Season Preview: Ones to Watch – Women

The 2024-25 PSA season is less than a month away, with players itching to return to competitive action in some of the biggest events in world squash. Several players made their presence known last season with maiden wins and impressive performances, and we can’t wait for the action to start again.

The new PSA season starts at the end of this month at the first ever Diamond-level event, the CIB Egyptian Open. Qualification commences on the 26th with all action streamed live on SQUASHTV.

We’ve identified four female players who may have shown great promise last season or are retuning from injury – we’re looking at who might be able to push on again in the 2024-25 season to advance up the rankings and get some big titles under their belts.

Amina Orfi

Egypt’s Amina Orfi needs no introduction. A prolific winner in her junior career, she has captured three consecutive World Junior titles and four British Junior Open titles. She emphatically announced herself on the PSA Tour in 2023, reaching the final of the Squash On Fire Open from the wildcard position before pushing World No.3 Hania El Hammamy to five games in the third round of the PSA World Championships in Chicago.

Her first full season on tour had plenty of highs, including capturing her first World Tour title at the Squash On Fire Open in February, appearing in two Platinum event quarter finals and reaching her highest ranking of World No.11. The experience that Orfi gained last season is sure to stand her in good stead for the upcoming campaign and she will certainly be eyeing a place in the top 10 as well as several upsets along the way.

Fayrouz Aboelkheir

After a tough start to the 2023-24 season, Egypt’s Fayrouz Aboelkheir really hit her stride in the turn of the year. The teenager reached her first Platinum event quarter final in the J.P Morgan Tournament of Champions followed by a runner-up finish at the Carol Weymuller Open just a week later. These results catapulted her inside the top 20 for the first time in her career. Another big quarter final appearance was on the horizon for the Egyptian as she downed No.4 seed Nele Gilis in the PSA World Championships to reach the last eight in the biggest event on the calendar.

Now ranked at No.16 in the world, Aboelkheir’s no fear attitude and playing style can see her be a threat to all of the top 10 throughout the upcoming season. Another milestone that she’ll be looking to hit this season is a first World Tour title. If the 18-year-old can use her experienced from last season to her advantage, we’re expecting big things from her during the 2024-25 season.

Amanda Sobhy

To the delight of many squash fans, USA’s Amanda Sobhy has confirmed that she will return to competitive action at the season-opening CIB Egyptian Open. The former World No.3 suffered a second Achilles rupture in the Hong Kong Open final against Hania El Hammamy in December and hasn’t been able to compete since. Sobhy managed to only slip down to No.11 in the rankings so is able to move straight back into the major events.

Depending on how her body is heading into some of the early events, it may take a month or two to see her back to her best, but we still anticipate the experienced Sobhy to be a tough test for any of the seeds that she may meet earlier than usual in the first half of the season as she builds her ranking back up.

Malak Khafagy

The last player in our women’s ‘Ones to Watch’ list for the 2024-25 season is 20-year-old Malak Khafagy, another Egyptian talent that has all the capabilities to score upsets this season and soar up the rankings. Khafagy transitioned from Challenger Tour to World Tour last season and will now be a firm fixture in all the major tournaments. She showed her quality in the ACE Malaysia Cup as she reached the semi-finals of the Bronze event. She also reached the third round of two Platinum events, showing her potential to feature alongside the world’s best.

Like Orfi and Aboelkheir, Khafagy is aggressive and fearless in her play on court and moves extremely well. If she is able to capitalise on chances that come , then we predict that she may be knocking on the door of the top 20 a lot sooner than she may have thought.