Egyptian squash duo Ali Farag and Hania Al-Hammami have been named the respective male and female PSA Players of the Month for October. Farag saw victory in front of the Great Pyramids of Giza at the third time of trying after he defeated compatriot and reigning world champion Tarek Momen in the final of the CIB Egyptian Open last month. Farag lost to Egyptian world No 4 Karim Abdel-Gawad at both the 2016 Al-Ahram International and then at last year's Egyptian Open but stormed out of the traps against a fatigued Momen to complete an 11-8, 11-3, 11-4 triumph which saw him win his 20th PSA title. That victory also meant that he returned to the top of the PSA world rankings for the second time in his career, taking the place from compatriot Mohamed Al-Shorbagi in November. Meanwhile, Al-Hammami continues her rise on the PSA World Tour after claiming the CIB PSA World Tour Finals title and reaching the semi-finals of the CIB Egyptian Open last month. Al-Hammami was forced to come from two games down against the in-form Egyptian Nour Al-Tayeb at the Mall of Arabia to produce a stunning comeback and lift her second title of 2020 following her Black Ball Open triumph in March. The 20-year-old Egyptian then secured a huge five-game win over France's Camille Serme to advance to the semi-finals of the CIB Egyptian Open where she lost out to then-world No 1 Nouran Gohar, also of Egypt. Her success at both tournaments meant she rose to world No 5, her highest position yet, in November's women's world rankings. Other big performances in October came from Marawan Al-Shorbagi who upset the seedings to lift the CIB PSA World Tour Finals trophy after beating Abdel-Gawad in straight games. Also, Egypt's Nour Al-Sherbini has reclaimed her place at the top of the women's rankings after defeating Gohar to triumph once again in front of the Pyramids. *A version of this article appears in print in the 19 November, 2020 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly
