Egypt’s women and men made history at Hong Kong Football Club with victories over the USA and England in the finals of the WSF World Squash Team Championships, the first edition of the competition to feature both men’s and women’s championships simultaneously.
In the women’s final, Egypt won their fourth consecutive title with a 2-0 win over rising force USA, while the men made it title number six with a tense victory over their closest rivals England.
In the women’s final, Rowan Elaraby and Nour El Sherbini delivered a well-earned win after victories over Marina Stefanoni and Olivia Weaver.
USA’s World No.38 Stefanoni caused Egypt’s World No.7 Elaraby a number of problems in a great battle, with Elaraby eventually overcoming the spirited 22-year-old 11-6, 12-10, 6-11, 11-9 in 42 minutes.
Up next, Nour El Sherbini and Olivia Weaver played out a second world championship final match against each other, with the pair also locking horns two years ago when El Sherbini brushed aside Weaver in the second match of the final in Madinaty to win the title for Egypt on home court.
Weaver is a much improved player since then, though. Despite going into today’s match nursing a back injury that forced her to retire hurt against El Sherbini in the semi-final of the Hong Kong Open last week, Weaver deservedly took the lead tonight, with her immaculate squash rewarded with an 11-7 win.
El Sherbini, as she has done so many times in the past, astutely adjusted her game plan and caused Weaver no end of problems as she fired intelligent shots up the middle of the court to disrupt her opponent’s rhythm, en route to 11-6, 11-7, 11-7 wins to keep the title in Egyptian hands.
“It’s very emotional and it’s always the best feeling playing for your country and playing for your team as well,” El Sherbini said.
“It’s always an honour playing the Teams event, especially with these amazing players so I’m really happy to win and to bring the title back to Egypt.”
In the men’s final, both Mazen Hesham and Ali Farag were forced to dig deep and fight back against a fired up England side, who were aiming to end a run of three consecutive final defeats to the reigning champions.
England’s World No.35 Curtis Malik came out at breathtaking pace in the opener, playing some of the best squash of his career to date as he took the game to World No.5 Hesham, forcing the Egyptian onto the back foot with an 11-4 win.
Hesham saved game ball to level the scores with a 13-11 win in game two, but looked uncomfortable, and Malik regained the lead with a dominant 11-6 win.
Hesham played his best game of the final in game four, finally consistently beating Malik’s defences with a combination of patient play and some of his trademark skill to level the scores again 11-6 before finally getting over the line in an 11-8 win in the decider against the distraught Malik.
In the second match of the final, Farag played out another epic encounter with Alexandria-born Mohamed ElShorbagy, whom he described as the greatest rival of his career ahead of the tournament.
ElShorbagy was in sparkling form for much of tonight’s clash, hitting with real ferocity to take a deserved lead through an 11-6 win.
Farag, who endured a torrid start to his semi-final against France’s Victor Crouin before eventually coming back from 0-2 down, clung on in game two, claiming what felt like a hugely important win via a tie break, 13-11.
Both men continued to throw everything at each other as the title bout wore on, but it was Farag who was able to make the telling contribution, as he did in last year’s final in New Zealand, clinching the next two games 11-8, 11-9 to ensure Egypt would enter the history books as the first nation to win the combined championships.
Caught up in the emotion of the moment, Farag broke from his usual stoicism, vaulting the back wall and leaping into the arms of his teammates in unbridled joy and relief.
“It feels amazing to create history with team Egypt. Nothing feels better than representing your country and I love wearing this shirt and I love sharing this moment with some of the best players ever who have graced the squash court. I can’t be happier really and it’s one of the happiest moments of my career,” Farag said afterwards.
At the trophy presentation afterwards, President Hong Kong Football Club Nick Hunsworth, Chairman Hong Kong Football Club Neil Jensen, President of the Sports Federation & Olympic Committee of Hong Kong, China Timothy Fok, Chairman of Squash Association of Hong Kong, China Duncan Chiu, Secretary for Culture, Sports and Tourism Rosanna Law and WSF President Zena Wooldridge presented medals and gifts and thanked all involved in making the historic championships such a success.
Result: WSF World Squash Team Championship Women’s Final
[1] Egypt 2-0 [2] USA
Rowan Elaraby (EGY) bt Marina Stefanoni (USA) 3-1: 11-6, 12-10, 6-11, 11-9 (42m)
Nour El Sherbini (EGY) bt Oliva Weaver (USA) 3-1: 7-11, 11-6, 11-7, 11-7 (38m)
Hania El Hammamy w/d Amanda Sobhy
Result: WSF World Squash Team Championship Men’s Final
[1] Egypt 2-0 [2] England
Mazen Hesham (EGY) bt Curtis Malik (ENG) 3-2: 4-11, 13-11, 6-11, 11-6, 11-8 (63m)
Ali Farag (EGY) bt Mohamed Elshorbagy (ENG) 3-1: 6-11, 13-11, 11-8, 11-9 (50m)
Mostafa Asal (EGY) w/d Marwan ElShorbagy (ENG)
Final Standings: WSF World Squash Team Championships (Women’s Event)
1 – Egypt
2 – USA
3/4 Belgium and Malaysia
5- England
6 – Hong Kong, China
7 – India
8 – France
9 – Japan
10 – Canada
11 – Australia
12 – Scotland
13 – Spain
14 – Germany
15 – Ireland
16 – Switzerland
17 – Colombia
18 – South Africa
19 – Korea
20 – Italy
21 – Finland
22 – Macau, China
23 – China
Final Standings: WSF World Squash Team Championships (Men’s Event)
1 – Egypt
2- England
3/4 – France and Switzerland
5 – India
6 – Hong Kong, China
7 – Germany
8 – Colombia
9 – Malaysia
10 – Scotland
11 – Canada
12 – Spain
13 – Pakistan
14 – USA
15 – Czech Republic
16 – South Africa
17 – Peru
18 – Japan
19 – Nigeria
20 – Ireland
21 – Korea
22 – Kuwait
23 – Australia
24 – Philippines
25 – Italy
26 – China
About the WSF World Squash Team Championships
The WSF World Squash Team Championships are contested annually and pit National Federation squads of four players against each other as they compete for the title of World Champions. The 2024 edition, which is taking place in Hong Kong, China, from 09-15 December 2024 and will be hosted at the Hong Kong Football Club, with the support of the Squash Association of Hong Kong, China.
This year’s championships will be the first to feature concurrent men’s and women’s events, with previous editions alternating between the two annually.
enhance the image of Hong Kong as Asia’s sports event capital. The “M” Mark awarded by the Major Sports Events Committee, symbolising intense, spectacular and signature event in the territory sports calendar.
About the World Squash Federation
The World Squash Federation (WSF) is the International Olympic Committee (IOC) recognised International Federation for squash. It is a member of the Association of IOC Recognised International Sports Federations (ARISF) and from 1 January 2025 an associate member of the Association of Summer Olympic International Federations (ASOIF).
About Hong Kong Football Club
Hong Kong Football Club (HKFC) was founded in 1886 with a mission to facilitate the development of sporting activities in Hong Kong. It has followed a vision to be one of the leading not-for-profit sports clubs in the world.
Regarded as one of the finest sporting clubs in Asia, the 64,000-square-metre building offers the largest range of facilities among all the sports clubs in Hong Kong. HKFC not only provides Hong Kong with a world-class venue for many major international sports events, but also plays a key role in Hong Kong’s thriving sporting and social community.
