Season Review: Breakthrough Performers – Part One

After an action-packed 2023/24 season on the PSA World Tour, we’ve taken a look back at some of the players who have enjoyed breakthrough seasons.

Sivasangari Subramaniam

Season Ranking Change:

• World No.41 > No.10

Notable Highlights:

• First World Tour title win at Hong Kong FC Open
• Victory at the Gold-level London Classic

Sivasangari Subramaniam’s 2023/24 season was one to remember for all the right reasons, with the Malaysian No.1 capturing the two biggest titles of her life less than two years after being involved in a career-threatening car crash.

The 25-year-old’s most notable victory was at the London Classic, a tournament in which she defeated World No.1 Nour El Sherbini, World No.4 Nele Gilis, and World No.2 Hania El Hammamy on her way to a fairytale victory at Alexandra Palace. With this win, Sivasangari became the first Malaysian to win a Gold-level or higher event since Nicol David in the 2015 Hong Kong Open.

Earlier in the season, Sivasangari also secured her maiden World Tour title at the Hong Kong FC Open. Seeded at No.7, the Malaysian again knocked out a string of higher-ranked opposition, defeating the No.2, No.3 and No.4 seeds on her way to the Bronze-level title.

Throughout the rest of the season, Sivasangari reached five quarter-finals, as well as a semi-final at her home event, the Malaysia Cup, before breaking into the top ten in the women’s rankings for the very first time in May 2024.

There is undoubtedly much more to come from Sivasangari on the evidence of last seasons performances.

Aly Abou Eleinen

Season Ranking Change:

• World No.23 > No.14

Notable Highlights:

• Winning maiden World Tour title at the Hong Kong FC Open
• Career-first Platinum quarter-final at the El Gouna International

Aly Abou Eleinen has firmly established himself in the world’s top 20 after the best season of his career to date. The 24-year-old won his maiden World Tour title at the Hong Kong FC Open in November and has looked a consistent threat to the best players in the world throughout the 2023/24 season.

Despite a pair of narrow five-game defeats to Karim Abdel Gawad at the Houston Open and Black Ball Open early in 2024, Eleinen got the breakthrough wins his play deserved at the El Gouna International. Although handed a tough second-round draw against No.7 seed Mazen Hesham, Eleinen took victory in four games, before subsequently taking the scalp of another top ten player in the form of Marwan ElShorbagy. This visit to the quarter-finals was a career-first at a Platinum event for Eleinen.

Elsewhere, the up-and-coming Egyptian reached two Gold-level quarter-finals at the Houston Open and the London Classic as well as managing to progress to a career-high rank of World No.13 in March.

Can Eleinen break into the top ten in the 24/25 season?

Fayrouz Aboelkheir

Season Ranking Change:

• World No.33 > No.17

Notable Highlights:

• Runner-up finish at Carol Weymuller Open
• World Championships and J.P. Morgan Tournament of Champions quarter-finalist

Fayrouz Aboelkheir has firmly put herself on the map as one of the future stars of the sport after a breakthrough season that has seen her make a significant ranking jump from World No.33 to World No.17.

After a hit-and-miss start to the season, the 18-year-old burst into form early in 2024, reaching the quarter-finals of the J.P. Morgan Tournament of Champions before finishing runner-up at the Bronze-level Carol Weymuller Open – her first final on the PSA World Tour. Included in these runs were a pair of wins over Egypt’s Salma Hany, as well as England’s Sarah-Jane Perry.

More impressive performances followed, with Aboelkheir reaching the last eight of the Cincinnati Cup and the London Classic, before a stand-out victory over then-World No.4 Nele Gilis helped her progress to the quarter-finals of the World Championships.

Still at just 18 years of age, it looks like we will be seeing plenty more of Aboelkheir on the big stage over the coming years.

Leonel Cardenas

Season Ranking Change:

• World No.27 > No.22

Notable Highlights:

• Maiden World Tour title win at Silver-level Squash in the Land

Mexico’s Leonel Cardenas has proven to be a consistent force on the World Tour this year, reaching the cusp of the top 20 heading into the off-season.

Cardenas earned his maiden World Tour title at the Cleveland-based Squash In The Land Silver-level event, defying his No.6 seeding to walk away with silverware. On his way to the title, the 24-year-old defeated top seed Eain Yow Ng in a five-game 92-minute epic, No.3 seed Greg Lobban in another five gamer, as well as Spain’s Bernat Jaume in the final.

Throughout the rest of his season, the Mexican reached the third round of three Platinum events, including an impressive second-round win over Joel Makin at the El Gouna International. This five-game win over the Welshman was the first top-ten win of Cardenas’ career.

Cardenas has played seven major tournaments this season, with his defeats coming to the likes of Ali Farag, Paul Coll, Marwan ElShorbagy, and Tarek Momen twice. The next challenge for the Mexican will be attempting to consistently challenge this calibre of players and, in turn, progress further into Platinum events.

Satomi Watanabe

Season Ranking Change:

World No.17 > No.14

Notable Highlights:

• First World Tour title win at Optasia Championships
• Quarter-final finish at Hong Kong Open

Despite Watanabe’s ranking change by no means as large as others on this list, the Japanese No.1 has shown plenty of signs that she has the game to break into the top ten in the women’s world rankings.

The 25-year-old’s most notable highlight was her title victory at the Bronze-level Optasia Championships, a run which saw her comprehensively defeat Belgium No.1 Nele Gilis in straight games in the title decider. This victory, along with visits to the quarter-finals at the Platinum-level Hong Kong Open, the Grasshopper Cup, and the Manchester Open, has seen her build upon what was an impressive 2022/23 campaign.

Watanabe has proven she has the firepower and deception to challenge any player on her day, and it will be interesting to see if she can bring all the elements of her game together to crack the top ten in the future.

Who have been your breakthrough stars for the 2023/24 season? Let us know on X, Facebook, Instagram or Threads and keep an eye on our social channels to see part two.

Watch the best of the 2023/24 PSA World Tour action over on SQUASHTV.