[8] Amina Orfi v [4] Olivia Weaver (Usa)[1] Ali Farag v [4] Joel Makin (Wal)
[2] Mostafa Asal v [3] Paul Coll (Nzl)
PSA report
Another all-Egyptian finals day has been confirmed as Ali Farag, Mostafa Asal, Nouran Gohar and Amina Orfi all claimed hard-fought wins on day five of the El Gouna International Squash Open 2025.
The El Gouna crowd were treated to over six hours of spellbinding squash as eight players looked to reach the finals. Farag and Asal took the spoils in the men’s draw to set up a World No.1 showdown whilst defending champion Nouran Gohar will take on 17-year-old Amina Orfi in what will be the teenager’s first ever major event final.
Gohar was the first to book her spot in the title decider after she recovered from 2-1 down to defeat World No.3 Hania El Hammamy in the latest chapter of their legendary rivalry. El Hammamy played some excellent squash to take a 2-1 lead over the World Champion but things soon started to heat up in the business end of the match.
There was nothing to separate the two in the fourth game as both started to play well at the same time for the first time in the contest. The rallies were long and intense with neither wanting to open the court up too much in fear of the other’s quality. Gohar held two game balls to force a decider but a deft crosscourt drop from El Hammamy followed by a Gohar error forced a tiebreak. A Stroke decision went the way of the No.3 seed to set up a match ball. An inch perfect kill by Gohar followed by a No Let and another winner ensured a fifth and final game was coming up.
Again, nothing separated the two in the opening stages of the deciding game. It was El Hammamy who managed to score the first two point lead at 7-5. Gohar bounced back to win the next five points and set herself up with three match balls to recover from 1-2 down. A quality width was just out of reach of the El Hammamy volley and as the ball hit the floor, Gohar hit the roof. She erupted with emotion as she reached her sixth El Gouna final in a row.
As mentioned, Gohar’s opponent in the final will be No.8 seed Orfi after she needed just three games to defeat USA’s Olivia Weaver, avenging her recent loss to her in the Australian Open final.
Weaver showed her quality in the opening two games and led 8-6 in both. Orfi powered back to snatch them out of Weaver’s hands to earn a crucial 2-0 lead. The Egyptian teenager then flew out the traps in the third game, sending out a message that she was on her way to her first ever Platinum final. The teenager reached 8-2, but with the finishing line in sight, Orfi started to freeze. Weaver battled back from 4-10 down to 8-10 with four match balls being squandered by the youngster. She eventually sealed the match with a trademark clinical kill on the backhand side to take her place in a first ever Platinum final.
“I can’t believe it,” said Orfi.
“Yesterday, I had a really tough match and coming into this I knew Olivia was still fresh, she only played like 20 minutes in her last round. I just had to keep going and not give her a chance in the beginning. It was crucial that I went 2-0 up because in Australia, she went 2-1 up and she is so good from in front. So that was important today.
“I started feeling it in my legs from yesterday’s match. I wanted to keep going and move the ball into the back and try to force errors and thankfully they came.
“We’ve both had tough matches [her and Gohar], the last three times she’s beaten me, so I’m just going to watch those matches back and see if I can do better.”
Three-time El Gouna International champion, Ali Farag, was next to book a spot in the final after he was forced out of his comfort zone to defeat a spirited Joel Maki, who left everything on the court.
Both players shared the opening games with the rallies increasing in pace and quality. Farag’s web-weaving was starting to take full effect and Makin was feeling it. After losing the third game, the Welshman came to a grinding halt after saving Farag’s first match ball, but the end came soon after as Farag won 11-8 in the fourth game to win 3-1.
“I don’t feel great, I like to keep my emotions a lot more bottled up than I showed today,” said Farag after his win.
“But that’s because of the intensity and accuracy that Joel presented to me today. He is always very intense but I don’t think he was this accurate last season, that’s why he is knocking on the door of the top four.
“I shouldn’t have been as rattled as I was. It came out at the ref, at myself so I’m sorry for that. Squash wise, I was fine but emotionally, some work to do.
World No.1 Asal will be Farag’s opponent in the final with not only silverware on the line as the victor will top the rankings on Monday 21st April. Asal defeated another former World No.1 in the form of Paul Coll to take his place in the final. The match started in quite scrappy fashion with both players not wanting to surrender an inch around the middle.
Asal was the one who seemed to deal with the interruptions with the referee better and after losing the opening game, stormed through the next three games winning 11-4, 11-5, 11-6 in 73 minutes to reach his seventh final of the season.
Quarters
[1] Nouran Gohar 3-0 [6] Gina Kennedy (Eng) 11-5, 11-3, 11-4 (28m)
[3] Hania El Hammamy 3-0 Salma Hany 13-11, 11-6, 11-4 (37m)
[8] Amina Orfi 3-2 [2] Nour ElSherbini 11-8, 10-12, 11-7, 11-13, 11-9 (101m)[1] Ali Farag 3-1 [8] Youssef Soliman 11-4, 11-2, 11-5 (37m)
[3] Paul Coll (NZL) 3-0 Mohamad Zakaria 12-10, 11-7, 11-4 (62m)
[2] Mostafa Asal bt Youssef Ibrahim w/o
Round Two
[1] Nouran Gohar 3-0 Malak Khafagy 11-4, 11-5, 11-5 (30m)
[6] Georgina Kennedy (ENG) 3-1 Farida Mohamed 11-9, 11-5, 2-11, 13-11 (37m)
Salma Hany 3-2 [7] Sivasangari Subramaniam (MAS) 9-11, 4-11, 11-7, 11-2, 11-8 (51m)
[3] Hania El Hammamy 3-0 Sana Ibrahim 11-7, 11-1, 12-10 (37m)
[8] Amina Orfi 3-1 Lucy Turmel (ENG) 11-6, 7-11, 11-7, 11-4 (50m)
[2] Nour ElSherbini 3-1 Satomi Watanabe (JPN) 11-7, 7-11, 11-8, 11-5 (43m)[1] Ali Farag 3-0 Jonah Bryant (ENG) 12-10, 11-3, 11-3 (40m)
[8] Youssef Soliman3-1 Curtis Malik (ENG) 12-10, 12-14, 12-10, 11-5 (70m)
[4] Joel Makin (WAL) 3-1 Aly Abou Eleinen 13-11, 1-11, 12-10, 11-7 (77m)
Mohamed Zakaria 3-0 Ramit Tandon (IND) 11-7, 11-7, 11-3 (57m)
Youssef Ibrahim 3-1 [7] Karim Gawad 11-8, 4-11, 12-10, 11-6 (60m)
[2] Mostafa Asal3-0 Grégoire Marche (FRA) 11-3, 11-6, 11-4 (38m)
Mohamad Zakaria Becomes Youngest Men’s Platinum Quarter Finalist In Modern Era At El Gouna International 2025
On an exciting third day of action at the El Gouna International Squash Open 2025, 17-year-old Mohamad Zakaria became the youngest male player to reach a Platinum quarter final in the modern era.
The World Junior Champion downed No.6 seed Tarek Momen in round one before beating India’s Ramit Tandon in straight games today at the El Gouna Squash Complex to book his spot in the last eight. The win will also take Zakaria inside the top 20, becoming the second youngest player ever to reach that milestone in the men’s game.
The Egyptian kept the pace high and forced Tandon into many tough movements in the opening two games, tidying up loose balls from the Indian to win games one and two both 11-7.
Despite a brief break at the start of the third game due to a power cut, Zakaria motored on in his pursuit of a last eight spot. Tandon had no answers to the Zakaria barrage as he took the game 11-3 to set up a meeting with either World No.4 Paul Coll.
“It feels amazing. To do it here in El Gouna is extra special because this was the first major event that I ever played. I got the wildcard when I was 15 so to make the quarters here is very nice.” said Zakaria.
“I think this win takes me into the top 20 for the first time and that’s huge for me. You know, when you have something in your mind all season and then you get closer and closer, it just gives you so much confidence and such a boost and I want more of that.
“Ramit has such good hands, I tried to play as tight as possible, if anything is left loose off the sidewalls you know he’s going to take it in. I was surprised today because he didn’t take it in as much as I thought and he hit a lot less errors than I thought too, so I had to win a lot of the points and I’m very glad to be through.
Zakaria’s compatriot Youssef Ibrahim scored the only seeding upset of the day as he beat former World Champion Karim Gawad in four games. Top four seeds Mostafa Asal and Paul Coll has no trouble securing their quarter final spots, beating Gregoire Marche and Greg Lobban, respectively.
In the women’s draw, all seeds progressed through to the final eight with Tinne Gilis surviving the biggest scare as she battled past good friend and former World No.3 Joelle King in five games. Two-time champion Nour ElSherbini, World No.5 Amina Orfi and USA No.1 Olivia Weaver were the other winners on day three.
Round One
[1] Nouran Gohar 3-0 Lisa Aitken (SCO) 11-2, 11-3, 11-5 (22m)
Malak Khafagy 3-2 Georgia Adderley (SCO) 5-11, 11-9, 1-11, 11-5, 14-12 (59m)
Farida Mohamed 3-0 Rowan Elaraby 12-10, 11-3, 11-6 (27m)
Salma Hany 3-0 Nele Gilis-Coll (BEL) 11-5, 11-8, 11-9 (49m)
Sana Ibrahim 3-2 Hana Ramadan 13-11, 5-11, 5-11, 11-5, 11-5 (49m)
[3] Hania El Hammamy 3-1 Jasmine Hutton (ENG) 11-4, 11-3, 10-12, 11-5 (37m)
[4] Olivia Weaver (USA) 3-0 Menna Hamed 11-3, 11-6, 11-3 (21m)
Rachel Arnold (MAS) 3-2 Zeina Mickawy 11-5, 11-8, 11-13, 10-12, 11-5 (50m)
[8] Amina Orfi 3-0 [WC] Jana Swaify 11-4, 11-4, 11-1 (30m)
Lucy Turmel (ENG) bt [WC] Barb Sameh 11-9, 11-3, 11-5 (30m)
[2] Nour ElSherbini 3-1 Fayrouz Aboelkheir 6-11, 11-6, 11-4, 11-7 (36m)[1] Ali Farag 3-0 [WC] Aly Ezzat 11-5, 11-9, 11-5 (24m)
[8] Youssef Soliman 3-1 [WC] Marwan Assal 11-4, 11-9, 10-12, 11-3 (60m)
Aly Abou Eleinen 3-1 Auguste Dussourd (FRA) 11-8, 11-1, 9-11, 12-10 (53m)
[3] Paul Coll (NZL) bt Mohamed Abouelghar 5-11, 11-7, 11-2, 10-12, 11-5 (65m)
Mohamed Zakaria 3-0 [5] Tarek Momen 11-8, 12-10, 12-10 (59m)
[7] Karim Gawad 3-0 Adrian Waller (ENG) 13-11, 11-7, 11-8 (29m)
Youssef Ibrahim 3-0 Nicolas Mueller (SUI) 11-5, 11-9, 11-9 (31m)
[2] Mostafa Asal 3-0 Mohamed ElSherbini 11-3, 11-5, 11-5 (40m)
The El Gouna International Squash Open 2025 gets underway, with the 13th successive edition of the event seeing the world’s best players compete for the Platinum-level titles.
A total of 64 players will compete in the event across both draws, with seven former World No.1s featuring alongside the next generation, all looking to score valuable points to progress up the PSA rankings. The event will be played across two venues: The El Gouna Squash Complex for side court action and the El Gouna Conference and Culture Center for glass court action.
2024 champions Ali Farag and Nouran Gohar occupy the top seeding positions in the draws as they look to defend their titles, while the battle for the World No.1 spot between Farag and Asal is set to wage on, with both able to finish the event at the summit of the rankings.
Men’s top seed Farag surrendered only two games on his way to a third El Gouna International title last season and will be looking to claim a fourth this time around to become the most successful player in the event’s history. After the injury withdrawal of current World Champion Diego Elias, the Egyptian has been named in the same half of the draw as World No.5 Joel Makin, but could first have to face No.8 seed Youssef Soliman if both were to progress to the quarter-finals stage.
In the bottom half of the draw, 2022 champion and current World No.1 Mostafa Asal will be eyeing up a fifth title of the season, after prior successes at the Egyptian Open, Paris Squash, Hong Kong Open and Optasia Championships. If the 23-year-old wins the event, he guarantees that he will remain at World No.1. Asal will take on compatriot Mohamed ElSherbini in the first round, whilst sitting in the same quarter of the draw as former World Champion Karim Abdel Gawad and the same half of the draw as World No.4 Paul Coll.
In the women’s event, top seed and World No.1 Nouran Gohar will be looking to claim her third El Gouna International title in a row after beating Nele Gilis-Coll and Nour El Sherbini in the last two finals. Despite not winning at the J.P. Morgan Tournament of Champions in New York, Gohar has pulled further clear at the summit of the World Rankings after claiming another win at the Texas Open in February.
‘The Terminator’ will be desperate to create as much distance as possible between herself and World No.2 El Sherbini in the world rankings ahead of a busy period in the PSA Squash Tour schedule, including the PSA World Championships next month. Top seed Gohar is in the same half as World No.3 Hania El Hammamy in this event, with a blockbuster semi-final potentially on the cards once again.
ElSherbini is yet to find her top form so far in 2025. She’s lost out twice to World No.3 El Hammamy in New York and Texas and is yet to reach an event final this year, an unusual occurrence for the seven-time World Champion. ‘The Warrior Princess’ is seeded to face World No.4 Olivia Weaver in the semi-finals, but could also face off against a number of dangerous opponents such as No.5 seed Tinne Gilis, No.8 seed Amina Orfi and the USA’s Amanda Sobhy.
This season’s new format of 32 draws for Platinum events has made for a number of exciting first-round fixtures for the Egyptian crowd to enjoy. Former World No.3s Joelle King and Amanda Sobhy will face off again after they played in Optasia, Nele Gilis-Coll will take on recent Manchester Open champion Salma Hany, and El Sherbini will play up-and-coming Egyptian star Fayrouz Aboelkheir.
