The Wimbledon Club
The Wimbledon Club • Church Road, Wimbledon • SW19 5AG
Tel: 020 8971 8090
Dear [[firstname]],
The build of the glass court in the Sports Hall enters day two in preparation for next week’s start of The Optasia Championships which will again bring top-class squash to our courts from 25th 30th March.
This year’s event will see reigning World Champion and World number1 Nouran Gohar lead the women’s draw, World number two Mostafa Asal top the men’s draw and offer some local interest too when TWC 1st team player Sam Osborne-Wylde takes on Iker Pajares in his first round.
THE WOMEN’S DRAW – FEATURING WORLD NUMBER 1,2 & 3
Gohar currently sits at the top of the PSA World Rankings after enjoying a stellar 2024. She claimed her first World Championship title back in May and has gone on to claim four major event titles since then, including the prestigious British Open.
Gohar’s rivalry with ElSherbini reached its peak last year as the pair contested 10 finals against each other. This year's Optasia may offer TWC members the opportunity to potentially witness the latest chapter to their legendary rivalry.
ElSherbin is a seven-time World Champion and deservedly regarded as one of the greats of the game. She held the world number one spot for 16 months before recently losing it to Gohar in December 2024.
The second seed will be desperate to reclaim her spot at the top after losing out in the semi-finals of the recent J.P. Morgan Tournament of Champions in New York to Hania El Hammamy.
2024 was a tough year for World number 3 Hania El Hammamy. The Egyptian was trophy-less throughout the entirety of the year and looked to have fallen significantly behind Gohar and ElSherbini in both ranking and performance.
The 24-year-old has since bounced back in style beating both of her rivals to win the J.P. Morgan Tournament of Champions – her first win since 2023 and a potential springboard for her to return to challenging the leading pair.
El Hammamy is in the same side of the draw as Gohar and seeded to meet in the semi-finals.
The fourth seed is England’s number 1 and Bexley based Georgina Kennedy who sits in the same half as second seed ElSherbini. Kennedy will be looking to harness the full support of TWC’s crowd in her bid to claim a first win over one of the ‘Big Three’.
THE MEN’S DRAW – ASAL & COLL AT 1 & 2
World number 2 and World Championship finalist Mostafa Asal was beaten in the semi-finals last year but now returns as top seed and keen to make a charge towards the world number1 spot.
Asal isn’t far behind Optasia’s 2022 champion Ali Farag in the world rankings and knows that taking advantage of events that Ali Farag hasn’t entered is crucial.
Defending champion Paul Coll beat Asal in the semis last year before going on to win an epic final against Farag. He has since struggled to reach such heights and will be hoping that having coach Rob Owen in attendance will help him find his top form and claim back-to-back Optasia titles.
British number 1 Joel Makin has made himself incredibly hard to beat this season. The Welshman claimed his biggest career title in San Francisco, secured semi-final finishes at the Qatar Classic and Hong Kong Open where he lost to Asal on both occasions.
Joel loves to compete in front of a British crowd and sits in the same half as Asal.
TWC TEAM PLAYER IN 1st ROUND
TWC first team player Sam Osborne-Wylde has one of this year’s wildcards (along with Charlie Lee) and has drawn 2019’s finalist Iker Pajares from Spain in the first round. This is a great opportunity for Sam who will no doubt raise his game with the TWC and British crowd rooting for him on Tuesday at 2.45 on the glass court.
TICKETS – 1st ROUNDS ARE FREE
First rounds on Tuesday 25th March will be played on court four (as well as the glass court) and are free to watch. Matches will take place between 12 noon and 8pm.
Tickets are required to watch matches on the glass court and can be purchased here:
https://optasiasquash.com/2025-tickets-presale
If any of the rounds that you would like to see are showing as sold out please email: director@twcsquash.co.uk – the club has an exclusive allocation for members.
Kind regards,
Stacey Ross
Squash Director
21/03/2025
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