PHOTO ALBUM    ALL THE REPORTS

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)

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.