Hania El Hammamy

Hania El Hammamy - Bio

Hania El Hammamy has already made her name known around the squash world, after winning the 2020 CIB Black Ball Women’s Squash Open at the tender age of just 19, and she has already gone on to amass a number of major titles and reach the world’s top three.

After starring at a number of junior events such as the British Junior Open, El Hammamy became the first person born this century to win a PSA World Tour title, which came at the 42nd Geneva Open in March 2015 with a shock win over Fiona Moverley in the final. At just 14-years-old, El Hammamy became the second youngest PSA World Tour title winner after compatriot Habiba Mohamed.

Cairo-born El Hammamy also competed at the 2015 World Junior Championship, making it to the quarter-final before losing out to Mohamed. The young Egyptian then went on to feature in the final of the Jersey Squash Classic in 2016, where she suffered defeat in straight games against England’s Millie Tomlinson.

El Hammamy then broke into the world’s top 40 for the first time in the September 2016 World Rankings. She then tasted glory at the Slaight Music Granite Open in 2017, getting the better of compatriot Yathreb Adel in the final. The Egyptian finished runner-up at the World Junior Championship in the summer of 2018, losing out to Rowan Elaraby in the final. She then also reached the Hong Kong International final, where home favourite Annie Au got the better of her.

Still just 18 at the start of 2019, El Hammamy took victory at the British Junior Open, beating Jana Shiha in the final, before reaching the second round of the Tournament of Champions. The Egyptian then won her next two events, with the second being the biggest title of her career to date. She lifted the Edinburgh Sports Club Open trophy, before then winning the Bahl and Gaynor Cincinnati Cup. El Hammamy also made the last eight of the Black Ball Open, as well as breaking into the top 16 of the World Rankings for the first time.

She started the 2019-2020 season with a semi-final appearance at the Open de France - Nantes presented by Tailor Capital. She lost out to Camille Serme, the first of four tightly-contested battles with the Frenchwoman over the course of the campaign. She got the better of the World No.3 at the Women’s World Championship en route to a first semi-final appearance at a major tournament just six weeks later.

In the final event before the suspension of the PSA World Tour due to the COVID-19 pandemic in early 2020, El Hammamy wrote her name into the history books of the sport, becoming a major winner for the first time at the age of just 19-years-old. She downed Serme once again, before overcoming tough challenges from Amanda Sobhy, Sarah-Jane Perry and Nour El Sherbini to win the Black Ball Open.

The young starlet of Egyptian squash reached the semi-finals in Manchester, losing out in another five-game battle with Camille Serme. She made up for that loss in Cairo a week later, downing the Frenchwoman in the group stages en route to winning the CIB PSA World Tour Finals, her second major title of the year.

‘The Gazelle’ continued her good form by reaching the last four of the first Platinum event of the new campaign, losing out to Nouran Gohar in the semis of the CIB Egyptian Open. The youngster then reached the final of the CIB Black Ball Squash Open, but was unable to defend the crown she had won nine months earlier, as she lost out to Sarah-Jane Perry in the last women’s match of 2020.

2021 was a year of consistency for El Hammamy, as she reached the quarter finals or better of every single event she featured in, including making it to four finals in that period.

Her year started with a quarter final appearance at the CIB PSA Squash Open Black Ball, before she then made the semis of the El Gouna International. El Hammamy then reached the final of the CIB PSA World Tour Finals, before winning the Silver level Manchester Open, beating Sarah-Jane Perry in straight games in the final.

The Egyptian made the last four the Allam British Open later that month, before then making it to the final of both the U.S. Open presented by Truist and the CIB Squash Open Black Ball to end her year. Those results saw her climb into the top three in the World Rankings for the start of 2022, reaching that mark for the first time in her career.

She also made the final of the Windy City Open Presented by the Walter Family in her first appearance on Tour in 2022, before then winning the Allam British Open, beating World No.1 Nouran Gohar in the final. El Hammamy also defeated the world’s best player in the final of the El Gouna International, coming back from two games down to win after an incredible 90-minute battle.

That incredible form carried on into the 2022-2023 season, as she won the CIB Egyptian Open for the first time, before then adding the Everbright Securities International Hong Kong Squash Open title as well, to make it an incredible four Platinum titles over the course of 2022.

She also made the final of the Grasshopper Cup, and finished the year by being a part of the Egyptian quartet who lifted the WSF Women’s World Team Championship, alongside Nouran Gohar, Nour El Sherbini and Nour El Tayeb.

El Hammamy’s start to 2023 did not see any victories, but she consistently featured in the latter stages of the majors. She reached the final of the Black Ball Squash Open, along with featuring in the last four of the J.P. Morgan Tournament of Champions, PSA World Championships and El Gouna International.