Egypt has continued its strong control of world squash after Amina Orfi reached the top of the women’s world rankings for the first time in her career, adding another historic achievement to Egyptian sport.

At just 19 years old, Orfi has become the youngest player in squash history to reach World No. 1, breaking a record that had stood for decades and joining a special list of players who have led the women’s game.

Her rise to the top followed an impressive run of results and titles that established her as one of the biggest names in world squash.

Historic Achievement

Orfi has enjoyed an outstanding period in recent months. She won the World Championship in May, followed it with the British Open title, and then started the new season by winning both the London Classic and Qatar Classic.

Her victory in Qatar played a major role in taking her to the top of the rankings. Orfi defeated fellow Egyptian Hania El Hammamy 3-2 in a dramatic final, winning the deciding game 12-10.

Those results moved Orfi to World No. 1 in the weekly rankings, while El Hammamy dropped to second place. Nour El Sherbini remained third, with Fayrouz Aboelkheir staying fourth.

Orfi also became the fifth Egyptian woman to reach World No. 1 after Raneem El Welily, Nour El Sherbini, Nouran Gohar and Hania El Hammamy.

El Welily was the first Egyptian woman to lead the world rankings in September 2015, and Egyptian players have remained a major force in the sport ever since.

Orfi is also the 18th woman in squash history to become World No. 1, joining some of the most famous names the game has produced.

More importantly, she reached the top at the age of 19 years and two months, becoming the youngest player ever to achieve the milestone and breaking the previous record set by New Zealand’s Susan Devoy in 1984.

Orfi expressed her excitement at reaching the top, saying the achievement fulfilled a dream she had carried since childhood and that she was still finding it difficult to believe she had become the world’s top-ranked player.

She also revealed that Nour El Sherbini congratulated her after she reached No. 1 and encouraged her to enjoy the special moment.

Orfi spoke about facing El Sherbini in the World Championship final in Egypt last May. She explained that she tried not to focus on her opponent’s record or the number of titles she had won, choosing instead to concentrate only on her own game plan.

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She also highlighted the influence of coach Omneya Abdel Kawy, who worked with her during her time with Egypt’s junior national team and later at Gezira Club. Orfi said she benefited from her coach’s experience and knowledge of many of the players she now faces on the world tour.

From No. 1 to the Olympics

Reaching World No. 1 is not the end of Orfi’s ambitions, with the Egyptian star already looking ahead to the Olympic Games following squash’s inclusion in the Olympic programme.

Orfi said she has already started preparing for the African qualifiers, which are scheduled for next August, stressing that early preparation is important even though there is still time before the event.

She believes qualifying will be especially difficult because of the strength of Egyptian squash and the limited number of places available, with only two Egyptian players expected to qualify.

However, Orfi hopes to earn one of those places and then compete for an Olympic medal.

Away from the court, Orfi also discussed the challenge of balancing professional sport with her university studies.

She explained that during tournaments her full attention is on her matches, while in the periods between events she works with her university to catch up on the material she has missed.

The World No. 1 also addressed her previous disagreement with Hania El Hammamy. She said the attention the incident received on social media frustrated her at the time, but she decided to use the situation as extra motivation and respond through her performances on court.

Orfi added that there has been no contact between the two players away from competition since that incident, although they continue to face each other professionally when they meet on court.

Orfi’s rise to the top marks another chapter in Egypt’s dominance of women’s squash, with four Egyptian players occupying the leading positions in the world rankings.

After reaching a historic milestone at such a young age, Orfi is now entering a new stage of her career. Once regarded as one of Egypt’s brightest young talents, she is now officially the best-ranked female squash player in the world, with an Olympic dream becoming her next major target.

Egypt’s leading squash stars will return to action in the coming weeks, with the Egypt Open scheduled to take place from October 6 to 16, as attention turns to whether Orfi can continue her outstanding form after reaching the top of the world rankings.