PSA World Championships: The Contenders

As we near the biggest event in squash, the 2020-21 PSA World Championships presented by the Walter Family, who will follow in the footsteps of the greats of the game to have claimed the titles?

For the second time in three years, the World Championships returns to Chicago, with the event being held at the University Club of Chicago, and once again, holding a purse of $1million.

Here, we take a look at some of the contenders for the biggest prize in the sport…

Men
Ali Farag

Unsurprisingly, World No.1 Ali Farag is one of the favourites for the tournament, one he won in 2018-2019 in the same city, and on his last appearance in the event.

The Egyptian did not participate in the World Championships in Qatar in the 2019-2020 season due to personal reasons, with that win in Chicago two years ago still his most recent outing at the sport’s biggest tournament.

Farag has won two major titles already this season, in the CIB Egyptian Open and the Qatar Classic, as well as reaching the final of the CIB Black Ball Squash Open in December 2020. However, he did struggle at the CIB PSA World Tour Finals last month.

The World No.1 will take on USA’s Faraz Khan in his first round contest, with the American having taken the wildcard spot from the US Playoff.

Mohamed ElShorbagy

Mohamed ElShorbagy is aiming to claim the World Champs for a second time following his success in 2017, whilst he is also looking for the World No.1 spot, which he could reach for the fifth time in his career come the end of the tournament.

Following his win at this event in Manchester four years ago, ElShorbagy has not been back in the final, making the semis in 2018-2019 in Chicago, before going out in the last eight in Qatar in 2019-2020.

Since the Tour returned in September 2020, ElShorbagy has won two of the five events he entered. He claimed victories at the Manchester Open and the El Gouna International Squash Open, along with finishing runner-up at the CIB PSA World Tour Finals in June.

The ‘Beast from Alexandria’ will take on Hong Kong No.1 Tsz Fung Yip, with the pair meeting for only the second time on Tour, following a duel in the second round of the 2018 Qatar Classic.

Tarek Momen

World No.3 Tarek Momen comes into this event as the reigning World Champion, having claimed the title in Qatar 20 months ago.

The ‘Viper’ had never won a major tournament before claiming victory at the sport’s biggest event in 2019-2020, where he defeated Paul Coll in the final.

This season, though, Momen has only reached one final, along with a string of semi-final defeats. He finished runner-up to Ali Farag at the CIB Egyptian Open last October.

The reigning champ will face Pakistani No.2 Asim Khan in the first round at the University Club of Chicago, with the pair meeting for the first time on Tour.

Paul Coll

The only non-Egyptian in the higher echelons of the World Rankings is New Zealand’s Paul Coll, who will be aiming to go one step better than he managed last season at this event.

The Kiwi made it to the final of the PSA Men’s World Championship in 2019-2020, but lost out to Tarek Momen in the final in Qatar.

Coll is still yet to get over the line at a major tournament, but has reached two more finals this season, finishing runner-up at both the Qatar Classic and the El Gouna International Squash Open

The New Zealander will face Pakistani No.1 Tayyab Aslam in the opening round of the World Champs in Chicago.

Marwan ElShorbagy

The younger of the siblings, Marwan ElShorbagy, will be another man to watch for this week, as he aims to go one better than he did in 2017, where he lost out to his older brother, Mohamed, in the final in Manchester.

‘The Jackal’ lost out in the semis in Qatar 20 months ago, losing to Kiwi Paul Coll in the last four in an encapsulating battle in Doha.

Earlier this year, ElShorbagy claimed his first major title since 2018, as he won the CIB PSA Black Ball Squash Open. He has also made the semis of the Manchester Open and the CIB Egyptian Open in 2020-2021.

The Egyptian will face Hong Kong’s Henry Leung in the first round, with the pair doing battle on Tour for the first time.

Karim Abdel Gawad

The first of four consecutive Egyptian winners of the PSA World Championships was Karim Abdel Gawad, who claimed the title in 2016.

Gawad only made the last 16 of the last edition of the World Champs in Qatar, losing out in an absorbing contest with James Willstrop.

The ‘Baby-Faced Assassin’ reached the final of the Manchester Open at the start of the season, but has since been plagued with a foot injury, with only a single quarter-final appearance throughout the rest of the campaign.

Gawad will face rising French star Sebastien Bonmalais in the opening round in Chicago, and if the Egyptian is back to full fitness, he is certain to be a contender for the title once again.

Fares Dessouky

The No.7 seed for the tournament will be ‘Fearless’ Fares Dessouky, with the Egyptian fresh off the back of winning his first major title earlier this season.

The Egyptian only made the third round of the World Championships in Qatar 20 months ago, losing out to Peru’s Diego Elias.

After a slow start to the season, Dessouky cam back to win the CIB Black Ball Squash Open in December, before making the final of the second event there in March 2021.

Dessouky has one of the tougher first round draws in Chicago, as he will meet Scotland’s World No.21 Greg Lobban for a place in the last 32.

Mostafa Asal

The wildcard contender for this year’s event is the man who just claimed his first major title at the age of 20, Mostafa Asal.

Asal’s rise into the top ten has come since his last appearance at the World Championships in Qatar in 2019-2020, where he only made it into the second round.

Since then, he has gone from strength to strength, and is now the World No.9. He had semi-final appearances at the CIB Egyptian Open and the CIB Black Ball Squash Open before Christmas, before winning the CIB PSA World Tour Finals last month, his first major title.

Asal will meet another young Egyptian star of the future, in Youssef Ibrahim, the man who defeated Mohamed ElShorbagy in the Qatar Classic in 2020.

Women
Nour El Sherbini

Of course, the reigning four-time World Champion and World No.1, Nour El Sherbini, is a contender for the title once again, and it would be no surprise if she was to claim a fifth title and join Australian legend Sarah-Fitz Gerald on that mark.

On her 24th birthday, El Sherbini lifted the World Championships crown for a fourth time, winning in front of the Pyramids. She also won the event in 2015, 2016 and 2018-2019, also held in Chicago.

Her form has been astonishing, winning three Platinum events this season, at the CIB Egyptian Open, CIB PSA Black Ball Squash Open and the El Gouna International Squash Open.

The ‘Warrior Princess’ will face American Haley Mendez in the opening round of the tournament, with the pair on the glass court at the spectacular University Club of Chicago.

Nouran Gohar

Nouran Gohar is aiming to become only the third Egyptian to win the World Championships, after El Sherbini and Raneem El Welily, who did so in 2017.

She made it to the semi-finals in front of the Pyramids in 2019-2020, losing out to El Welily, in what was her third appearance in the last four of the sport’s biggest event.

Gohar had been there or thereabouts up until the CIB PSA World Tour Finals, where she finally claimed her first major title since 2019. She also made the finals of the El Gouna International Squash Open and the CIB Egyptian Open.

‘The Terminator’ will do battle with Scotland’s Lisa Aitken, the newest member of the SquashTV commentary team, in the first round in Chicago.

Camille Serme

The first of several non-Egyptians who can be called a contender in the women’s game is World No.4 Camille Serme, the French No.1.

Serme will be aiming for better this time out, after losing in the quarter-finals of the World Championships at the Pyramids in 2019-2020.

‘La Panthere’ made the final of the Manchester Open in the first event of the seasons, but since then, she has failed to advance past the last eight in any of her next six tournaments.

The Frenchwoman will face Hong Kong’s World No.56 Lee Ka Yi in the first round of the PSA World Championships, the first match on the glass court on the second day of the tournament.

Hania El Hammamy

She was the surprise package at the last Women’s World Championships as the No.14 seed, but this time round, Hania El Hammamy could well be one of the favourites.

As the No.14 seed, she got the better of Frenchwoman Camille Serme in the last eight to make it to the semi-finals, where she was beaten by the eventual winner, Nour El Sherbini.

After winning the CIB PSA World Tour Finals in 2019-2020, El Hammamy has reached another two major finals, doing so at the CIB Black Ball Squash Open and this season’s World Tour Finals.

El Hammamy will take on Serbian No.1 Jelena Dutina in the first round of the World Championships, and she will open up the action on the glass court on day one.

Amanda Sobhy

The home favourite, Amanda Sobhy, will have the crowd behind her all the way this week, and she will be hoping to use that to her advantage to take the title.

The American had a shocker last time at the World Championships, losing in the first round to Malaysian starlet Sivasangari Subramaniam and she will be expecting much more this time round.

Sobhy has been in good form this year, and reached the final of the CIB PSA Black Ball Squash Open in March, along with plenty of other semi-final appearances.

The American No.1 will take on England’s Jasmine Hutton in the opening round, and will be on the glass court in the spectacular Cathedral Hall at the University Club of Chicago.

Sarah-Jane Perry

Sarah-Jane Perry is aiming to become the first Englishwoman to claim the World Championships since Laura Massaro did so in the 2013 edition of the event.

She made it to the quarter-finals of this event in front of the Pyramids, but she has never made it further than that in the sport’s biggest tournament.

The Englishwoman claimed a major title earlier this year, though, winning the CIB Black Ball Squash Open in December 2020. She also made the semis in Manchester at the start of the season.

Perry will do battle with Hong Kong’s Vanessa Chu in the first round, the same woman she defeated to start her campaign the last time the World Championship was held in Chicago, back in 2018-2019.

Joelle King

The last major contender for the World Championship crown this week is New Zealand’s Joelle King, who will be aiming to become the first Kiwi to win the title since Carol Owens took the crown in 2003.

Like Perry, the New Zealander made the last eight of the last edition of the World Championships, losing out to eventual winner Nour El Sherbini in the quarter-finals in front of the Pyramids.

King has been a bit hit-and-miss in 2020-2021, reaching a pair of semi-finals at the two Black Ball Opens either side of the New Year, but she only has one other quarter-final appearance this campaign.

King will take on Poland’s Karina Tyma in the opening round, and will be aiming to put on a show as the only woman representing New Zealand in the event.