CAIRO — World No.1 Hania El-Hammamy of Egypt claimed her fifth major title of the 2025/26 PSA Squash Tour season after defeating World No.2 Nour El-Sherbini in a five-game epic at the Platinum-level El-Gouna International Squash Open 2026.
In yet another blockbuster meeting between the two Egyptian greats, it was El-Hammamy who battled back from 2-1 down to lift her second El-Gouna International title by an 11-7, 9-11, 8-11, 11-4, 11-9 scoreline.
El-Hammamy picked up where she left off from her three-game semi-final win over Amina Orfi, finding her targets across the court and racing into a quick-fire 7-2 lead.
El-Sherbini began to grow into the first as it progressed, managing to get more of a foothold on the ’T’ and reeling off four quick points to sit just 7-6 down.
However, El-Hammamy held on to take the opening game 11-7 after 11 minutes of play.
No.2 seed El-Sherbini bounced back impressively in the second as she began to impose herself up the court and find winners with more regularity.
What became apparent was how well ’The Warrior Princess’ was reading the patterns of El-Hammamy, especially when hitting out of the front right corner.
After trading points all the way to 9-9, it was 2021 El-Gouna International winner El-Sherbini who delivered two superbly manufactured points to draw level at 1-1.
El-Sherbini continued to grow in the ascendancy in the third game, with the continuous pressure forcing El-Hammamy into a number of uncharacteristic errors, including a trio of lobs which were clipped out of court. From 8-8, it was El-Sherbini who held the edge to move within a game of the title.
A change of ball request from El-Hammamy at the end of the third changed the course of the match once again, with the subsequent longer exchange favouring the current World No.1.
The 25-year-old raced into a 4-1 lead, and with El-Sherbini’s attacks dropping off in accuracy, continued on her way to force a decider after a one-sided fourth game went her way by an 11-4 scoreline.
El-Hammamy carried through this momentum through to the decider, taking an early 5-1 lead and looking to have one hand on the trophy.
However, as has become custom over the years, El-Sherbini refused to go down without a fight, battling back to lead at 7-6 and 8-7 later in the game.
A number of refereeing decisions littered the mid-stages of the deciding game, with the stop-start nature allowing El-Hammamy to stall the El-Sherbini charge and win three straight points to move to championship ball.
At the second time of asking, El-Hammamy sealed the victory, clinching the win after 78 minutes of play.
“It was an amazing match,” El-Hammamy said after the match.
“It was up and down. I think I had phases where I was comfortable and then she had patches where she’s controlling the whole thing and the whole game.
“When I watch it back, I’m sure I’ll be entertained, with the quality we both produced. In the moment I just really wanted the match to be over.
” It was full of emotions, full of pressure and I feel my quality was really tense. I’m really glad that I managed to win in those conditions.
“I just tried to tell myself to keep bouncing, keep moving my body. I wasn’t moving at my best, but I knew how much effort I was putting into her legs by getting all these balls back. Last night’s match definitely put a bit of heaviness on my movement.
“I asked for a new ball and just tried to tell myself it was a new match and to push again.”
Meanwhile, world No.3 Diego Elias have been crowned the champions of the El-Gouna International Squash Open after defeating World No.8 Mohamad Zakaria on finals night in Egypt.
No.4 seed Elias stormed through to his first title of the 2025/26 PSA Squash Tour season after dispatching Mohamad Zakaria in straight games.
Peru’s Elias became the first non-Egyptian winner of the El-Gouna International since France’s Gregory Gaultier in 2017, thanks to a one-sided 11-1, 11-7, 11-1 victory over the 18-year-old World Junior Champion.
