In Conversation With: Amina Orfi

Egypt’s 15-year-old Amina Orfi has already established herself as a force to be reckoned with after her empathic start to her career on the PSA Tour and is coming off the back of a stunning run to the last 16 of the PSA World Championships in Chicago.

Orfi has already claimed three titles on the PSA Challenger Tour, winning two tournaments in India and one in England. Orfi then claimed a place in February’s Squash On Fire Bronze event after winning the qualifying tournament the week before and took the opportunity with both hands.

Orfi went into a semi-final clash with USA’s World No.16 as the underdog. Sobhy had beaten Orfi at the CIB Egyptian Open earlier in the season, claiming a hard-fought 3-2 win in Orfi’s first-ever PSA event, but this time around the outcome was different.

“After the British Junior Open, I had a 5k in India then the Squash on Fire Bronze event,” says Orfi.

“I didn’t have any expectations going into the event in Washington, but I wanted to cause a few upsets and get to know the professional game and see how the players play.

“After I won my second round match, I thought I had a good chance of making the semis and finals and I just kept pushing when I felt tired. By the end, I was really tired and wasn’t able to push anymore. Overall, it was such a positive week for me and I’m looking forward to more.

“When I played with her [Sabrina] the first time, at the Egyptian Open, I didn’t have anything in mind. I was just playing my game. There was no pressure on me, I didn’t even have a proper ranking and it was my first PSA event. Also, I think she was a little rusty as it was the first event of the season, so she was just getting used to playing again after the summer.

“When we played in Squash on Fire, I tried to level up and compete better. All these girls are older than me and fitter than me and she is really fit, so even at 2-1 down, match ball down, I just tried to keep pushing. In the fifth, I thought about just winning the first few points and I managed to run away with it.

After overcoming Sobhy in the semi-finals, the young Egyptian then faced a final match with Belgium’s top seed Tinne Gilis.

Orfi says: “I wasn’t really prepared for the final, physically or mentally. I was worn out. I had played the early rounds and quite a few tough matches to get there. I couldn’t focus at all, and my legs weren’t helping me, so I felt I needed to change my game plan, but when you’re on court, these things sometimes don’t happen.

“Even though I lost, I’m happy I made the final. My coaches and parents have told me what I could have done to improve for next time.”

Orfi earned a spot in the biggest event on the calendar, the PSA World Championships, after claiming the World Junior Championships title last summer. This was Orfi’s first World Championships at professional level and she claimed her first win in RD1 as she beat Latvia’s Ineta Mackevica.

“Being here with the top players of the game, it feels like a very professional environment,” says Orfi

“You get to see what everyone does to prepare physically and mentally for the match. Because it’s the most important event of the whole year, to be here and to see them is great to gain experience. It’s not only about gaining experiences from matches, but things happening off-court too.

“It feels so good to be here, this is the biggest tournament of the year. I never had a plan to be able to play until PSA announced there would be a qualification event, so I was set to go to Birmingham to play that, but I received an invitation for becoming the World Junior Champion which made me very excited. I was in India at the time and I was just calling all my family and coaches to tell them and it was a nice moment for me.

“The nerves and the pressure got to me slightly because it’s the World Championships, but I tried to just play flowing squash and get myself into the groove because sometimes in the first rounds, it’s hard to get into the mood. I went 2-0 up and then in the third, I tried to practice some shots to get ready for the rest of the event.”

Orfi overcame Olivia Clyne in the second round to become the youngest player ever to reach the last 16 of the World Championships. She eventually bowed out at the hands of World No.3 Hania El Hammamy, but went down swinging having almost forced an astonishing comeback from 2-0 down.

Expect to see a lot more of Egypt’s Amina Orfi in the future.