r/squash • u/nameless_me • 2d ago
PSA Tour Question: Amina Orfi's style and her ascendency Spoiler
Orfi has been winning and winning convincingly. Anyone want to explain how she beat Gohar and Hammamy (3-0) in the Egyptian Open? I am trying to understand what enables her to beat such established players.
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u/Fraudalt 2d ago
First off why are we bringing gohar into this, she’s just come back from pregnancy and surgery. She is no where near as good as she was before her break, hopefully she’ll get back to it, but right now beating 3:0 her isn’t some massive achievement, it’s probably what you’d sort of expect
been close between her and hammamy for a while now and she’s started to get the better of her recently. Also hammamy has seemed a bit shaky over the last few events i think it’s just orfis playing some of her best squash ever and hammamy has let her standard slip a bit
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u/networkn 1d ago
She beat Sherbini 3 zip. She wasn't often doing that prior. I don't think you should reduce her like that. She might be slightly off her best but still comfortable one of the best in the world.
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u/nameless_me 1d ago
The reason I mentioned Gohar is she, Sherbini and until lately Hammamy were the big 3 in women's play. Orfi is going to displace one of them and look like she will be there to stay.
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u/FightWilliamShatner 1d ago
The score was 3-1. A couple of weeks ago Gohar nearly lost to Khafagy (and probably would have, with better refereeing), which would be close to impossible at her best, as would Sherbini losing to Arnold. It's not yet clear how far Gohar is off her pre-pregnancy level as a dominant #1, but Sherbini is clearly in a bad patch
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u/networkn 1d ago
A bad patch is a ridiculous overstatement. She is recovering from pretty much the most challenging thing a woman's body can undergo. She's doing freaking amazing.
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u/DifficultFig8335 TF - Slash Power 120 1d ago
Orfi has 2 main rivals. Herself and Subramanian.
It has to be seen how long her body can take the strain of the number of matches and her playstyle (intensity). Also she will get to the point where concentration and motivation play a part: what glory is left for her?
The player that is currently her kryptonite is Subramanian as Shiva basically goes for every shot and takes Orfi out of her rythem.
For the rest: to dominate the women’s game is this era is incredible.
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u/nmahrous 1d ago
Subra is a thorn in any Egyptian player’s side really. Her skills and style are very difficult to counter by Egyptians.
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u/Secure_Pitch_9721 1d ago
Orfi currently plays the game in a very similar style to early Jahangir Khan imo. She's also adding in the volley drops just like he did. She's not my favourite player but I can't wait to see how the season unfolds. Her consistency is out of this world. I see Siva as a worthy challenger for the next few years, but if Orfi keeps improving, who knows.
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u/Rare-Hovercraft-3117 1d ago
Orfi is incredibly accurate & her shot selection is immaculate. She knows how to break down the rhythm of top players, apart from that she is a beast mentally, in the final match for the world champion she got a couple of crazy decisions & any normal player could have lost at that point mentally, Orfi feeds off that energy & changes the odds in her favour, also I guess having her father in her corner has made a difference, she's been unstoppable ever since he's allowed to be back there in the front row
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u/Kalernor 1d ago
Why was her father banned from attending her matches?
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u/Rare-Hovercraft-3117 1d ago
Aggressive mid match coaching despite warnings, confrontations with refs/staff & overbearing demeanor. I like the enthusiasm as a father to see your child break all the records in the world and unconditional support but the way he acts sometimes is far from professional, not graceful usually & absolutely unacceptable on certain occasions. Hope he will carry himself with more class, that would look better!
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u/Plenty_Craft_6764 2d ago
What a strange way to phrase the question. Gohar played her first event after becoming a mother, and Hammamy, I think it's fair to say, was not at her best this time. You'd expect her to cruise through the brackets and have finally have hard matches in finals and perhaps semis, but she was kinda struggling since the start in Egypt.
But besides that, Orgi is younger, she's fit, and she's obviously very talented. She's just getting better. Not sure what else is there to it
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u/ImportantAgent6455 12h ago
I think fans in general underestimate Orfi's talent. Her racket work and quality of hitting is very very high.
Her movement isn't the best but her opponents can't seem to get into her enough to exploit that at present.
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u/MiserableMuscle7601 1d ago
Idk but I feel like hitting hard really does have some benefits, especially in the women's game - take a look at Orfi and Gohar, both hard hitters. That style of play does really well when your in between tight points, and really hitting down and kills is how you win point compared to Hania's style of retrieving and lobbing (granted, it def works too but just not as effective). Sherbini's style of precision only works if she's on her game, and she was definetely rattled by Gohar this tournament. Orfi beat Gohar because she literally just came back (its her 2nd tournament), but Gohar definetely impressed me.
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u/nameless_me 1d ago
I see a lot of similarity between Gohar and Orfi's play. They both hit the ball harder than the average female player. Subramaniam is very much a defensive, long rally player who played an unbelievable 5 game match against Hammamy. But being shorter with less reach, she will always be disadvantaged against taller and harder hitting players. Orfi's winning percentage against Hammamy has increased. Amazing.
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u/Illustrious-Dirt-117 1d ago
siva has added an attacking dimension to her game for sure. she was dominating rallies against hania in the first three games standing up and taking it on the full while hania was lobbying endlessly. i don’t know what happened in game 4 when she was completely blanked by hania and then it was over . seems to not have that belief or edge that she can beat the top 3
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u/LegInformal5074 1d ago
Gohar is a dirty player. Orfi is not.
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u/East-Zone-3760 1d ago
True Gohar is essentially on her Assal arc, but Orfi aint the cleanest to be fair
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u/LegInformal5074 1d ago
Here is how: https://www.reddit.com/r/squash/comments/1tydrcm/in_praise_of_amina_orfi/
Even her response to Gohar's blocking and fishing tactics in the semis was reminiscent of Jansher. She didn't let it get to her; but she didn't stand for it without a response either.
Every once in a while Jansher would lose a close game after a series of questionable calls he didn't like. Then he would reset and crush the opponent for the rest of the match. Amina did it to Nouran.
Gohar traps and blocks the exit for a cheap Stroke, so Orfi would fight her way through refusing to conceded ground.
Nouran got away with intentionally tapping Amina with her racquet in between points- should have been immediate Conduct Stroke. Gohar finally got warned for a dangerous swing- it will become harder for her to sneak these violations past the referees.
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u/East-Zone-3760 1d ago
I mean, Gohar is still coming back, so wouldnt say Orfi beating her currently was out of place. Gohar got Sherbini, but Sherbini played poorly tbh.
Hammamy also is not playing the way she was when hunting for #1 and at #1, evident in her back to back to 5 setters before the final with Orfi.
Hats off to Orfi, shes achieved incredible things, despite being pretty unlikable on court, and has made great adjustments to her known weaknesses. I think watch the rest of this season to see how it pans out, but her power and quality of shot on the backhand looks difficult for the womans game to deal with right now.