u/Strange_Cartoonist14

The Asian Games are 4 months away and Asian Squash is in an interesting phase right now. If you are unaware, the gold medal winners of the singles event of Men's and Women's will earn a direct spot for the LA28 Olympics.

Men's:

When you compare the Asian Men's scene to the overall state of men's squash, it's quite competitive. An NOC can only enter two players in the singles event so the contenders would look like this:

Malaysia: Eain Yow Ng (20)

Pakistan: Noor Zaman (29) and Ashab Irfan (41)

India: Abhay Singh (24) and Ramit/Chotrani/Velavan (40-50)

Hong Kong: Alex Lau (42)

Everyone here has the ability to beat anyone else tbh however Eain Ng has had a quiet year, even losing 3-0 to Ashab at the Texas Open a couple months back. The indians seem to have stalled and their best hope is Abhay Singh who has been inconsistent but can turn up on his day and win the whole thing. The biggest climbers this season have been Noor Zaman and Ashab Irfan (who just started his collegiate squash career aswell). An all Pakistan final between them is certainly possible if the stars align.

My Prediction: Ashab Irfan will surprise everyone and win the Gold medal and be the first ever Squash Olympian. The battle between Noor and Ashab in itself deserves it's own post given their similarities career wise and the stakes for this Asian Games.

Women's:

The Women's game is more predictable, it will be tightly contested between Subramanium (5) and Watanabe (6) but there is also a dangerous and exciting newcomer in the form of Anahat Singh (21) the contenders will be:

Malaysia: Subramanium (5) and One of the Azman sisters

India: Anahat Singh (21)

Japan: Satomi Watanabe (6)

Hong Kong: Sin Yuk Chan (27) and Tomato Ho/Ka Yi Lee

My Prediction: I think Sivasangri Subramanium will qualify but Anahat Singh will reach the finals and if she encounters Watanabe then she will get upset by Singh but Subramanium still has enough to beat her for the gold medal.

Please welcome our two new mods u/BadtameezMunda and u/Temporary-Falcon-388 !!!

We also have some new rules that we feel can keep the sub engaging:

1. Posts on European club football are now allowed, however such posts will not be allowed during or in the lead up to national team matches as they would undermine the topic of the subreddit (exceptions apply to Champions League/ World Cup)

2. Jersey posts are allowed, However no self promotion posts will be approved without prior approval from mods.

Also, you can now have custom flairs!!

PS: we are almost 4000 members now, without any kind of domestic league or regular national team matches 👏

Quite disappointed. Once again, no Pakistani could get past the second round. Last year's draw was difficult but this time I had great hopes with Ashab Irfan, on his debut world championships he comfortably beat World no. 28 but lost his round 2 to World No. 44 Nathan Lake. Ashab could have definitely gotten to round of 16 and it's a missed opportunity.

Not much Noor Zaman could have done against Zakaria in second round and Asim Khan having to face World no. 5 Joel Makin in round one was always an uphill task.

Attention now goes towards the British Open where once again a difficult draw awaits both of them.

Ashab Irfan vs the dangerous up and coming Melvil Scianimanico in round one, if he manages to win then he will face 8th seed Marwan Elshorbagy (winnable)

For Ashab, it's the kind of draw where he could get knocked out in round 1 but he could also make it to round 3 or even the quarter finals!

Noor Zaman has a terrible draw. His round 1 is definitely winnable and he should be winning it against Veer Chotrani before meeting World No. 5 Joel Makin (there's hope tho, Makin forfeited his quarter final yesterday to Asal)

1. Pakistan Navy Fleet Club Open (30,000$) - Copper

2. PN Fleet Club Open - 2 (30,000$) - Copper

3. PN Fleet Club Open - 3 (60,000$ M/W) - Bronze

First two copper events are men only and the last one is a Bronze event with 60,000$ prize pool for men and women each likely drawing top players. These events give a great chance for Pakistani players to climb up the rankings and get experience while playing at home. Talents like Hamza Khan cannot get thr required sponsorships to compete abroad.

The events will be in July, October and December respectively.

All of them will be played at the Pakistan Navy Fleet Club's Roshan Khan Squash Complex.

In 2027, we might also have the Karachi Open. Last year it was a gold level event but the organizers expressed their wish to make it platinum. That would be huge.

CAS Serena Squash Open is also usually around November which was a Copper event last year too. Nothing on that yet.

1. Joel Makin (WAL) beat Asim Khan (PAK) 3-0

2. Noor Zaman (PAK) beat Adam Hawal (EGY) 3-2

3. Ashab Irfan (PAK) beat Nicholas Mueller (SWI) 3-0

Things went how they were supposed to. Asim Khan, who qualified via the Asian qualifiers lost to world rank 5.

World No. 30 Noor Zaman beats an Egyptian at home soil (always hard)

The star of the day was Ashab Irfan, ranked 48th in the world, he beat World No. 28 3-0 with the last set being 11-0 in his favor. Looking in fine form. His side of the draw is favourable, with Nathan Lake beating World No. 9 Marwan Elshorbagy, He can definitely make it to round 3 where he might face World No. 2 Nick Coll. This is also his debut world champs.

Noor will have to face World No. 6 Muhammad Zakaria in Round 2, can be a cagey affair but Noor is the underdog.

Hi all,

We are two days away from the beginning of the 2025/2026 edition of the World Championships which returns to Giza for this year's event.

In total there is $1.4 million worth of prize money across the men and women's draw. Should be some interesting stories brewing at the most prestigious event in the professional game.

--------------

Thought I would start with the women's event, which in my opinion has been far more interesting than the men's. Here we have 3 favourites one potentially 2 dark horses.

• Hania El Hammamy the deserved world number 1 has taken full advantage of the gap left by Nouran Gohar. She has quickly won nearly every major title this year and looked close to unstoppable. In doing so, she has amassed an impressive winning streak against Nour El Sherbini. Most recently downing her in 5 games in the final at El Gouna. However, El Hammamy has yet to win her first world championship. With this being her best opportunity, it also comes with the most pressure and the biggest expectation that she emerges victorious.
• Nour El Sherbini is the #2 seed and is going for her 9th world title. You can never count her out at this tournament. She beat Hania El Hammamy in the final last year and has found a way to win against Nouran Gohar when form would indicate she is not the favourite. She is quite simply remarkable on the biggest stage.
• Amina Orfi the #3 in the world despite being only being 18. Certainly controversial, but you cannot deny her talent. She has had a great season, but has shown some tendency to wobble. Having lost to Subramaniam in Zurich last week.
• I'd peg the dark horses as the aforementioned Sivasangari Subramaniam who, with her win at the Grashopper Cup, climbed to a new high of #5 in the world. She has proven time and time again that she is good enough to hang with the best on her day. The other choice is the much improved Olivia Weaver, who has had some agonising losses this season. Losing in 5 to Hammamy at the Tournament of Champions and who last year was so close to reaching the final.

-----------------

I am sure the men's side will run with little controversy, such is the much praised temperament of the male contingent. I'd imagine they could ref themselves and any contact will be met with profuse apologies and in the good nature that is so prevalent in men's squash in 2026.

• Obvious place to start is world number 1, Mostafa Asal. His unbeaten streak rocked by Diego Elias in El Gouna, he has had a thunderous 2026 in which he has won the vast majority of the major titles at a canter. The big what if had always been how well he'd have done with Elias in the field, but he has found the rest of the tour easy picking. He is sure to have a huge amount of home support in most of his matches.
• Despite not being the #2 seed, I would next mention Diego Elias. Back from injury, he has looked good if not perfect since his return. Winning in El Gouna as his high point, he has also had some humbling losses, most notably to Victor Crouin in Zurich last week. The question is likely can he get to the seeded match up with Asal in the semis. A tantalising quarter final with Zakaria likely awaits.
• Paul Coll is our #2 seed and after a comprehensive win at Qatar it looked like he was back to his best, but he has struggled against Asal in all of the subsequent finals he has played in while managing to win titles in his home tournament in New Zealand and over the ocean in Australia. Seeded to face off against a Gawad who looks to be peaking, he would be expecting to make another final I think.
• Loads of fun stories in the weeds of the draw. Mohamed Zakaria has had some great results this year and is cleaning up his game. Joel Makin is on the same side of the draw has looked solid this year without taking the big scalps. Karim Abdel Gawad will surely be a fan favourite among Egyptians and non Egyptian fans alike. He looked amazing in the final at the Grasshopper, but this is a lot more squash. The mercurial Youssef Ibrahim looks set to face off against Coll in the quarters, he has every chance of being dangerous if he's hitting his targets (which are normally nicks).

-----------------------

So yeah, that's how I see it. Would be great to get as much of a discussion going as possible. Looking forward to some great squash.