Hi all,
We are two days away from the beginning of the 2025/2026 edition of the World Championships which returns to Giza for this year's event.
In total there is $1.4 million worth of prize money across the men and women's draw. Should be some interesting stories brewing at the most prestigious event in the professional game.
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Thought I would start with the women's event, which in my opinion has been far more interesting than the men's. Here we have 3 favourites one potentially 2 dark horses.
- Hania El Hammamy the deserved world number 1 has taken full advantage of the gap left by Nouran Gohar. She has quickly won nearly every major title this year and looked close to unstoppable. In doing so, she has amassed an impressive winning streak against Nour El Sherbini. Most recently downing her in 5 games in the final at El Gouna. However, El Hammamy has yet to win her first world championship. With this being her best opportunity, it also comes with the most pressure and the biggest expectation that she emerges victorious.
- Nour El Sherbini is the #2 seed and is going for her 9th world title. You can never count her out at this tournament. She beat Hania El Hammamy in the final last year and has found a way to win against Nouran Gohar when form would indicate she is not the favourite. She is quite simply remarkable on the biggest stage.
- Amina Orfi the #3 in the world despite being only being 18. Certainly controversial, but you cannot deny her talent. She has had a great season, but has shown some tendency to wobble. Having lost to Subramaniam in Zurich last week.
- I'd peg the dark horses as the aforementioned Sivasangari Subramaniam who, with her win at the Grashopper Cup, climbed to a new high of #5 in the world. She has proven time and time again that she is good enough to hang with the best on her day. The other choice is the much improved Olivia Weaver, who has had some agonising losses this season. Losing in 5 to Hammamy at the Tournament of Champions and who last year was so close to reaching the final.
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I am sure the men's side will run with little controversy, such is the much praised temperament of the male contingent. I'd imagine they could ref themselves and any contact will be met with profuse apologies and in the good nature that is so prevalent in men's squash in 2026.
- Obvious place to start is world number 1, Mostafa Asal. His unbeaten streak rocked by Diego Elias in El Gouna, he has had a thunderous 2026 in which he has won the vast majority of the major titles at a canter. The big what if had always been how well he'd have done with Elias in the field, but he has found the rest of the tour easy picking. He is sure to have a huge amount of home support in most of his matches.
- Despite not being the #2 seed, I would next mention Diego Elias. Back from injury, he has looked good if not perfect since his return. Winning in El Gouna as his high point, he has also had some humbling losses, most notably to Victor Crouin in Zurich last week. The question is likely can he get to the seeded match up with Asal in the semis. A tantalising quarter final with Zakaria likely awaits.
- Paul Coll is our #2 seed and after a comprehensive win at Qatar it looked like he was back to his best, but he has struggled against Asal in all of the subsequent finals he has played in while managing to win titles in his home tournament in New Zealand and over the ocean in Australia. Seeded to face off against a Gawad who looks to be peaking, he would be expecting to make another final I think.
- Loads of fun stories in the weeds of the draw. Mohamed Zakaria has had some great results this year and is cleaning up his game. Joel Makin is on the same side of the draw has looked solid this year without taking the big scalps. Karim Abdel Gawad will surely be a fan favourite among Egyptians and non Egyptian fans alike. He looked amazing in the final at the Grasshopper, but this is a lot more squash. The mercurial Youssef Ibrahim looks set to face off against Coll in the quarters, he has every chance of being dangerous if he's hitting his targets (which are normally nicks).
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So yeah, that's how I see it. Would be great to get as much of a discussion going as possible. Looking forward to some great squash.