The resort town of El Gouna once again played host to one of the PSA Squash Tour’s Platinum events, and behind the drama of every diving retrieve and winning nick, a dedicated team of officials were making hundreds of decisions to ensure matches are played fairly and safely. Here, we take a closer look at what the numbers tell us about officiating at the El Gouna International Squash Open 2026.
A Tournament of Scale
Across 61 matches, referees issued a remarkable 998 decisions — an average of 16.4 per match. With 3,789 points contested, that means a decision was called on roughly 26% of all points played. In the heat of elite competition, where margins are razor-thin and momentum can shift in an instant, that volume of decision-making demands extraordinary concentration from every official. The 61 matches were shared amongst the appointed WSO Officials, with Egypt’s Ashraf Hussein and Professional Referee Jason Foster of England both overseeing 11 matches throughout the tournament, including the two Finals. Andrea Santamaria (England) and Ralf Harenberg (Germany) closely followed behind with 10 match appointments each. The remaining matches were overseen by the Egyptian contingent of Mayar El Serty (6 matches), Amira Yasser (4 matches), Mohamed El Naggar (3 matches), Samah Hanafy (3 matches) and Waleed Yaseen (3 matches). With Video Review in operation on the outdoor Glass Court, our referees were required to provide support to the Match Referee throughout their matches. Andrea Santamaria, Ashraf Hussein and Jason Foster each took this role 6 times, while Ralf Harenberg was appointed to the Video Referee position on 5 occasions. Egyptian duo Mayar El Serty and Waleed Yaseen held the responsibility for the remaining Video Referee positions, with 2 and 1 matches, respectively.
Let or Stroke? The Eternal Debate
Of those 998 decisions, there were 399 Strokes, 412 Yes Lets, with a further 187 No Lets.
Breaking that down: 41.3% of all decisions were Yes Lets, 40.0% were Stroke, and 18.7% were No Let. What this tells us is that officials at El Gouna were finding genuine interference in the vast majority of cases where a decision was requested — over four in five decisions resulted in either a Let or a Stroke. The 18.7% No Let rate reflects officials holding firm on the standard: interference not be manufactured, and the striker must have made every effort to play the ball.
The near-even split between Yes Let and Stroke is particularly telling. It speaks to the complexity of modern squash, where the line between “unavoidable interference” and “a player who has failed to make every effort to clear” is contested with increasing sophistication by players at the top of the game.
Video Review: A Safety Net Well Used
Of the 998 decisions, 17 were referred for video review by the Match Referee — just 1.7% of the total. That low figure is a mark of confidence: officials were decisive and confident in their decisions, with Video Referee Decisions saved for contentious and important points in the matches.
Players on the Glass Court are provided with 2 reviews per match, enabling them to challenge a decision that they disagree with. 65 decisions were reviewed by players across the tournament, and the numbers here are thought-provoking. Officials were upheld in 44 of those reviews — a 67.7% uphold rate — while 21 decisions, or 32.3%, were overruled, meaning around two thirds of the decisions reviewed were agreed with by the Video Referee. This is a fairly consistent number, with 67% of player reviews being upheld throughout the 2025/26 season.
A one-in-three overrule rate may prompt discussion, but context matters enormously. Reviews are not randomly distributed; they cluster around the most genuinely contentious moments of a match, the calls where even experienced officials face the hardest judgements. The fact that the Match Referee’s decision was upheld in more than two thirds of reviews, under the intense scrutiny of multiple camera angles and slow-motion replay, shows confidence in the Match Referee’s decisions.
The Finals
After several days of high-level competition, the sun set over El Gouna with our officials being tested on the Men’s and Women’s Finals. On court first, the Women’s Final between Hania El Hammamy and Nour El Sherbini, officiated by Ashraf Hussein and Ralf Harenberg, saw a total of 21 decisions, an average of 4.4 points per decision. In a fierce battle for World Number 1, we saw 10 Strokes (47.6%), 9 Yes Lets (42.9%) and 2 No Lets (9.5%) awarded by the Match Referee, evidence that even while making every effort to play, traffic issues can become prevalent, especially with a title on the line. Hania El Hammamy came out victorious in a 3-2 win over the World Number 2.
Following on, the Men’s Final took to court, with Diego Elias looking to win his first El Gouna International against Mohamed Zakaria. Officiated by Jason Foster and Andrea Santamaria, Diego Elias won comfortably, 3-0 in 38 minutes. While the scoreline reflected a commanding win, the referees were still required to be alert, with a total of 15 decisions made in the match, an average of 2.8 points per decision. The match saw a total of 4 Strokes (26.7%), 8 Yes Lets (53.3%) and 3 No Lets (20%).
The Human Element
Statistics can only tell part of the story. Behind every number is an official managing the emotional intensity of world-class athletes competing for ranking points, prize money, and prestige in one of squash’s iconic venues. El Gouna’s outdoor glass court, with its unique lighting and atmosphere, adds an additional layer of difficulty — and yet the officiating team continued to perform under pressure.
As the game continues to evolve and video review becomes ever more sophisticated, the data from tournaments like El Gouna will play an increasingly important role in supporting referee development, identifying trends, and ensuring the Rules of Squash are applied with fairness and precision.