The draws for the 2024-2025 PSA World Championships have been released as the biggest prize in professional squash is once again up for grabs in Chicago in May.
An all-glass court will be erected at Lakeshore Sport & Fitness, featuring the richest prize purse in the history of professional squash, with more than $1.3m of total player compensation up for grabs between May 9-17.
Champions if he can claim his fifth World title this season. Farag has fond memories of Chicago, winning in five of his last six appearances in the Windy City, three of which were World Championship victories. He’s situated at the top of the draw, in the same half as No.3 seed Diego Elias, the defending champion.
Last year’s runner-up Mostafa Asal is situated at the bottom of the draw as the No.2 seed looks to go one better this year and claim the coveted title.
Former champions Mohamed Elshorbagy and Tarek Momen have played in a combined 31 World Championships throughout their careers and will look to use that experience to upset the seedings once again.
After getting her hands on her first World Championship trophy last season, Nouran Gohar has set herself up for a strong title defence as the championships roll back around in this campaign.
Drawn in the same half as top seed Gohar is World No.3 Hania El Hammamy. The rivalry between Gohar and El Hammamy has reached boiling point a few times on the PSA Squash Tour, and with a place in the final up for grabs if the pair reach the final four, this could spark another epic between the two.
One player that you can never write off in a World Championships is seven-time winner and No.2 seed Nour ElSherbini. The 29-year-old has made the competition her own in recent years and will be hopeful of returning to that form to draw level with a legend of the game in Nicol David on eight titles.
No.4 seed and leading home player Olivia Weaver sits in the same half as ElSherbini as she looks to make the home advantage count and upset the seedings.
Five players will earn their spots in this year’s World Championships by qualifying through specific events taking place around the globe. A male and female player will qualify from Africa, the Americas, Asia, Europe and Oceania qualifying events. The events will feature 16 players battling for the spot across four days. The first qualifying event gets underway on the 7th April in Mossel Bay, South Africa.
As well as Lakeshore Sport & Fitness, the University of Club of Chicago – which has hosted the Windy City Open since 1982 – will host matches from round one of the tournament.
[1] Ali Farag (EGY) v Bernat Jaume (ESP)
WCQ Asia v [26] Declan James (ENG)
[18] Dimitri Steinmann (SUI) v WCQ Africa
WCQ Oceania v [10] Mazen Hesham (EGY)
[16] Fares Dessouky (EGY) v Leandro Romiglio (ARG)
Jonah Bryant (ENG) v [29] Mohamed Abouelghar (EGY)
[20] Gregoire Marche (FRA) v Rui Soares (POR)
Adrian Waller (ENG) v [6] Tarek Momen (EGY)
[5] Joel Makin (WAL) v Karim El Hammamy (EGY)
Ryunosuke Tsukue (JPN) v [23] Sebastien Bonmalais (FRA)
[30] Mohamed ElSherbini (EGY) v Omar Mosaad (EGY)
Raphael Kandra (GER) v [11] Youssef Soliman (EGY)
[14] Youssef Ibrahim (EGY) v Yahya Elnawasany (EGY)
Abhay Singh (IND) v [25] Nicolas Mueller (SUI)
[21] Miguel Rodriguez (COL) v Balazs Farkas (HUN)
Velavan Senthilkumar (IND) v [3] Diego Elias (PER)
[4] Paul Coll (NZL) v Henry Leung (HKG)
WCQ Europe v [31] Iker Pajares (ESP)
[24] Baptiste Masotti (FRA) v Alex Lau (HKG)
Juan Vargas (COL) v [15] Victor Crouin (FRA)
[9] Marwan Elshorbagy (ENG) v George Parker (ENG)
Ramit Tandon (IND) v [32] Timothy Brownell (USA)
[27] Mohamad Zakaria (EGY) v Rory Stewart (SCO)
Nathan Lake (ENG) v [8] Mohamed Elshorbagy (ENG)
[7] Karim Gawad (EGY) v Simon Herbert (ENG)
Wildcard v [22] Abdulla Al-Tamimi (QAT)
[19] Greg Lobban (SCO) v WCQ Pan America
Yannick Wilhelmi (SUI) v [13] Aly Abou Eleinen (EGY)
[12] Eain Yow Ng (MAS) v Patrick Rooney (ENG)
Curtis Malik (ENG) v [28] Auguste Dussourd (FRA)
[17] Leonel Cardenas (MEX) v [WC] Qualifier
Nick Wall (ENG) v [2] Mostafa Asal (EGY)
Women’s draw:
[1] Nouran Gohar (EGY) v Nadine Shahin (EGY)
Mariam Metwally (EGY) v [28] Malak Khafagy (EGY)
[24] Katie Malliff (ENG) v WCQ Asia
Hana Moataz (EGY) v [13] Fayrouz Aboelkheir (EGY)
[11] Satomi Watanabe (JPN) v Cindy Merlo (SUI)
Tsz-Wing Tong (HKG) v [21] Sarah-Jane Perry (ENG)
[22] Tesni Murphy (WAL) v Alicia Mead (ENG)
Marie Stephan v [6] Tinne Gilis (BEL)
[5] Amina Orfi (EGY) v Haya Ali (EGY)
[WC] Qualifier v [18] Jasmine Hutton (ENG)
[19] Melissa Alves (FRA) v Salma Eltayeb (EGY)
WCQ Pan America v [14] Nada Abbas (EGY)
[10] Nele Gilis-Coll (BEL) v Ka Yi Lee (HKG)
Emily Whitlock (WAL) v [25] Tomato Ho (HKG)
[26] Lucy Turmel (ENG) v Grace Gear (ENG)
Nour Aboulmakarim (EGY) v [3] Hania El Hammamy (EGY)
[4] Olivia Weaver (USA) v Aifa Azman (MAS)
Nour Heikal (EGY) v [20] Rachel Arnold (MAS)
[27] Aira Azman (MAS) v Torrie Malik (ENG
Menna Hamed (EGY) v [12] Salma Hany (EGY)
[15] Amanda Sobhy (USA) v Ainaa Amani (MAS)
Kenzy Ayman (EGY) v [31] Zeina Mickawy (EGY)
[17] Sana Ibrahim (EGY) v Sabrina Sobhy (USA)
Wildcard v [7] Sivasangari Subramaniam (MAS)
[8] Georgina Kennedy (ENG) v WCQ Oceania
Lucy Beecroft (ENG) v [23] Georgia Adderley (SCO)
[32] Lisa Aitken (SCO) v WCQ Africa
Marina Stefanoni (USA) v [9] Rowan Elaraby (EGY)
[16] Farida Mohamed (EGY) v Nicole Bunyan (CAN)
Saran Nghiem (ENG) v [30] Hana Ramadan (EGY)
[29] Hollie Naughton (CAN) v Nardine Garas (EGY)
WCQ Europe v [2] Nour ElSherbini (EGY)
