El Hammamy & Farag Win Tournament of Champions Titles
31 Jan 2025

World No.3 Hania El Hammamy and world No.1 Ali Farag captured the prestigious JP Morgan Tournament of Champions titles after defeating current World Champions Nouran Gohar and Diego Elias, respectively, on a thrilling finals night of the PSA Squash Tour Platinum event in New York.
No.3 seed El Hammamy completed her dream run inside the spectacular Grand Central Terminal - overturning a seven-match losing streak against Gohar - to claim her first ToC title and her first title on the PSA Squash Tour since December 2023.
In a nip-and-tuck match that saw multiple swings in momentum, it was 24-year-old El Hammamy who came through stronger in the latter stages of the match, holding off a late charge from Gohar to take the match by an 8-11, 11-8, 3-11, 11-6, 11-8 scoreline on her fourth match ball.
"It's amazing, I'm so pleased," El Hammamy said after the match. "I have finally got wins over the world No.1 and world No.2 in a row - I haven't had that for so long. There's no better place for me to win a title in the US than here in New York in Grand Central Station.
"I wasn't even enjoying squash for quite some time, so thank you so much to all of the team behind me. They've been through so much with me."
Meanwhile, in the men's final, top seed Farag claimed his fourth ToC title, defeating Elias by a 9-11, 12-10, 14-12, 11-1 scoreline.
Egypt's Farag and Peruvian Elias, meeting for the seventh time already this season, delivered an opening hour of incredible quality, with defending champion Farag clinching thrilling back-to-back tie-breaks to sit within a game of the title.
Much to the disappointment of the crowd, though, the match was brought to a swift conclusion in the fourth. When trailing in the mid-phase of the game, Elias was handed two conduct strokes by the referee - one for racket abuse and the other for dissent - with Farag subsequently moving through to wrap up the win after 64 minutes of action.
After the match, Farag said: "This title means so much to me. This is one of the most iconic, if not the most iconic, tournaments that we have on the calendar year because of the location of this incredible crowd.
"Obviously, I thought we played an incredible first three games. Diego and I have been pushing each other so hard. He's an incredible athlete and an incredible squash player.
"I don't want to make any judgements here and now [on the ending of the match]. I really don't know who's at fault. The referees have such a selfless job, and I know that they sometimes get it right, and sometimes they get it wrong, just like we do as players."