Egypt’s Nouran Gohar and Ali Farag take El Gouna squash titles

Egypt’s Nouran Gohar and Ali Farag set themselves up for their world title bids on home soil next month by claiming the El Gouna International Squash Open titles.

The duo defended their El Gouna titles after taking down  compatriots Nour El Sherbini and Mostafa Asal in two brilliant battles by the Red Sea.

In the women’s final, World No.2 and defending champion Gohar went into her clash with rival El Sherbini with an alarming 8-22 record against the World No.1. More concerning still, ‘the Terminator’ went into today’s final having gone all season without a major trophy after an injury-hit campaign.

Afterwards, Gohar paid tribute to her opponent for bringing the best out of her, before adding: “This means everything to me.

“It’s an amazing night, and having this crowd watching and cheering for both of us is a huge thing for both of us. Thank you so much for coming, I love playing in Egypt because of that.”

In the men’s final, Farag avenged his Black Ball Open final defeat to 22-year-old former World No.1 Mostafa Asal in an impressive showing.

The reigning World Champion took the first game 11-7 before being pegged back 11-8 in the second.

Farag hit back hard in the third game, which he took 11-4 before going on a spectacular scoring run at 5-5 in game four to pull away to an 11-5 win.

Afterwards, Farag said: “First and foremost, for Mostafa, for the player he’s become, for the man he is becoming, it’s an honour and a joy to share a court with him.

“It was pretty much free-flowing all the way. [It was] played in a very hard manner, but a good manner.

“I think that’s the way the crowd deserves to watch squash, our beautiful sport.”

For El Sherbini, Gohar, Asal and Farag, attention turns to the 2023-2024 CIB PSA World Championships, which are taking place in Cairo 9-18 May, where El Sherbini and Farag will look to defend their titles.

Result: El Gouna International Squash Open 2024 Women’s Final

Result: El Gouna International Squash Open 2024 Men’s Final