The biggest event on the PSA calendar is just two days away as 128 players will descend on Chicago for the 24/25 PSA World Championships presented by the Walter Family. Three of those players have had special attention over the last 18 months with a special documentary made for ‘The Big 3’: Nouran Gohar, Nour El Sherbini and Hania El Hammamy.
The final two episodes of the six-part series focused solely on the 23/24 PSA World Championships in which Gohar defeated El Hammamy and ElSherbini en route to claiming her first World title, after three consecutive runner-up finishes. Gohar is the top seed for this year’s championships, whilst ElSherbini and El Hammamy are the No.2 and 3 seeds, respectively.
All three are arriving in Chicago in different conditions and we’ve taken a closer look at their chances of claiming the ultimate prize in professional squash.
Nouran Gohar
‘The Terminator’ Nouran Gohar is entering this year’s World Championships in a completely new scenario. For the first time in her career, she has a World title to defend. Gohar defeated both of her closest rivals last season to claim her first World Championship title and shake off three years of hurt after losing to ElSherbini in the previous three finals. After the win, Gohar steamrolled the rest of the season and has since regained the World No.1 position and is looking stronger than ever.
The 27-year-old has only lost one match in 2025 and recently claimed her third title in a row at the Grasshopper Cup in Zurich after wins in Texas and El Gouna. The most in-form player in the world is without doubt Nouran Gohar and she will be hoping that her form can help her become the eighth female player to hold multiple world titles.
Nour ElSherbini
Over the past decade, the PSA World Championships and Nour ElSherbini have been a match made in heaven. ‘The Warrior-Princess’ has made the final of ten of the previous eleven championships, two more final appearances than Nicol David and has won seven times. She has only tasted defeat eight times in 73 matches at World Championships, resulting in an 89% win rate at the sport’s biggest event. Incredible consistency from the 29-year-old.
She lost out in the final last season to Gohar after beating her in the three finals before. The loss would no doubt have hurt the seven-time champion and the ‘princess’ will be desperate to regain her crown. The form of ElSherbini heading into this year’s event can be called into question slightly however. After boasting an impressive 19-match unbeaten streak at the start of the season to win three major titles in succession, ElSherbini hasn’t picked up another trophy in her last five events.
Her most recent loss came at the El Gouna International where she failed to reach the semi-finals of a Platinum event for the first time since 2020, ending a run of 39 consecutive events. One thing that you can never do when predicting a World Championships winner is write off Nour ElSherbini. If there is anyone who is able to win a major event despite not being at her best, it’s ‘the Warrior Princess’.
Hania El Hammamy
The youngest member of ‘The Big 3’, Hania El Hammamy, once again enters a World Championships as the World No.3 and No.3 seed. The 24-year-old is a three-time semi-finalist, losing out to Gohar twice and ElSherbini once in 2024, 2023 and 2019.
El Hammamy had been struggling to keep pace with the leading pair in 2024 and looked as though she may be caught by USA’s Olivia Weaver in the rankings at the start of 2025, but an important maiden J.P. Morgan Tournament of Champions title in New York followed by a runner-up finish in Texas, got her back in the groove. She then claimed the Optasia Championships title before losing a 92-minute battle with Gohar in the El Gouna semis.
El Hammamy is situated in the top half of the draw, the same side as top seed Gohar. If the pair are both to progress to the final four, another blockbuster clash is expected to add another chapter to their legendary tale on the PSA Squash Tour.
El Hammamy is always capable of beating both Gohar and ElSherbini when she finds top form, and where better than at the biggest event on the calendar.
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, TikTok, Threads, WhatsApp or LinkedIn.
