Defending champions beaten as Hammamy, Sherbini, Farag and Asal advance to the finals in Chicago
[3] Hania El Hammamy (Egy) 3-1 [1] Nouran Gohar (Egy) 9-11, 11-8, 11-7, 11-6 (75m)
[2] Nour ElSherbini (Egy) 3-2 [4] Olivia Weaver (Usa) 11-1, 7-11, 7-11, 11-8, 11-4 (53m)
[1] Ali Farag (Egy) 3-0 [3] Diego Elias (Per) 11-5, 11-4, 11-5 (41m)
[2] Mostafa Asal (Egy) 3-0 [4] Paul Coll (Nzl) 11-5, 11-5, 11-4 (41m)

Hammamy dethrones Gohar to reach first WC final
[3] Hania El Hammamy (Egy) 3-1 [1] Nouran Gohar (Egy) 9-11, 11-8, 11-7, 11-6 (75m)
World No.3 Hania El Hammamy has reached the final for the first time after she ended World No.1 Nouran Gohar’s title defence at Chicago’s Lakeshore Sport & Fitness.
El Hammamy had won just one of her nine previous matches against Gohar coming into today’s match, but she produced a magnificent comeback from a game down to earn a spot in the final of the biggest tournament in professional squash. Gohar, who beat El Hammamy at this stage of the last two PSA World Championships, found her range earlier than her opponent as she kept the ball squeezed against the side walls and attacked whenever El Hammamy hit a loose shot.
El Hammamy is one of the most tenacious players on the PSA Squash Tour and she wasn’t going to let this match go without a fight. Her accuracy went up a notch in the second game and she dragged Gohar around the court regularly, outmanoeuvring the world’s leading female player to draw level. Gohar was under pressure once again in the third, with El Hammamy lifting the ball to great effect to pull Gohar away from the middle of the court.
After earning the third game, El Hammamy stormed into a 4-1 lead in the fourth but, as is typical in matches between these two, the momentum shifted once again as Gohar came back to level at 5-5. El Hammamy wasn’t to be denied though as she went up yet another gear to push Gohar to her limits, and she eventually closed out a 9-11, 11-8, 11-7, 11-6 victory to cue huge celebrations from the 24-year-old. El Hammamy has now ended Gohar’s 17-match unbeaten run and will take on either seven-time World Champion Nour El Sherbini or United States No.1 Olivia Weaver in tomorrow’s title decider.
“I feel great, but I’m not going to stop here,” said El Hammamy. “Today is the second biggest day of my life so far, tomorrow is going to be the biggest. I’m over the moon and I’m so proud of how I managed my emotions. I kept calm, I wasn’t too up or too down and it was a challenge. I’m glad Karim [Darwish] was on the same page, I spoke to Laura and Danny Massaro too and it’s been one hell of a roller coaster.
“It’s really big to come through and beat the defending champion. I’ve lost to her the last two times after I beat her at the ToC, as much as that was heartbreaking, I told myself that today would be the day I came out on top, so it’s a massive proud moment.
“I’ve worked so much on improving the variety of my game. I don’t want to be known just as a physical player, I want to try as much as I can to improve my squash and improve my tactics and technical weaknesses. Everything is there for me to perform at the World Champs, but it was a matter of being in a zone where I can really show them off on court. “Today was certainly one of those days, so I’m really happy.”
ElSherbini downs Weaver to reach 10th WC final
[2] Nour ElSherbini (Egy) 3-2 [4] Olivia Weaver (Usa) 11-1, 7-11, 7-11, 11-8, 11-4 (53m)
Egyptian star Nour El Sherbini has reached an incredible 10th final in a row at the PSA World Championships after she came back from 2-1 down to defeat United States No.1 Olivia Weaver in a pulsating clash in Chicago.
The seven-time World Champion was just three points away from defeat after finding herself 8-3 down in the fourth game after a terrific performance from World No.4 Weaver put her on the brink of becoming the first American ever to reach the title decider.
However, El Sherbini kept her composure and rattled off eight successive points to send the match to a gripping decider.
That broke Weaver’s resistance as the pressure she was putting El Sherbini under virtually disappeared, with the Egyptian nullifying her to complete an 11-1, 7-11, 7-11, 11-8, 11-4 triumph.
El Sherbini is now just one win away from matching the record of eight World Championship titles, currently held by Malaysian legend Nicol David. World No.3 Hania El Hammamy will be El Sherbini’s opponent.
“I was almost out and I don’t know how I came back,” said El Sherbini after reaching her 11th World Championship final
“I’m proud and happy to win this match. I tried to be calm and tried to have a good mindset. The last phase I wasn’t that calm and I was too emotional and everything wasn’t coming together.
“I tried to work on my mental game, tried to think positive and tried to relax a little bit to make sure I could produce the performance I wanted to produce.
“Olivia is marking her place on the fourth [ranking] position for two seasons and she’s raised the bar for US squash. She’s an amazing role model for all the US juniors and she’s getting closer.
“I know all the supporters were backing her and they should be proud to have a player like Olivia here.”
Farag downs defending champ Elias in three
[1] Ali Farag (Egy) 3-0 [3] Diego Elias (Per) 11-5, 11-4, 11-5 (41m)
Ali Farag is through to his fifth PSA World Championships final after taking out defending champion Diego Elias 3-0.
Farag, a four-time world champion, was defeated in the semi finals last season by Elias as the Peruvian went on to become the first South American to win the title.
But the World No.2 avenged that defeat to Elias to progress to his fifth final at the World Championships – his fourth in Chicago.
Farag had won the last five meetings with Elias coming into today’s semi-final showdown, with the Peruvian last getting the better of the Egyptian at the QTerminals Qatar Classic 2024.
Farag’s tactical approach previously against Elias was to extend the rallies early on and it was no different on this occasion, with the exchanges lengthy as Farag wore him down to win 11-5 in 19 minutes.
World No.2 Farag continued to dominate into the second, pushing Elias into the back corners and squeezing the errors from his racket to go 2-0 up.
Elias, who delivered a tactical masterclass against Farag last season at the World Championships, couldn’t find the answers he needed this time as Farag won the third 11-5.
“He had an injury for two months in a crucial time of the season so I don’t think he’s as fit as he’d like to be coming into the World Championships,” he said.
“That played into my hands big time and I think it was very clear with Karim [Darwish] before stepping on court that I have to elongate the first rallies.
“Even if I lost the first it was important to put some mileage into both of our legs and I knew I had that advantage with his injury that had him sidelined for a while.
“Even when at the very end I could see he was struggling but I was nervous because I know he can come up with some incredible winners. Certainly very happy to be through.”
Asal eases past Coll to set up Farag final
[1] Ali Farag (Egy) 3-0 [3] Diego Elias (Per) 11-5, 11-4, 11-5 (41m)
World No.1 Mostafa Asal will face World No.2 Ali Farag for the men’s World Championships crown and the World No.1 spot after he dispatched Paul Coll 3-0.
Asal is through to his second straight final at the World Champs after the Egyptian was defeated by Diego Elias in 2024’s title showdown in Cairo.
Tomorrow’s final will be the sixth time Asal will lock horns with Farag for a piece of silverware, and Asal has triumphed four occasions.
Asal had a good record against Coll coming into today’s semi-final, with five victories in succession against the New Zealander.
And the World No.1 made an excellent start to extending that run to six matches, forcing Coll to cover plenty of the court by controlling the rallies to draw first blood.
Coll, who was runner-up back in 2019 at the World Championships, tried to push up the court but Asal was once again dictating the pace with his quality too strong for the Kiwi.
Asal had remarkably only made one error and hit 16 winners from the opening two games, and his immense defensive work in the third was rewarded by taking the game 11-4 and booking his place in the final.
“Paul is definitely an unbelievable player and it’s tough to play against him,” Asal said afterwards.
“To close it in three, it’s something in my advantage and it shows how he can play long matches. He’s been World No.1, he’s been in finals and winning Platinums. It was a tough match and I’m glad to finish it in three.
“I will take it smoothly. If it comes tomorrow then that’s a bonus. I’m really happy to be in the final.
“I’m the current World No.1 but we’ll be playing for World No.1 as well, and it’s always an honour to play against Ali. It’s one more.”
Semi-Finals Previews
Nouran Gohar v Hania El Hammamy
World No.1 Nouran Gohar and World No.3 Hania El Hammamy will renew their long-standing rivalry on the PSA Squash Tour in the first semi-final of the evening, with the Egyptian duo meeting for the 32nd occasion. The pair, who have already met six times so far this season, have made light work of their opponents on their routes to the semi-finals stage in Chicago, having dropped one game apiece between their eight matches.
Gohar is the defending champion here at the World Championships and is currently on a 17-match unbeaten run on the PSA Squash Tour, a run that has spanned title successes at the Texas Open, El Gouna International and Grasshopper Cup. However, ‘The Terminator’s’ last loss did come at the hands of El Hammamy, who claimed the Platinum-level title at the J.P. Morgan Tournament of Champions in January.
So far this week, El Hammamy has defeated Nour Aboulmakarim, Lucy Turmel, Nele Gilis-Coll and Nada Abbas, while Gohar has overcome Nadine Shahin, Malak Khafagy, Fayrouz Aboelkheir and Satomi Watanabe to reach the last-four of the PSA World Championships. With seven of Gohar and El Hammamy’s 32 matches having gone over the 90-minute mark, expect long, gruelling rallies and a brilliant battle to kickstart the evening’s play.
Olivia Weaver v Nour El Sherbini
World No.2 Nour El Sherbini will continue her hunt for a record-equalling eighth World Championship title as she takes on USA No.1 Olivia in the semi-finals of the flagship event for the second consecutive year.
Last year El Sherbini was forced to dig deep and fight back from a 2-1 deficit on her way to victory, and since then has stretched her unbeaten run over Weaver to 12 matches on the PSA Squash Tour with wins this campaign at Paris Squash, the U.S. Open and the Hong Kong Open. El Sherbini, who will match Nicol David on an incredible eight World Titles if she clinches the title this week, has dropped just one game on her way to the last four in Chicago, claiming a hard-fought quarter-final victory over Georgina Kennedy in three games – a test that should stand her in good stead for today.
Meanwhile Weaver, playing in front of her home fans at Lakeshore Sport & Fitness, downed Malaysian No.1 Sivasangari Subramaniam in four games to reach her sixth straight major final on the PSA Squash Tour. The World No.4, though, is yet to convert any of these into a win and will be desperate to take the match to El Sherbini right from the first point.
Ali Farag v Diego Elias
For a staggering ninth time this season, World No.2 Ali Farag and World No.3 Diego Elias will meet on the PSA Squash Tour.
The pair have enjoyed a long-standing rivalry over the last few years, but it is Farag who has enjoyed the majority of the success, having won 29 of their 34 meetings on tour. However, it was at this stage of the 23/24 PSA World Championships last year that Elias produced a masterful performance to knock out the four-time World Champion, with ‘The Peruvian Puma’ going on to become the first-ever South American to win the PSA World Championships with victory over Mostafa Asal in the final.
So far this week, both Farag and Elias have looked in fine form, with the pair powering through their respective quarter-final matches with Tarek Momen and Youssef Soliman in straight games. Can Elias draw upon the inspiration of 12 months ago as he attempts to become just the fifth male player to ever defend a World Championship title, or will Farag continue his quest for a fifth World Crown?
Paul Coll v Mostafa Asal
The final match of the evening looks to be a justified curtain closer, with World No.1 Mostafa Asal taking on World No.4 Paul Coll for a spot in the final.
Both players have looked in top form throughout the event, with the pair yet to drop a single game across their eight matches to date. Coll, in particular, will be looking to avenge his recent defeat to Mostafa Asal in the semi-finals of the El Gouna International, a loss that took his record against ‘The Raging Bull’ to six wins and twelve losses on the PSA Squash Tour.
The New Zealander’s quarter-final victory over Mohamed ElShorbagy looks to be a sign that Coll is peaking at just the right time, with the World No.4 holding off the 2017 World Champion with an impressive straight games performance. Following a duration of just 35 minutes in that match with ElShorbagy, Coll will be well placed to deliver a big physical effort against Asal – an opponent he hasn’t beaten in his last five attempts.
After losing out to Diego Elias in last year’s final, Asal has looked in no mood to muck about this week as he seeks to go one better and lift his first PSA World Championship title. The Egyptian, with former World No.1 James Willstrop in his corner, has delivered comprehensive victories over Eain Yow Ng and Karim Abdel Gawad in the previous two rounds to underline his status as World No.1 in the men’s game.
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