Farag & El Hammamy Claim PSA World Tour Players Of The Month Awards For September 

Recent Qatar Classic champions Ali Farag and Hania El Hammamy have been named as the PSA World Tour Players of the Month for September.

World No.1 Farag claimed a 68% share of the vote across PSA World Tour social channels, finishing ahead of Qatar Classic semi-finalist Joel Makin (22%) and Scotland’s Greg Lobban (10%), who broke into the world’s top 20 for the first time in his career.

Meanwhile, El Hammamy took a 46% share in the Women’s Player of the Month vote, with South Western Open winner Nour El Tayeb receiving 32% and Tinne Gilis getting a 22% share after reaching her first Platinum semi-final in Doha.

Farag has burst out of the blocks at the start of the new season, winning both the Paris Squash Platinum season opener and the Qatar Classic to remain unbeaten thus far. The World No.1 defeated Diego Elias in the final in Doha to maintain his impressive head-to-head record against the ‘Peruvian Puma’, having won 18 of their 22 meetings.

The Egyptian had to conquer fellow countrymen Fares Dessouky in the second round and Tarek Momen in the quarter-finals in Qatar before playing an inch-perfect match to defeat Welshman Makin in straight games to progress to the title decider. The final saw Farag conquer Elias in four games and 69 minutes of action to claim his second title of the season.  

Meanwhile, El Hammamy put the disappointment of her third-round exit to Sabrina Sobhy at the Paris Squash event firmly in her rearview mirror to bounce back and claim the Qatar Classic title by beating World No.1 Nour EL Sherbini in the final.

The World No.3 saw off the threats of England No.1 Georgina Kennedy in four games and American No.1 Amanda Sobhy in three games en route to the final, before edging a gripping 84-minute five-game encounter against El Sherbini to be crowned champion.

Despite falling 2-1 down against her Egyptian compatriot, El Hammamy dug deep to clinch the last two games of the match and win her first PSA title since the Hong Kong Open last December.

The replays from the QTerminals Qatar Classic are available to watch on SQUASHTV.