Hammamy and Orfi in World Number 1 showdown

Two stacked PSA Squash Tour Finals draws await fans in the heart of the French capital, but the main storyline emerges in the women’s draw, where a potential winner-takes-all World No.1 showdown could await in the final between Hania El Hammamy and Amina Orfi.

Current World No.1 El Hammamy took hold of the top spot in the women’s world rankings at the U.S. Open last winter and has remained on top of the tree since then. However, following historic World Championship and British Open title successes for 18-year-old Amina Orfi, the Egyptian stands on the brink of toppling El Hammamy at World No.1.

If Amina Orfi were to lift the PSA Squash Tour Finals title, or if she were to reach the final following an El Hammamy exit in the opening round of the event, Orfi would become the youngest-ever women’s World No.1 in the history of squash. She would beat the previous record held by New Zealand great Susan Devoy. Debutant Orfi will be up against Belgium No.1 Tinne Gilis, while El Hammamy takes on England No.1 Georgina Kennedy.

But standing in the way of the pair and a potentially blockbuster final in Paris are a host of world-class players, all with their eyes set on the season-ending title starting today.

The bottom half of the draw sees World No.3 Nour ElSherbini named alongside El Hamammy. The eight-time World Champion, competing in her 11th Tour Finals this week, takes on No.6 seed Fayrouz Aboelkheir and will be hoping to become the second most decorated woman in the event’s history, behind Nouran Gohar.

With World No.4 Olivia Weaver withdrawing from the event due to injury, No.4 seed Sivasangari Subramaniam has been named in the same half of the draw as top seed Orfi. The Malaysian No.1 takes on No.5 seed Satomi Watanabe in the opening round of the event.

Meanwhile, in the men’s draw, World No.1 Asal – winner of this event in 2021, 2022 and 2023 – is attempting to become just the second man after the great Jansher Khan in 1998 to win the PSA Squash Tour Finals on four occasions.

However, a semi-final showdown with fierce rival Diego Elias potentially awaits, with the pair having already engaged in a number of incredible battles this season. The pair’s five matches this campaign have averaged a mammoth 92 minutes, while most recently, they slugged out a 115-minute epic in the semi-finals of the British Open.

Before this potential meeting, Elias faces the prospect of trying to halt French No.1 Victor Crouin in the opening round – a player who will look to feed off his home crowd in Paris and stretch his winning run over ‘The Peruvian Puma’ to three matches. So far in 2026, Crouin has proven a bogey player for Elias, having toppled the World No.3 in the final of the Texas Open and semi-finals of the Grasshopper Cup.

Asal, meanwhile, will take on England No.1 Marwan ElShorbagy in the opening round of the event.

The bottom half of the draw features British Open champion Paul Coll, World No.4 Karim Gawad, World Junior Champion Mohamad Zakaria and defending champion Joel Makin.

The in-form Coll will be looking to keep his winning streak going as he opens his account against British No.1 Joel Makin. This will be Coll’s eighth time in the Tour Finals. The New Zealander is yet to lift the title but will be heading into this year as confident as ever after capturing his third British Open trophy earlier this month.

The final opening game in the men’s event will see 2019 champion Karim Gawad take on World Junior Champion Mohamad Zakaria. The pair have met five times in their careers. Gawad won the first three encounters, but Zakaria has won the last two in the Karachi Open semi-final and the El Gouna International quarter-final.

Zakaria is the only debutant in the men’s event this year and will be determined to make his presence felt.