Season Review: Outstanding Performers – Part Two

Another PSA World Tour season has come to a close, with a record 36 events taking place over five continents and 24 different players capturing titles throughout the season.

Last season saw amazing performances and victories at some spectacular venues, and we’ve identified the outstanding performers from the 2023/24 season. See part one of our series by clicking here.

Nour El Sherbini

Titles Won: 6

Finals Reached: 11

Matches Played: 60

Matches Won: 53 (88.3%)

World No.1 Nour El Sherbini has enjoyed yet another superb season on the PSA World Tour as she continues to add yet more silverware to her glittering trophy cabinet.

‘The Warrior Princess’ reached all but two finals from the 13 events she entered throughout the 23/24 campaign, winning four Platinum events and taking her career tally of titles to 40 on the PSA Tour.

El Sherbini started her season in perfect style, dropping just two games on her way to the Paris Squash title, before claiming US Open and Grasshopper Cup successes soon after.

However, potentially her most rewarding title was that at the Grand Central Terminal in New York when competing in the J.P. Morgan Tournament of Champions. Firstly, El Sherbini had to overcome a lower back issue which severely impacted her movement to defeat El Hammamy in a tight semi-final, before fighting back from 2-0 down to overcome Nouran Gohar in a thrilling title decider.

By the time El Sherbini had picked up yet another title at the subsequent Platinum event, the Windy City Open, the 28-year-old held a remarkable record, having lost just two of 37 matches in the 23/24 season – one to Hania El Hammamy in the Qatar Classic final and the other to Amanda Sobhy in the Hong Kong Open semi-final.

The final few events of the season would ultimately have left the World No.1 wanting more, as she fell to defeat against Nouran Gohar in the title deciders of her last four events of the year. In particular, a four-game loss at the World Championships meant that she will have to wait another year before trying to break eight-time champion Nicol David’s record for individual wins at the sports premier event.

Paul Coll

Titles Won: 5

Finals Reached: 7

Matches Played: 57

Matches Won: 46 (80.7%)

Another player who has been in the mix for titles all the way through the 23/24 season is Paul Coll. The New Zealand No.1 has engaged in some thrilling battles on court this year and has been one of the few players, if not the only, who has managed to challenge World No.1 Ali Farag on a consistent basis.

Coll bounced back from a somewhat disappointing 22/23 season to claim five titles this year, two of which were Platinum successes, and move from his season-beginning ranking of World No.5 back up to World No.2. As well as working with Rob Owen, Coll added Australia’s former World Champion Rodney Martin to his coaching set-up, a move which paid dividends and helped fine tune some of the tiny details in Coll’s swing.

After a disappointing exit in the second round in Qatar, Coll went on a hot streak at the close of the 2023 calendar year, capturing the US Open, Hong Kong Open, and New Zealand Open titles. In particular, his wins over Farag in the former two of these events stand out, taking the honours by 12-10 and 11-9 scorelines in two nail-biting fifth games.

The 32-year-old claimed two more pieces of silverware after the New Year as he went back-to-back in the English capital, winning the Optasia Championships and the London Classic. His final against World No.1 Farag at the Optasia Championships was one of the matches of the season, as Coll battled back from 2-0 down, saving a Championship Ball in the fourth game, to eventually take the title in thrilling style.

Elsewhere in his season, Coll finished runner-up at the Windy City Open, whilst also reaching the semi-finals of tournaments such as the World Championships, British Open, and PSA World Tour Finals.

Olivia Weaver

Titles Won: 2

Finals Reached: 3

Matches Played: 52

Matches Won: 36 (69.2%)

American No.1 Olivia Weaver has enjoyed the best season of her career on the PSA World Tour, making huge strides among the world’s elite and showing she has the game to push anyone in the world on her day.

Despite a slowish start to the season, Weaver only got better and better as it progressed, reaching at least the quarter-finals of five Platinum events, winning two World Tour titles, and recording her best-ever finish at a World Championships after making the final four. 

Weaver has credited coach Rodney Martin for much of this success in recent times, having made some noticeable changes to her swing and also improving her fitness on court.

Highlights for Weaver include a visit to the semi-finals at the US Open, as well as back-to-back titles on home soil at the Cincinnati Gaynor Cup and the DAC Pro Squash Classic – a pair of events that saw Weaver drop just one game in total. This eight-match unbeaten run at the two Silver-level events included dominant wins over top ten trio Georgina Kennedy, Tinne Gilis and Rowan Elaraby and saw the 28-year-old climb to a career-high rank of World No.6.

However, an even higher rank beckoned for Weaver after she reached her maiden Gold-level final at the Black Ball Open and made the semi-finals of the PSA World Championships a month later, breaking into the world’s top four for the first time in her career.

The Pan American Games champion will be hoping that this type of form can help her continue on the same trajectory next season and try to cement the hotly-contested World No.4 spot as her own.

Diego Elias

Titles Won: 3

Finals Reached: 7

Matches Played: 54

Matches Won: 42 (77.7%)

Peru’s Diego Elias made history over the course of the 23/24 season as he became the first South American to ever win the PSA World Championships.

Elias, 27, endured a number of near-misses throughout the first half of the season, finishing runner-up in four Platinum events, before coming on strong to win the Motor City Open, Canadian Open, and most notably the PSA World Championships in the latter stages of the campaign.

‘The Peruvian Puma’ by no means has an easy route to the title at the PSA World Championships, having to overcome defending champion Ali Farag in the semi-finals – a player he had already lost to four times previously in the 23/24 campaign – before conquering Mostafa Asal in the title decider. Elias’ win made him the first non-Egyptian player to win the PSA World Championships since Gregory Gaultier defeated Omar Mosaad in 2015.

Elias also impressed in Detroit as he romped to victory at the Motor City Open without dropping a game, winning his fourth consecutive title at the Silver-level event. In particular, his statement victory over now-World No.2 Paul Coll was one to remember, defeating the New Zealander in straight games in the final.

Despite defeat in the Paris Squash, Qatar Classic, Singapore Open and J.P. Morgan Tournament of Champions finals, Elias will be hoping that his win at the World Championships will only help to boost his confidence heading into next season.

Who have been your outstanding players of the season?

You can also catch up on the best of the action from the 23/24 PSA World Tour season on SQUASHTV.