15-year-old Egyptian sensation Amina Orfi made the final of a Bronze event this weekend, beating two top 20 players to get there.
Here are five things you need to know about the Cairo-born player.
Amina Orfi is the 14th best player in the world
Despite her world ranking of 84, Orfi is the 14th best player on current form.
At least that’s according to the PSA Power Ratings, which are designed to provide a more accurate gauge of current playing levels than the formal ranking.
The PSA Power Ratings are based on data from ranking system SquashLevels. Orfi currently has a SquashLevels score of 11,480, putting her ahead of top senior players including Salma Hany and Sarah-Jane Perry.
Orfi’s amazing run at Squash on Fire
The 15-year-old continued to overachieve in the Bronze-level Squash on Fire tournament, which concluded today.
Having bested world number 31 Sivasangari Subramaniam in round 2, she knocked out 19th-ranked Nada Abbas and 16th-ranked Sabrina Sobhy in the quarter- and semi-finals of the Washington DC event. The latter was a five-game marathon.
She was finally downed by Belgium’s world number 13 Tinne Gillis in the final.
Prior to her defeat today, Orfi had racked up 16 consecutive wins on the PSA tour.
Amina Orfi is reigning World Junior Champion
Orfi won the World Junior Squash Championship last August, beating players that were up to three years her senior.
She saw off 18-year old Salma El Tayeb 3-2 in the final, coming from two games behind. This made her the youngest champion since a 13-year-old Nour El Sherbini in 2009.
Amina Orfi is dreaming big
Joining a list of World Junior champions that includes the likes of Nicole David, Raneem El Welily, Hani El Hammamy, Nouran Gohar and Nour El Sherbini has given Orfi confidence that she too has the potential to reach the top of the game.
“It feels great because I know usually whoever wins this tournament has the potential of being at the top,” she said in an interview with the PSA last month (see above).
“I didn’t try to pressure myself with this when I was in the tournament, but after it was over I [realised] I have a chance to be world number one, which is a huge motivation for me.”
Comparisons with Nour El Sherbini already being made
The last player to light up the tour at such a young age was six-times World Champion Nour El Sherbini (pictured below).
Comparisons with ‘The Warrior Princess’ – who broke into the world’s top 50 aged 14 years and made the final of the British Open at 16 – are therefore inevitable.
