CHICAGO — World No.1’s Ali Farag and Nour el-Sherbini of Egypt have won the 2024 Windy City Squash Open following their respective wins over World No.3 Paul Coll and World No.2 Nouran Gohar in the finals in Chicago.
Farag had beaten Coll in the final of the 2020 Windy City Open and lifted silverware once again following an 11-8, 5-11, 11-7, 15-13 victory which has seen him win his sixth PSA title of the season.
Farag has appeared in the final of all eight tournaments he has played this campaign, with 2022 Windy City Open champion Coll being the only man to beat him.
Those victories came in the finals of the US Open and Hong Kong Open, meaning this was their third meeting in a Platinum-level final.
However, it was the Egyptian who gained his revenge tonight in Chicago.
With the scores poised at one game apiece, Farag went up the gears as he began to pull Coll all around the court to test the retrieval abilities of the New Zealander.
Coll overturned five championship balls in the fourth but was ultimately unable to prevent Farag from capturing the 39th PSA title of his career.
“I’m very relieved after missing opportunities to finish out the match,” said Farag afterwards.
“It’s testament to Paul’s character, he never gives up until the very end. I was preparing for a fifth game and I think that settled me down a bit and made me play a little bit better.
“I have the utmost respect and admiration for Paul the way he raises his game season after season.
“The University Club has played host to so many amazing battles and so many amazing memories. Thank you to all the sponsors throughout the years,” Farag added according to psaworldtour.
“We’re missing the Walter family this year, but they have shown incredible support for our sport and it’s one of the reasons we will be playing the Olympics in 2028. Thank you to them and everyone who has put this together.”
El-Sherbini has also lifted her second Windy City Open trophy after she got the better of Gohar by an 11-7, 6-11, 11-4, 11-4 scoreline to win her sixth tournament of the season.
The Egyptian pair was going head-to-head for the 30th time on the PSA Tour, with El-Sherbini having won 21 of the previous 29 meetings, including the final of J.P. Morgan Tournament of Champions just over a month ago.
That match had seen El Sherbini fight back from 2-0 down to deny Gohar a first title since returning from a plantar fascia injury in her heel.
It was a more controlled performance from the reigning World Champion this time around, with a second-game wobble the only blemish in an otherwise dominant performance as she earned the 40th PSA title of her career.
“I’m happy that I played the squash that I wanted to play today,” said El-Sherbini.
“This is one of the best seasons [in her career]. I’ve been playing really well from the start of the season, I don’t think I’ve won this many tournaments in one season, but I still wouldn’t say this is my best season. I’m happy with it, but I want to stay motivated for the rest of the season.
“There was a lot happening the whole week for me, there were a lot of things on my mind. I’m glad I got them out and I just tried to focus on the match.
“I was almost out in the second round and I wasn’t happy with my performances. Nouran has been playing amazing from the first match, so I just tried to enjoy it and I’m really happy that I played well.”
El-Sherbini’s and Farag’s victories are particularly special given the Windy City Open has marked its 40th anniversary this week, while the opening day of the tournament marked 50 years since the creation of the International Squash Players Association, which would later become the Professional Squash Association (PSA).
Elsewhere, the entries for the inaugural GillenMarkets London Squash Classic 2024 have been confirmed as 48 players will compete to try and lift the PSA World Tour Gold event titles.
The event will take place from March 27– April 1 with matches at the famous Alexandra Palace from round two onwards.
New Zealand’s Paul Coll has been announced as the top seed in the men’s event. The World No.3 has tasted World Tour victory six times on English soil, three of which in a best-of-three format, including at last year’s GillenMarkets Canary Wharf Classic.
Three-time Platinum winner Mostafa Asal is the No.2 seed. The Egyptian is no stranger to success in the best-of -three format either, having won the last three PSA World Tour Finals titles.
The experienced Karim Abdel Gawad and Mohamed El-Shorbagy occupy the No.3 and No.4 seedings positions. The pair has accumulated over 1200 matches on the PSA tour and will be looking to draw on their court craft to cause upsets in the seventh Gold event of the season.
For the first time in over a decade there is a major women’s event in the capital and, fittingly, World No.1 and World Champion El-Sherbini is the tops the seedings.
The 28-year-old has already claimed five titles this season and will be looking to claim another to pull even further ahead at the summit of the World Rankings.
El-Sherbini will face strong competition for the title however, as World No.2 and No.3 Hania El-Hammamy and Nouran Gohar have both confirmed their entries in the event.
The trio is fiercely competitive and often brings the best out of each others games as they fight for Platinum titles every time they occur.
El Hammamy has beaten El-Sherbini in two Platinum finals this season whilst Gohar held a 2-0 lead in the final of the J.P Morgan Tournament of Champions but failed to dethrone the champion ElSherbini.
