Year in Review: A look back at 2023 – Part 1

As 2023 draws to a close, we’re taking a look back at the first half of the year as the second part of the 2022-23 season concluded with 16 PSA World Tour events taking place and plenty of action at the top of the rankings. We saw successful defences of the PSA World Championships, the British Open being held in a new location for the first time in 10 years and the longest women’s match ever on the PSA Tour. We’ve broken down the action month by month below.

January

The Carol Weymuller Open was the first World Tour event of 2023, with 24 women looking to capture the first World Tour silverware of the year. England’s Georgina Kennedy returned from injury with a bang as she sliced her way through the draw, eventually defeating top seed Olivia Weaver (formerly Fiechter) 3-0 in the final to claim her second World Tour title.

The men’s action in 2023 started off with a drama-filled Houston Open Gold event. ‘Raging Bull’ Mostafa Asal gave himself the chance to become World No.1 for the first time in his career as he took on Marwan Elshorbagy in the semi-finals. In a feisty encounter, Asal lead 2-1 before ElShorbagy suffered an injury that he was unable to recover in time from, which gave Asal the win and secured his spot at the top of the rankings. Asal went on to defeat the elder ElShorbagy brother, Mohamed, in the final the next day to win his seventh World Tour event.

World Tour action then headed to New York City for the iconic J.P Morgan Tournament of Champions. The recent Houston Open finalists Mostafa Asal and Mohamed ElShorbagy both exited the competition early as ElShorbagy lost to Miguel Rodriguez, whilst Asal withdrew with illness against Victor Crouin. Peruvian Puma Diego Elias was in fine form all week and, after defeating Tarek Momen in the quarter finals, overcame Paul Coll in the semi-finals before producing a masterclass against Marwan ElShorbagy in the final to claim the title.

The women’s event saw the top four seeds reach the semi-finals. New Zealand’s Joelle King battled hard against top seed Nouran Gohar but fell in three close games. The other semi-final was a battle between the World No.2 and 3 as Nour El Sherbini defeated Hania El Hammamy in four games to reach the final. Unfortunately, Gohar was forced to withdraw with injury in the final, handing World Champion El Sherbini another ToC title.

February

World Tour action remained in the USA in February as five events took place within the space of 16 days. Diego Elias continued his terrific form as he captured the Motor City Open and Pittsburgh Open titles, beating Mazen Hesham and Marwan ElShorbagy in the finals.

Georgina Kennedy continued her fine form also as she successfully defended her Cleveland Classic title. Despite being seeded No.8, Kennedy defeated Olivia Clyne in a four-game final. Kennedy then reached the final of the DAC Pro Squash Classic but fell to Olivia Weaver, marking a first World Tour title for the USA No.2. Women’s action then moved to Cincinnati for the Gaynor Cup. Nouran Gohar was back from injury and made no mistake as she romped to victory, surrendering just one game throughout the entire tournament.

Joel Makin claimed the second World Tour title of his career in Calgary as he captured the Oxford Properties Men’s Canadian Open, beating France’s Victor Crouin in the final.

The final action of the month came from Washington as the 2023 Squash on Fire Open champions were crowned. Crouin bounced back strongly from his final loss in Calgary to overcome Egypt’s Mohamed ElSherbini, claiming a 19th title. Whereas Belgium’s Tinne Gilis put together a strong week of squash to win her first World Tour title, defeating rising star Amina Orfi in the final.

March

March was the month of the Gold events as three took place within the month – three for the men and two for the women. The Black Ball Squash Open was the first Gold event to take place and as action reached the semi-finals, the in-form Diego Elias earned the chance to move to World No.1 for the first time in his career. The Peruvian needed to defeat former World No.1 Mohamed ElShorbagy to realise his childhood dream, but in what was one of the matches of the season, lost out 13-11 in the fifth game. ElShorbagy went on to claim the title, beating Tarek Momen in the final.

In the women’s event, USA No.1 Amanda Sobhy gatecrashed the semi-finals after defeating No.2 seed Nour El Sherbini in a five-game epic. She then narrowly lost out to Hania El Hammamy, also in five games. Nouran Gohar was looking to claim back to back titles and needed four games to overcome rival El Hammamy and remain on top of the world rankings.

The remaining two men’s Gold events took place in London as the Optasia Championships and Canary Wharf Classic took place. Karim Abdel Gawad produced some incredible squash to claim the Optasia Championships title, beating compatriot Youssef Soliman in the final. In the final edition of the legendary Canary Wharf Classic, New Zealand’s Paul Coll held off the advances of Wales’ Joel Makin to lift the trophy.

American duo Olivia Weaver and Amanda Sobhy claimed wins in the two women’s Bronze events that took place in March. Weaver scored her second World Tour event win at her home club in Philadelphia as she captured the Chestnut Hill Classic title, beating compatriot Olivia Clyne in the final. Amanda Sobhy only dropped one game as she claimed the Canadian Women’s Open to close out the month.

April

The prestigious British Open returned to Birmingham for the first time since 2001 as the Edgbaston Priory Club and The Rep hosted the action. This event will be fondly remembered by Peru’s Diego Elias. Despite not winning the event, the 27-year-old finally became World No.1 after Karim Abdel Gawad defeated Mohamed ElShorbagy in the third round. Elias went onto reach the final but lost out to Ali Farag, marking a first British title for the Egyptian, who was also observing Ramadan during the event.

Amanda Sobhy continued to upset the world’s top three as she inflicted her revenge on Hania El Hammamy from the defeat at the Black Ball Squash Open by beating the World No.3 in straight games to reach the semi-finals for the second successive year. After surviving a scare from home favourite Georgina Kennedy in the quarter-finals, Nour El Sherbini then defeated Sobhy in five games before exhibiting a masterclass in the final against Nouran Gohar to claim the title and move to within just six points of Gohar in the world rankings.

May

The PSA World Championships headed back to Chicago in May as the ultimate prize in squash was once again up for grabs.

In the women’s event, the top four seeds once again all progressed through to the final four, with top seed Nouran Gohar squaring off against rival and World No.3 Hania El Hammamy, whilst reigning World Champion Nour El Sherbini was facing first time semi-finalist Joelle King. In another intense Gohar v El Hammamy battle, it was the World No.1 who came out on top in a thrilling five-set contest, saving several match balls to win 14-12 in the fifth game. El Sherbini made it 14 consecutive wins against Joelle King in the other semi-final to set up another final with Gohar. It was another masterful performance from the No.2 seed, who dominated Gohar in all areas of the court, claiming the win in straight games to win a seventh World title and return to World No.1.

The men’s event was anticipated to be the closest contested in recent history as several players were in with a realistic chance of claiming the trophy. Mostafa Asal was the No.1 seed for the first time and reached the semi-finals after claiming a controversial win over compatriot Mazen Hesham in the final eight. Ali Farag continued his fine form as he defeated Paul Coll in four games. Mohamed ElShorbagy was forced to come through a five-game contest against Tarek Momen to reach the last four, whilst Karim Abdel Gawad scored an upset over World No.1 Diego Elias.

For the second successive event, Gawad scored a 3-2 win over ElShorbagy. ‘The Baby-Faced Assassin’ was clinical in his attacks and recovered from a 2-1 deficit to reach a World final for the first time in seven years. He would be up against compatriot Farag, who needed four games to defeat Asal and reach a fourth World Championships final. The efforts of Gawad in the previous rounds looked to have taken their toll on the 2016 World Champion, who faded physically as the final went on, whilst Farag only grew stronger. After 44 minutes, it was Farag who claimed the third and final game 11-6 to claim a fourth World Championship title.

Just a week after claiming his fourth World title, Ali Farag was back in Word Tour action as he featured in the Manchester Open Silver event, looking to win a third consecutive tournament. Farag was clearly feeling the effects of his recent exertions but managed to reach the final, where he would again face Karim Abdel Gawad. Gawad took the opening game on this occasion, but after failing to double his lead in a second game tiebreak, found himself going up against the momentum, which carried Farag through to a 3-1 win.

The Manchester Open was made extra special for Farag as he won the title alongside wife Nour El Tayeb, who defeated Belgium’s Nele Gilis in the women’s final. El Tayeb took the opening two games in the final, and given the well regarded athleticism of Gilis, must have had some worries when the Belgian clawed a game back. The Egyptian responded well however to close the fourth game out 11-9 to win an eighth World Tour title.

June

The final Platinum event of the season came from Egypt as the El Gouna International commenced just five days after play finished in Manchester. The top four seeds all progressed through to the semi-finals in the men’s event and it was Ali Farag who once again reached the final after he overcame Diego Elias in four games. Farag would have to wait nearly three hours to learn of his final opponent, which eventually was confirmed as defending champion Mostafa Asal, who came through a 110-minute contest with Mohamed ElShorbagy. Farag lost to Asal in last year’s semi-finals but put those demons to bed as he produced another quality performance to beat his younger compatriot 3-1 and win a fourth consecutive title.

Nele Gilis scored the biggest win of her career in the women’s semi-finals as she defeated World Champion Nour El Sherbini in three games. The Belgian took full advantage of El Sherbini not being at her best and secured the win in 45 minutes to reach her first Platinum event final. Gilis would take on ‘The Terminator’ Nouran Gohar, who again defeated Hania El Hammamy in a huge 107-minute clash. Gohar was too strong for Gilis in the final as she consistently hammered the ball to the back and followed up with devastating kills. In just under an hour, the title belonged to Nouran Gohar and so did the World No.1 ranking.

Once again, the CIB PSA World Tour Finals closed out the 2022-23 season as the best performing eight players from the men’s and women’s tours competed for the titles. The pool stages decided the eight semi-finalists, with No.6 seed Nour El Tayeb the only player outside the top four seeds to reach the semis. As Hania El Hammamy topped her group, she faced El Tayeb and won 2-0 in convincing fashion. Nouran Gohar and Nour El Sherbini squared off to decide the other finalist and it was Gohar who claimed the win. This highly anticipated clash between Gohar and El Hammamy had it all. The match lasted for a record-breaking 130 minutes, the longest women’s match ever on the PSA Tour. In a drama filled fifth game, it was Gohar who managed to come out on top, winning 12-10 to claim the title.

The men’s semi-finals were more clear cut asthe top two seeds Mostafa Asal and Diego Elias both recorded 2-0 wins over Ali Farag and Mohamed ElShorbagy to set-up a second final of the season between the two. The Peruvian took the opening game in the final but, fuelled by the home crowd, Asal started to find his range in the match and dominated the following three games, winning 11-6, 11-3, 11-5 to successfully defend his PSA World Tour Finals trophy.

To rewatch any of the matches from the first part of 2023, visit the SQUASHTV replays section here.