Egyptian Amina Orfi became the youngest player in history to win a PSA Gold-level event after lifting the VITAGEN Singapore Squash Open on Sunday.
Orfi, still only 17, claimed the women’s title in beating world No.3 Hania El Hammamy as Ali Farag saw off men’s world champion Diego Elias on a dramatic finals night at the OCBC Arena.
Orfi broke the world’s top 10 in September and is still taking exams – an accolade she hailed to Squash Mad as a “huge milestone” as she begins to muscle in with the top players on a regular basis.
Orfi, the No.5 seed, battled past top seed Hania El Hammamy, winning 9-11, 11-9, 11-13, 11-1, 11-9 after 96 absorbing minutes.
Orfi replaces current World No.1 Nour El Sherbini as the youngest player to win a Gold event when she won the Texas Open in 2014 at the age of 18. It’s Orfi’s sixth PSA Squash Tour title and she will now aim to win a maiden Platinum title at the Milwaukee Hong Kong Squash Open between December 2-8.
“I feel so happy that I won, I can’t believe it at all,” said Orfi afterwards.
“This is my biggest title and my biggest win so far, I’m very happy with how I played.
“The bounces were on my side and she hit a lot of unforced errors. That bought me the confidence I needed. I didn’t know when the next time that I would reach a Gold final would be, so I took it step by step, and I was motivated by Siva’s [Sivasangari Subramaniam] win in London this year. I told myself I could do the same.”
Meanwhile, Farag has won this tournament for the second year running after he came back from two games down to overcome Peru’s Diego Elias, winning 6-11, 7-11, 11-8, 11-1, 11-4 in 70 minutes.
For the first two games it was Elias – who had overturned a 2-0 deficit in his semi-final match with Paul Coll – who dictated the tempo of the match and slotted a range of winners to outclass the world’s best male player.
Farag began to weave his web as he drew Elias into his game plan, making the rallies physical and testing the movement of his opponent. After seeing his lead slip away, Elias required treatment on a hip issue in the fifth game and he couldn’t prevent Farag from closing out a win which brings him his 43rd PSA title.
“I’m very happy to get away with the win,” said Farag afterwards.
“I was a little lucky because Diego didn’t have much in the tank from yesterday, he was absolutely cruising in the first two games, but I was lucky he got a bit tired at the end. I was telling him after the match that I’m pretty sick of him, I’ve played him five times this season and all of them have been really tough.
“I also want to congratulate the women. Amina is doing incredibly at the age of 17. Hania is a dear friend and a great person before being a great player. I know she will come back stronger. Both of them are making Egyptian squash and women’s squash very proud.”
Results – Men’s Final: 2024 VITAGEN Singapore Squash Open
[1] Ali Farag (EGY) bt [3] Diego Elias (PER) 3-2: 6-11, 7-11, 11-8, 11-1, 11-4 (70m)Results – Women’s Final: 2024 VITAGEN Singapore Squash Open
[5] Amina Orfi (EGY) bt [1] Hania El Hammamy (EGY) 3-2: 9-11, 11-9, 11-13, 11-1, 11-9 (96m)