Remember 2023
Just over a month away from the 2024 event, we thought it was the opportunity to look back on the Paris Squash 2023 which was a great success. It was definitely a team effort, from the players, the organizers and the crowd. Remember.
A MAN AND A WOMAN
In a sporting event, the heroes are inevitably the winners, and Nour El Sherbini’s and Ali Farag’s names will remain on top of the Paris Squash records forever. Despite becoming world champion for the seventh time, the Warrior Princess said she was disappointed to end 2022-23 at world #2, and she regained the top spot after the tournament, thanks to her win in the final in 4 hard-fought games against big rival Nouran Gohar. As far as the men go, Farag carried the momentum from the previous season, but he had to work hard. After an epic semi-final against Paul Coll (see below), the Harvard graduate overcame a very complicated start to the final, getting the better of Diego Elias to keep the world #1 spot.
Ali Farag and Nour El Sherbini put their names first on the Paris Squash winners list (Photo credit: Paris Squash Project)
A PRESTIGIOUS GUEST
Never before had Paris, nor France, hosted a tournament of this magnitude in squash history. For this premiere, the organizers did want the Eiffel Tower, perhaps the most iconic site in France, to play a part. The glass court was not set up at the Trocadéro but rather next to the magnificent Palais de Tokyo, nevertheless the Iron Lady was clearly visible in the background.
Besides the players, the Eiffel Tower was one the stars of the show at the Paris Squash 2023 (Photo credit: Paris Squash Project)
A GREAT SUCCESS
For their first edition, the Paris Squash 2023 organizers ticked a few boxes. First of all, making their event a success attendance wise, as the stands were reasonably filled throughout the week and completely packed for the semis and finals. Then, gathering the French squash community, and paying tribute to a few figures of its history – such as Grégory Gaultier and Thierry Lincou, who featured in the exhibition matches during opening night. Finally, the event benefited from an outstanding media coverage, with matches being broadcasted on the Sport en France and l'Équipe channels, as well as numerous TV, radio and press reports (Tout le Sport, BFM TV, RTL, le Figaro, L’Equipe Mag…). The challenge for Éric Nizard and his crew is to do even better in 2024…
The Paris Squash 2023 was a success across the board, notably attendance wise (Photo credit: Paris Squash Project)
ONE MATCH
For several years – their first clash was in 2017 – the matches between Ali Farag and Paul Coll have become classics of contemporary squash, and the semi-final of the Internationaux de France was the 25th episode of the series. For more than an hour and a half, the two players treated the crowd with a fantastic show at the Palais de Tokyo, and it was ultimately the Egyptian who converted his second match ball and closed it 12-10 in the 5th game. As talented with a microphone as he is on court, the 4-time world champion said it all after the match: “These are the kind of matches you play for – you wait all day and once you’re in there and you see the excitement of the crowd – it reminds me why I play this sport.”
Paul Coll and Ali Farag played an epic match in the semi-final a year ago (Photo credit: PSA World Tour)
MAJOR UPSET
Since she set herself up into the world top 3, Hania El Hammamy almost never or at least very rarely loses to players other than her rivals Nour El Sherbini and Nouran Gohar. With one exception: after having already beaten her at the US Open a little less than a year earlier, Sabrina Sobhy had caused the biggest upset of the Paris Squash 2023, ousting “The Leopard” in the round of 16, in straight games as well! The American had made the quarters in a Platinum event for the second time, and she upped her tally a few months later at the Windy City Open in Chicago.
USA Sabrina Sobhy had caused the biggest upset of the inaugural (Photo credit: PSA World Tour)
TEAM EFFORT
Organizing a tournament of the magnitude of the Paris Squash 2023 requires an enormous amount of effort, whether we see it or not. For several months, Éric Nizard and the members of the Paris Squash Project association worked tirelessly, and during the event dozens of volunteers and subcontractors from all over the country contributed so that the inaugural edition a great success.
The success of the Paris Squash 2023 relied on a team effort (Photo credit: Paris Squash Project)
FRENCH TOUCH
A few days ago, the opening ceremony of the 2024 Paris Olympic Games generated much praise - as well as some criticism – related to its creativity. While keeping things in proportion, the Paris Squash 2023 prize ceremony always stood out for its uniqueness, the winner and runner-up trophies being presented by the Mystères du Vieux Paris company and its historical characters. “I didn’t really know what to expect, at one point I thought the knight was going to beat me up!” said the men’s draw winner Ali Farag with a big smile on his face.
Throughout the event, the Mystères du Vieux Paris company had brought an historical touch to the Paris Squash 2023 (Photo credit: Paris Squash Project)
MONTMARTRE ON A HIGH
An iconic club of the French capital, the Squash Montmartre was created in 1981 but perhaps it had never been as full as on Monday August 28, 2023, and we could barely move around the club located on the rue Achille Martinet. After a great match between Nele Gilis and Amina Orfi for starters, we were treated to a showdown between two former world number 1s, Paul Coll and Karim Abdel Gawad, kind of an abnormality for a round of 16 match. After 4 hard-fought games and 82 minutes of play, the Kiwi came on top.
The club of Montmartre had hosted the best players in the world in 2023, such as Egypt's Karim Abdel Gawad (on the left) (Photo credit: Paris Squash Project)
CLASS ACT
It's the kind of scene you don't see on TV, but which says a lot about an athlete's character: after the final, and a prize ceremony that went on for almost half an hour, Ali Farag then spent more than an hour inside the glass court, signing autographs and chatting with some squash fans. It’s true that the world number 1 feels like at home in France, a country which he has never lost a match in!
Ali Farag is unanimously appreciated, on and off the court (Photo credit: Paris Squash Project)
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