Diego
Elias
Peru
·
Squash
Date of birth | 19 November 1996 |
|---|---|
Place of birth | Lima, Peru |
Age | 29 |
Nationality | Peru |
Career start | 2015 |
Disciplines | Squash |
Diego Elías was born playing squash, or at least it seems so. As the son of the Peruvian national champion who won 20 successive titles, Elías picking up a racket at an early age was pretty much a given. Now, there's not a day that passes where he doesn't play squash.
Elías lives for the sport, driving the young teenager to leave his home, friends and school to study remotely and travel the world competing. Now playing in the Professional Squash Association World Championship, little has changed from his earliest days: Diego and his father, Jose Manuel, travel together as player and coach.
From the beginning of his career, the player known to his friends as 'Eich' was destined to become a major force in world squash. He quickly became invincible in the various Latin American championships, and then, armed with his long legs and incredible speed, he hit the world stage running.
In 2014 and 2015 he won back-to-back Junior World Championship titles, and supplemented them with two more medals at the Pan American Games. By the age of 17, he'd already graduated to playing in Pro Circuit tournaments.
Throughout 2017 and 2018, Elías regularly made it to the latter stages of tournaments before making a big statement in 2019 as he won both the Canada Cup and the Macau Open.
2020 began with another victory, this time at the Motor City Open, while the following season saw the Peruvian Puma win the Manchester Open. He then became the first man from his country to win a major title, triumphing at the Qatar Classic.
Elías then enjoyed his best year to date, starting 2022 by winning the Sturbridge Capital Motor City Open before adding the Necker Mauritius Open title. He then won his second major as he won the U.S. Open in Philadelphia and reached a career-high ranking of number three.
Dreaming big, Elías has set his sights on becoming the first Latin American to win the World Championship title and he's definitely on the right path to achieve that.