On the 18th May 2024, Diego Elias achieved his childhood dream of becoming a World Champion. Fast forward 12 months later, the Peruvian is gearing up for his ninth World Championships but this time he has a title to defend.
Elias dethroned the at-the-time runaway World No.1 Ali Farag in the semi-finals, producing arguably one of his best performances ever. He then defeated the current World No.1 Mostafa Asal in a tight three game clash to make history as the first South American to ever claim a World Title.
At just 28 years old, Elias will hope to still have many amazing moments on the PSA Squash Tour but last year’s week in Cairo will be a hard one to top.
“Last year, winning the World Champs was one of the best weeks of my life,” said defending champion Elias.
“Winning it was something that I’d always dreamt. It was an amazing week, I had my dad, my physio and training coach with me so it was just a really special week.”
“I didn’t go back to Peru for another few months because I had some more tournaments so it wasn’t as intense celebrations as if I went straight away but I still celebrated well with my family.”
Elias’ career has been a team effort by his own admission including the help of former players such as Jonathon Power and Gregory Gaultier. These two players are both legends in their own right and have both claimed the ultimate prize in squash and Elias was desperate to join them.
“The Worlds is the biggest event of the year, all my favourite players have won it and the former players that have been helping me throughout my career have won it too and to win it myself was just so special, it was just crazy.
“One of the best matches I ever saw was Ramy [Ashour] v [Mohamed] Elshorbagy in Qatar. From watching that I always wanted to get there and play a match like that in a final and to make that possible was a dream for me.
“It’s the most important tournament of the year. The best player in that week is going to win it and nothing compares to that. It’s also the longest tournament on the tour, you play the most matches of any tournament at the worlds. You have to be focused and at your best for such a long time and everyone wants to win it and it’s so competitive.”
Elias achieved his other dream back in 2023 when he became the No.1 player in the world. An injury to Farag opened the door for either Elias or Mohamed Elshorbagy to take advantage and after the Englishman lost in the British Open third round, the spot was guaranteed for the Peruvian.
“I think for me and for every player, the dream is to get to World No.1 and win a World Title. I got to World No.1 and then I did have it in my mind that I had to win the worlds to prove that I’m sort of the real deal, if you like. Ali [Farag] was injured and Mostafa [Asal] had his suspension when I got to World No.1 so I guess I wanted to prove that I am at that level and deserved it.
“The level I played in that match against Ali was one of the highest I’ve ever played. Playing him in Egypt was super tough but I’m just happy with the way I was mentally and how focused I was and I didn’t beat Ai for a lot of matches before that so it meant a lot.”
The World No.3 has been hit with a few injuries this season and having already claimed the title and reached World No.1, admits that he is feeling no pressure heading into this year’s championships and and knows how hard it will be to defend his title.
“It’s going to be very tough to defend my title. I also have some tough matches before I potentially meet Ali so I have to play every match as if it’s the final. I really don’t feel any pressure. My goal in squash was to be World No.1 and World Champion so having done both of those I actually feel no pressure at all and anything more is a bonus.
“It would be amazing to defend my title. Like I said, I have a lot of hard matches before the semis. It’s going to be a long, hard tournament and I’m trying to not think about too much and just take it match by match.”
The 2024/25 PSA World Championships presented by the Walter Family gets underway on 9th May and runs to the 17th. With all action available to watch live on SQUASHTV and selected broadcast partners later in the event.
For more information on the PSA World Championships 24/25, visit the tournament website or follow the PSA on X, Facebook,Instagram, YouTube,
