Season Review: Outstanding Performers Part One

Another PSA World Tour season is in the history books with a record 33 World Tour events taking place with 20 different players capturing the titles throughout the season. There were some amazing matches and performances on show across many spectacular events and we’ve identified the outstanding performers from the World Tour from this 2022-23 season.

Ali Farag

Titles Won: 5

Finals Reached: 6

Matches Played: 44

Matches Won: 36 (81.8%)

Egypt’s Ali Farag came into the 2022-23 season as the World No.1 and World Champion but faced one of the most challenging seasons of his career so far as he battled back from an injury setback and was then faced with the challenge of regaining the ranking points lost due to not being able to compete.

After a disappointing start to the season in Qatar, the World Champion came back strongly at the Egyptian Open as he defeated Paul Coll in the final to claim the second Platinum event of the season. Farag then reached the final of the U.S. Open, but suffered a knee injury and was unable to complete the match handing the win to Diego Elias. The World No.1 still wasn’t right at the Grasshopper cup and didn’t compete again until the Pittsburgh Open in February.

Farag eased his way back into the fold in his first few events back on the tour, then produced an incredible display of squash all week as the British Open headed back to Birmingham. Despite observing Ramadan, Farag sliced his way through the draw and defeated the new World No.1 Diego Elias in a four game final to finally win the historic title.

Farag’s momentum didn’t stop there as he then moved onto the biggest event on the calendar, the PSA World Championships, looking to claim a fourth title. It was another dazzling week from the 31-year-old as he reached the final where he faced compatriot Karim Abdel Gawad. It was a match too far for the returning Gawad as Farag took the win in straight games to retain his World title.

The win streak continued for Farag as he claimed the Manchester Open title and then the El Gouna International titles taking his unbeaten streak to 22 matches, which includes reaching the semi-finals of the PSA World Tour Finals.

Hania El Hammamy

Titles Won: 2

Finals Reached: 5

Matches Played: 41

Matches Won: 33 (80.5%)

After claiming that she was desperate to reach the summit of the PSA World Rankings, big things were expected from Egypt’s Hania El Hammamy as the season got underway. The Leopard claimed the first Platinum event of the season available to the women, at the Egyptian Open, beating Nouran Gohar in a four game final.

After an early exit at the U.S. Open to Sabrina Sobhy, El Hammamy returned with a vengeance in the next Platinum event as she downed both Gohar and El Sherbini to win the Hong Kong Open title and move within touching distance of the World No.1 spot.

She failed to capitalise on her position in the following events in New York and the Black Ball Open and also suffered a loss to Amanda Sobhy in the British Open quarter finals. She bounced back at the World Championships but lost out in a mammoth match to Nouran Gohar in the final four. The rivalry with Gohar continued in the following events as they met again in the El Gouna International semi-finals, with Gohar winning again in 107 minutes in what is the longest four-game women’s match ever on the PSA tour.

The pair again met in the pool stages of the PSA World Tour Finals, but it was their match in the final that made all the headlines as the pair took huge blows out of each other in a tense and fiercely contested encounter, in which Gohar prevailed again in what is now the longest women’s match in PSA history, lasting 130 minutes.

Finishing the season again as World No.3, El Hammamy will have mixed feelings as she did have chances to close the gap between herself and the top two of Gohar and El Sherbini. But with two Platinum titles to her name and many close calls with World No.1 Gohar that could have gone her way, she is sure to challenge for top spot next season.

Mohamed ElShorbagy

Titles Won: 5

Finals Reached: 6

Matches Played: 54

Matches Won: 42 (77.8%)

‘The Beast’ Mohamed ElShorbagy embarked on his 17th season on the PSA Tour as the season began in September for him. What a start it was for the Englishman as he claimed the Qatar Classic title, beating Victor Crouin in the final. In fact, the first half of the season was terrific for ElShorbagy as he won four of the seven events that he played in, winning the NetSuite Open, New Zealand Open and Singapore Open after his victory in Qatar. With these wins under his belt, the former World No.1 had moved himself in contention to fight for the top spot once again in the second half of the season.

After disappointment in New York, ElShorbagy returned to winning ways in Egypt as he won the Black Ball Open Gold event, which prevented Diego Elias from taking the top spot and put all eyes on the run of British events to determine who would reach the top first. ElShorbagy couldn’t capitalise however and suffered a small adductor injury, which stopped him from competing at his absolute best when he needed it most.

The 2017 World Champion was then on the wrong end of three 3-2 matches against Karim Abdel Gawad and Mostafa Asal in the British Open, World Championships and El Gouna International before reaching the semi-finals at the World Tour Finals.

Five titles and a close-run battle for the World No.1 spot shows that ‘The Beast’ is still one of the players to watch on the men’s tour as he continues to battle with a younger generation.

Replays from all Platinum events are available to watch on SQUASHTV. Part Two to come tomorrow.