Mostafa Asal and Hania El Hammamy (Photo PSA)
The draws for the PSA World Championships sees World No.1s Mostafa Asal and Hania El Hammamy headlining the biggest event in professional squash. Asal is looking to claim a second consecutive world title, whilst El Hammamy is vying to win her first.
The event will take place on home soil for the top seeds, with action coming from the Palm Hills Club and the PGC Golf Central Mall in Giza, Egypt. The tournament will run from 8-16 May with almost $1.5 million USD in prize money at stake.
Asal is looking to become only the third player to defend the men’s world title since 1996. The runaway World No.1 stormed to his first title last season, winning the event without dropping a single game, a feat that hadn’t been achieved since Jahangir Khan’s victory in 1988.
Asal has continued to dominate the men’s tour throughout this season, winning all but one of the six major events and hasn’t dropped a single game in a match since October 2025. He’ll be determined to use that form in familiar surroundings in May to become a multiple World Champion.
2019 World Championships runner-up Paul Coll has been Asal’s primary competition this season. The pair have faced off in four major finals so far this season, with Coll’s only victory coming at the Qatar Classic.
Coll has picked up winning form again in 2026, winning three events in total, the last two coming in the Oceania leg of the tour at the New Zealand Open and Australian Open. Becoming a World Champion will be Coll’s main target this season, and he’ll be hoping to continue his positive performances in the lead-up to the pinnacle event on the tour.
Two former World Champions occupy the No.3 and 4 seeding positions as Diego Elias and Karim Gawad also look to become multiple-time champions this year. Elias’ win in 2024 was one of the most impressive displays of squash we’ve seen at a World Championships for some time.
The Peruvian downed the favourite Ali Farag in the semi-finals before beating Asal in straight games in the final. Despite a lengthy injury break this season, Elias still remains one of the most dangerous players in the draw and if he can arrive to Palm Hills in the right condition, he will be a huge threat to the top seeds. Elias is in the same half as Asal, so their rivalry would resume in the semi-finals if both were to advance.
2016 World Champion Karim Gawad still remains as one of the most skilful and talented players on tour. The Egyptian’s win ten years ago came during the peak of his career but recent form has seen him climb back into the world’s top four and make his presence known in major events. Gawad is always a dangerous player but he seems to save his best form for events on home soil. Nine years separated Jansher Khan’s first World title to his last in 1996; Gawad would break that record with a win on the biggest stage in May.
Plenty of threats lie within the 5/8 seeding places this year as the likes of Joel Makin, Victor Crouin, Youssef Ibrahim, and Mohamad Zakaria will all be looking to cause upsets to stake their claim for the prestigious title.
Last year’s women’s runner-up El Hammamy leads the women’s draw this year as she looks to claim her first World Championships title. El Hammamy has four major titles to her name this season, winning the opening three as well as the Tournament of Champions, which she won dramatically.
The Egyptian’s career has seen several major titles come her way but the biggest title of them all has so far eluded her. With all sights set on this event, expect a big week from El Hammamy as she looks to join the illustrious list of champions.
The biggest threat to El Hammamy’s dream will be the No.2 seed and eight-time World Champion Nour ElSherbini. The current World No.2 defeated El Hammamy in last year’s final to equal Malaysian legend Nicol David’s record of World titles won; one more win for ElSherbini gives her the record outright.
Despite a slow start to the season, the 30-year-old has picked up form recently, winning the Hong Kong Open, Windy City Open and Texas Open all within the space of three months. One thing you can never do is write off ElSherbini. Especially in her favourite event, the World Championships.
Competing in only her fourth World Championships, No.3 seed Amina Orfi has fallen at the round three stage each time. Despite being a top eight seed last season, Orfi lost out from 2-0 up to Nada Abbas, a disappointing loss for the World No.3. Orfi will be determined to bounce back in the sport’s biggest event and aim to become the youngest female world champion in history.
Orfi sits in the same half as top seed El Hammamy, a match-up that has happened three times already this season with El Hammamy winning all three.
USA’s Olivia Weaver arrives at this year’s World Championships as the No.4 seed, aiming to become the first American to reach a world final in 24 years. There’s no doubt that Weaver has levelled up her game this season and should have a major title to her name, if it wasn’t for an incredible comeback produced by El Hammamy in New York earlier this year.
Weaver also reached the Hong Kong Open final in December, showing that she deserves a seat at the top table and now just needs a major title to go with it. Weaver held a 2-1 8-3 lead over ElSherbini in last year’s semi-final but failed to convert. The pair are set to meet at the same stage again this year, if they both avoid defeat before then.
Despite the world’s top four’s dominance on the tour, danger still lurks in the women’s draw for the top seeds. Recent Australian Open champion and No.5 seed Sivasangari Subramaniam has beaten El Hammamy and ElSherbini before, whilst No.6 seed Satomi Watanabe has claimed wins over both El Hammamy and Orfi already this season.
No.7 seed Fayrouz Aboelkheir will be looking to surpass her best finish at a World Championships by reaching the semi-finals, and Georgina Kennedy leads the European representation as the No.8 seed.
Five places in each draw are reserved for the winners of the Continental World Championships Qualification events. The first of which gets underway in Kooyong, Australia for the Oceania Qualifier later this month.
