El Hammamy & Asal Maintain Red-Hot Form to Reach Qatar Classic Finals

Egyptians Hania El Hammamy and Mostafa Asal have continued their perfect starts to the new PSA Squash Tour season with wins over compatriots Amina Orfi and Fares Dessouky seeing them reach the Platinum level QTerminals Qatar Classic finals in Doha.

El Hammamy's match with Orfi was a repeat of last month's CIB Egyptian Open, with El Hammamy picking up where she left off in front of the Great Pyramid of Giza with an impressive 11-9, 11-6, 11-7 victory.

The world No.2 will now take on defending champion Nour ElSherbini as she bids to reclaim the title she last lifted in 2023.

"It's always tough playing against Amina," said El Hammamy ahead of her 34th PSA final.

"Last month in Egypt I had the opportunity to win in three, but she came back in the third. Today, I had the same opportunity, I tried to push myself forward and tried as hard as I could to stay solid throughout the third game. The first was crucial, I was 6-3 up, she came back to 9-6, but I knew it would make a big difference to the match if I lost it, so I gave it a big push.

"I'm really looking forward to the final, it's always enjoyable and entertaining against Nour. I won in the final in 2023, I lost in the semis last year, we somehow play every year here in Qatar and it's always in five. Hopefully tomorrow we both perform well, produce good squash, and whoever plays the best will win."

ElSherbini is through to a fourth successive final in Doha after a comprehensive 11-6, 11-6, 12-10 win over Belgium's Tinne Gilis.

The world No.3 was below her lofty standards in the previous round, needing to overhaul a 2/0 deficit against France's Melissa Alves. However, ElSherbini was much improved today as she extended her unbeaten run over Gilis to 11 matches. ElSherbini will now compete in her 74th PSA final.

"I still have it in me [to win the big events]," said ElSherbini.

"If I lost the passion or motivation, I would stop, but I still feel as hungry as ever. I go through different phases in the season and it's not always the best phase you want to. You still show up and one day everything will turn around."

Meanwhile, Asal is one win away from a first QTerminals Qatar Classic title after beating Dessouky 11-4, 11-6, 11-6.

The world No.1 has now reached his ninth successive PSA final and will take on world No.3 Paul Coll in the Doha final. Coll hasn't beaten Asal in their six previous matches, with their last match seeing Asal win in straight games in the semis of last season's PSA World Championships.

"Credit to Fares, he's a good fighter and he can beat anyone when he's on form," said Asal.

"He could be a world No.1 easily. I know how dangerous he is, so I had to put work into him in the beginning. It will be a tough battle tomorrow and I know the crowd will be on my side tomorrow. It feels like home here and you see so many familiar faces and family friends."

Coll has reached his third Qatar Classic final after a convincing victory over England's rising star Jonah Bryant. Bryant was appearing in his first Platinum semi-final after his titanic battle with Abdulla Al-Tamimi was cut short yesterday due to a suspected Achilles rupture sustained by the Qatari No.1 in the decider.

Both players train together as part of Rob Owen's coaching stable, but Coll came out firing and dictated the tempo of the match, sapping the energy from the youngster's legs to win in three.

Coll suffered a shock defeat to world No.252 Adam Hawal in round two of the CIB Egyptian Open last month, but the 33-year-old has bounced back in the best possible way, with an 11-5, 11-3, 11-5 win over Bryant sending him through to a 49th PSA final.

"I wanted to make it all about me and go out there and play my game," said Coll.

"I had a big one last night but woke up feeling pretty good. I can't think about that, I know how tough he is and what he possesses, I knew he was never going to give up, so I had to stay on it. I'm super proud of him. He's continuously putting in work and looking for ways to improve. He has one of the best attitudes in a young guy I've seen for a while, I've got massive respect for him."