Hania El Hammamy and Mostafa Asal top CIB Egyptian Squash Open Draws as they bid to defend Diamond titles
The draws for the CIB Egyptian Squash Open have been revealed, with World No.1s Hania El Hammamy and Mostafa Asal leading the way as they look to defend their Diamond event titles.
The Egyptian Open will once again provide one of the most spectacular settings on the PSA Squash Tour, with an all-glass court set against the iconic Pyramids of Giza. The glass court will be used from the quarter-finals onwards, whilst the earlier rounds will be hosted at O West.
The event will run from 6th to 16th October, live on SQUASHTV and broadcast partners.
El Hammamy’s victory at the start of last season marked her first win at Diamond event level. She overcame current World Champion Amina Orfi in four games to win the title, starting a run of three consecutive major titles, which took her to World No.1 for the first time. A position that she had held ever since. She’ll be determined to repeat her 2025 success to assert herself at the top of the world rankings and keep the advancing Orfi at bay.
Second seed Orfi found the form of her career at the end of last season. She became the youngest women’s World Champion and youngest women’s British Open champion in history last season, etching her name into squash history. The 19-year-old squandered a chance to overtake El Hammamy at the top of the world rankings in the season-ending PSA Squash Tour Finals in June so will be desperate to overtake her compatriot at the first opportunity. The pair are seeded to meet in the final once again, renewing their growing rivalry.
Two-time champion Nour ElSherbini is the main challenger to the top two seeds. The eight-time World Champion captured the title in 2020 and 2024, but crashed out in the quarterfinals last season, losing to Fayrouz Aboelkheir. Despite the challenging start to the 25/26 season, ElSherbini bounced back to reach eight finals in a row from December through to June. ElSherbini is set to face the returning Nouran Gohar in the quarter-finals, reigniting a rivalry that has seen the pair play in 27 PSA finals.
Danger lurks elsewhere in the draw as USA’s Olivia Weaver looks to regain her form from last season and a fifth successive semi-final on Egyptian soil. Malaysia’s Sivasangari Subramaniam and Japan’s Satomi Watanabe will also be looking to make their presence felt, whilst Egyptian duo Nouran Gohar and Fayrouz Aboelkheir will also look to upset the seedings on home soil.
The men’s draw will see top seed Mostafa Asal look to continue his dominance from last season and bid to claim a third consecutive Egyptian Open title. The reigning World Champion relishes the opportunity to compete on home soil, losing only once in his last 29 outings in Egypt. Asal has won four titles in 2026 and will be determined to win a fifth and start the new season in strong style.
The last player to beat Asal in Egypt was former World Champion and No.2 seed Diego Elias. The Peruvian beat the World No.1 in the El Gouna International semi-finals before going on to win the title. Elias was sidelined for a portion of last season due to injury but managed to end the season strongly by claiming the PSA Squash Tour Finals title after the win in El Gouna.
Elias is situated in the same half of the draw as World No.2 and No.2 seed Paul Coll. The New Zealander claimed six titles last season, including two major events, the Qatar Classic and British Open, making the 25/26 season one of the best in his career. He’ll have taken huge confidence from the last campaign and knows that only his best will be good enough to keep pace with Asal and Elias.
2019 champion Karim Gawad is joined by World Junior Champion Mohamad Zakaria and European trio Victor Crouin, Joel Makin and Marwan Elshorbagy as the remaining seeds, all capable of causing difficulties to the top three seeds if they find their best squash.
