Amina Orfi and Diego Elias (Photo PSA)
World No.3 Diego Elias and World No.1 Amina Orfi have captured their maiden Egyptian Open titles after dethroning defending champions Mostafa Asal and Hania El Hammamy on finals night by the Great Pyramid of Giza.
Peru’s Elias, who lost out to Asal in the final of the Egyptian Open 12 months ago, avenged the result from that day with a high-quality five-game victory over the two-time defending champion.
Elias was no stranger to winning big titles on the Cairo stage, having beaten Asal in the Egyptian capital to become the first-ever South American World Champion in 2024, and once again showed his ability to deliver on the biggest occasions.
Despite falling a game behind and playing in front of a fervent Cairo crowd, Elias responded emphatically, conceding just 11 points across the next two games to move 2-1 up.
Asal rallied to force a deciding fifth game and set up a grandstand finish, but it was No.3 seed Elias who kept his cool to move through the decider 11-6 and clinch the Diamond-level title after 79 minutes of play.
“It feels amazing,” Elias said after the match. “I have dreamt of that since being very young. Every player dreams of playing in front of the Pyramids.
“It’s tough to play in Egypt. But it’s been so many times that fans have been cheering for the other player and not for me, that I’m used to it. Anyway, I always like being back here in Egypt; everyone loves their squash, it’s great.
“My tactics are working lately, so I don’t feel like I need to change my game. I just tried to play my best this week, be very focused, and it worked.”
Meanwhile, reigning World Champion Orfi delivered a dominant performance to win her third successive title at the start of the 2026/27 PSA Squash Tour season, powering past fierce rival Hania El Hammamy by an 11-4, 11-4, 11-3 scoreline.
Despite the pair’s last three matches on the PSA Squash Tour all lasting over the 100-minute mark, newly crowned World No.1 Orfi dominated from start to finish this time, needing just 39 minutes to clinch the second Diamond-level title of her career.
Orfi’s relentless power and accuracy proved too much for an uncharacteristically inaccurate El Hammamy, whose struggles were underscored by the fact that she never once held the lead.
After the match, Orfi said: “This is my second Diamond event title, but I think this one is more special after winning it in front of the Pyramids. Being World No.1 and forgetting about that, I tried not to think about it too much. A week ago I was World No.2, but it’s kind of the same in a way.
“It feels great to get it done shorter than our last few matches. Maybe the big matches that she played the last couple of days kind of had a role in that. But I’m really happy with how I played.
“Throughout my training, before the tournament, I look at the draw and see what I need to practice. Try to train practice matches with similar game styles. Overall, I look to just work on what I’m losing points on.”
Final Results
Men’s: [3] Diego Elias (PER) bt [1] Mostafa Asal (EGY) 3-2: 5-11, 11-5, 11-6, 7-11, 11-6 (79m)
Women’s: [2] Amina Orfi (EGY) bt [1] Hania El Hammamy (EGY) 3-0: 11-4, 11-4, 11-3 (39m)
