Defending Champions Farag and Gohar top the 2025 Draws

The final Platinum event of the 2024/25 season takes place between 12th and 18th April as the El Gouna International Squash Open returns to the PSA Squash Tour calendar for its 13th edition.

2024 champions Ali Farag and Nouran Gohar occupy the top seeding positions in the draws as they look to defend their titles.

64 players will compete in the event across both draws with eight former World #1s featuring alongside the next generation, all looking to score valuable points to progress up the PSA rankings. The event will be played across two venues: The El Gouna Squash Complex for side court action and the El Gouna Conference and Culture Center for glass court action.

Men’s top seed Farag surrendered only two games on route to his third El Gouna International title last season and will be looking to claim a fourth this season to become the most successful player in the events history with four wins. The Egyptian is in the same half as current World Champion Diego Elias but will potentially come up against Wales’ Joel Makin in the quarter finals if the pair progress.

In the bottom half of the draw, 2022 champion Mostafa Asal is the second seed as he continues to chase Farag at the top of the world rankings. The young Egyptian has missed two chances to overtake Farag at the top of the rankings so far this year and will be hoping to have another chance to do so on home soil. Asal will take on compatriot Mohamed ElSherbini in round one and has the likes of Karim Abdel Gawad and fourth seed Paul Coll in his half.

This season’s new format of 32 draws for Platinum events has made for some exciting first round fixtures for the Egyptian crowd to enjoy. World #8 Karim Abdel Gawad taking on World #9 Mazen Hesham is a highlight alongside Paul Coll versus Mohamed Abouelghar and Youssef Soliman versus Mohamed Elshorbagy.

In the women’s event, top seed and World #1 Gohar will be looking to claim her third El Gouna International title in a row after beating Nele Gilis-Coll and Nour El Sherbini in the last two finals. Despite not winning in New York, Gohar has pulled further clear at the top of the World Rankings after claiming another win in Texas a few weeks ago.

Gohar will be desperate to create as much distance as possible between herself and El Sherbini and another win in El Gouna would certainly help. Gohar is in the same half as Hania El Hammamy in this event so blockbuster semi-final could be on the cards once again.

ElSherbini is yet to find top form so far in 2025. She’s lost out twice to World #3 El Hammamy and is yet to reach an event final this year, an unusual occurrence for the seven-time World Champion. ‘The Warrior Princess’ comes alive in the big tournaments and with this year’s El Gouna International being the last Platinum event of the season, she’ll know the importance of producing a big performance on home soil. She’s seeded to face USA’s Olivia Weaver in the semi-finals but dangerous players such as Amina Orfi, Tinne Gilis and Amanda Sobhy all sit in the bottom half of the draw.

Much like the men’s draw, plenty of exciting matches are set from the first round in the women’s event with clashes such as Gilis-Coll versus Hany, Joelle King taking on Sobhy and Fayrouz Aboelkheir v ElSherbini all lined up for round one for the sixth Platinum event of the season.