Satomi Watanabe and Marwan Elshorbagy have won the Squash in the Land 2025 titles, recording convincing wins over Amanda Sobhy and Tarek Momen respectively on finals day in Cleveland.
Kicking off the day’s play, the matchup between Watanabe and Sobhy represented a significant opportunity for both players, with Watanabe targeting the biggest title of her career and Sobhy seeking her first tournament win since returning from a second career-threatening achilles injury.
Both players had needed all five games to get through their semi-final encounters, with the American fighting back from 2-1, 5-1 down to beat Rowan Elaraby, while Watanabe recorded an epic win over rising star Amina Orfi, clinching a fifth-game tiebreak 12-10.
What a performance from @x_satosq_x to claim the biggest title of her career so far 👏🏆#Squashintheland pic.twitter.com/j0KI0UzeBq
— PSA Squash Tour (@PSASquashTour) January 19, 2025
That result came 48 hours after the Japanese star had knocked out No.1 seed Georgina Kennedy in the quarter-finals, with Watanabe saying after her semi-final win that this week has been some of the best squash of her career.
She continued that fine form in the early stages of this final, too, showing no signs of being overawed by the occasion or the American crowd.
Cutting a relaxed figure, Watanabe moved Sobhy around the court well en route to a 10-5 lead, and while Sobhy mounted a comeback to close the score back to 10-8, the World No.12 slammed the door shut with a brilliant serve return winner down the line.
The action was taking place at Cleveland’s Outcalt Theatre in Playhouse Square, the second-biggest theatre district in the USA – behind only New York – and Watanabe continued to put on a show early in game two, quickly leading 5-2.
Sobhy found her feet and moved back to 7-7, rushing Watanabe, forcing her into a handful of errors, but the 26-year-old responded in kind, producing three outstanding points to stop another comeback in its tracks and take a two-game lead.
Watanabe’s backhand had been outstanding throughout the first two games and she opened game three with another clinical volley drop on the same side, kickstarting a charge towards the title that would not let up.
From 4-3 down she won seven points on the bounce to bring up six match balls, seeing the first two saved before getting over the line on the third, securing the first Silver-level title of her career.
“I don’t think I can describe how I feel at the moment with words,” she said moments after victory.
“But I’m definitely really, really happy that I fought through the whole week. It was one of my toughest tournaments as well so I’m just over the moon to win this tournament, and I think it’s my biggest title.
“I think I was really calm today in knowing what was happening on court. I made some errors here and there but she was putting me under a lot of pressure as well, so I’m happy with how I played today.
“At the point of 10-4 [in the third] I thought I was really pushing her and then she hit the really, really nice lob at the corner and I just could not get it back, I was like… alright, ok, here we go, it’s a really nervous time, but I was just trying to relax my arm, make sure I hit the length again.”
That performance was swiftly followed by an equally impressive display from men’s No.4 seed Elshorbagy, who needed just 35 minutes to see off Momen.
The Egyptian had beaten top seed Mohamed Elshorbagy 24 hours earlier, denying the Cleveland crowd the chance of all-Elshorbagy final, while Marwan had put a slow start behind him to see off Karim Abdel Gawad in four.
Those results set up this final showdown, the 14th PSA Tour meeting between the two players but the first in a final.
Title #⃣1⃣5⃣ in the bag for @maelshorbagy 🏆#SquashintheLand pic.twitter.com/1zBBSsuHPj
— PSA Squash Tour (@PSASquashTour) January 19, 2025
Elshorbagy had only won two of the previous 13 matchups but he looked sharp from the off in this encounter, taking less than 10 minutes to take the opening game.
Momen would have been hoping for a turnaround similar to that which he produced in his semi-final win over Mohamed Elshorbagy, when he lost the opening game before winning the next three, but instead he made the worst possible start to game two, losing seven of the first eight points.
Elshorbagy was attacking well to the front and hitting his targets well in the back corners too, and while Momen closed the gap back to 9-6, he’d left himself far too much to do, going down 11-6.
The crowds at Cleveland’s Outcalt Theatre had been treated to some spectacular comebacks in this year’s event but any hopes of another one here were soon dashed in the early stages of game three, as Elshorbagy continued to play exceptionally sharp squash.
He stormed into a 5-1 lead and didn’t give the Egyptian a look-in, closing the door with another 11-6 win when an ambitious backhand dropshot attempt from Momen fell short on match ball.
“I’m very happy with the week,” Elshorbagy said after collecting his trophy.
“To come here and win means a lot to me. It was a tough match playing Tarek today, I don’t have the best record against him of course and I’ve already played him twice this season but I woke up today and mentally, I was telling myself that I have nothing to lose, and to stay calm as much as possible, try to play good squash and stick to my tactics.
“I’m glad it worked, I felt very sharp from the beginning, I didn’t lose my focus through the whole three games so I was happy with my solid performance today.”
Result: Men’s Final
[4] Marwan Elshorbagy (ENG) bt. [3] Tarek Momen (EGY) 3-0: 11-4, 11-6, 11-6 (35m)
Result: Women’s Final
[5] Satomi Watanabe (JPN) bt. [4] Amanda Sobhy (USA) 3-0: 11-8, 11-8, 11-6 (26m)