Canadian Men's Open 2024

Canadian Men's Open 2024 : FINAL

[1] Diego Elias (Per) 3-1 [2] Mazen Hesham (Egy) 11-2, 11-2, 9-11, 11-8 (68m)

Final : Elias holds off Hesham fightback to claim the title

Diego Elias is the Canadian Men’s Open champion after beating Mazen Hesham in a gripping encounter at Calgary’s Bow Valley Athletic Club. The Peruvian top seed, who is targeting a return to World #1, survived a terrific fightback from Hesham to win his second PSA World Tour title of the season.

Going into the match the Peruvian enjoyed a 13-4 record against Hesham, winning the most recent meeting at this year’s Tournament of Champions in straight games. Hesham, though, has been playing some of his best squash this season, epitomised by a 77-minute 3-2 win over Elias in the semi-final of the Florida Open in January.

Today’s match was another lengthy battle between the two, with momentum swinging dramatically back and forth. Elias took the first two games 11-2, 11-2 and then opened up an 8-3 lead in the third. Hesham dug in, desperately chasing every ball in long, punishing rallies to take eight of the next nine points and pull a game back.

The pair traded points in the fourth but eventually Elias was able to wrestle back the momentum, forcing errors from Hesham to clinch the match with an 11-8 victory.

Afterwards, Elias said: “I feel super happy, really happy with the matches I played all week. I was really good and solid. I’m very proud of myself. I was up in the third and Mazen just kept pushing and playing so hard, it was so good from him. I got a bit tired but am just happy I could reset and push on in the fourth.

“The crowd has been amazing. Here in Canada, they love the sport and they support us every day. Every day it’s been full and thank you everyone for coming all week.”

Hesham added: “I want to thank everybody here for coming out today and for supporting us.

“I love everyone here and I love being here in Canada. The court is so hard for me, it goes against my game. I tried to do whatever I could. I fought really hard and am proud of myself for how I changed my game and fought back.”

Semis : Elias and Mazen cruise into final

Diego Elias and Mazen Hesham will renew their rivalry in the final of the Canadian Men’s Open after convincing wins over Balasz Farkas and Youssef Soliman.

Second seed Hesham delivered a much improved performance compared to his quarter-final to take down third seeded Soliman 11-6, 11-5, 11-4 in 46 minutes.

“We’ve been playing each other for about 10 years. We’re friends today and we’ll be friends tomorrow. But for that half-hour to an hour on court, we’re just trying to beat each other,” Hesham said afterwards.

Top seed Elias was even more dominant in his semi-final against tournament surprise package Farkas. The unseeded Hungarian had caused shockwaves earlier in the tournament with two upset wins but today had no answer to the former World #1, who romped to a 27-minute 11-2, 11-3, 11-3 win.

Afterwards Elias said: “I’m playing great squash; all the players I’ve played are very good and a few have been playing their best squash this week. I just wanted to show them that there are a few more levels.”

Quarters : Balasz run continues into the semis

Hungary’s Balasz Farkas continued his spectacular run at the Canadian Men’s Open Presented by AirSprint Private Aviation as he took down Swiss seventh seed Dimitri Steinmann to reach a first ever PSA World Tour semi-final.

The 9/16 seeded World #53, who yesterday shocked fourth seed Abdulla Al-Tamimi, thrilled the crowd at Calgary’s Bow Valley Club with an impressive 11-6, 11-7, 11-9 win in 52 minutes.

“It’s a really good feeling and I’m really happy I’ve been through this big battle,” he said afterwards.

Farkas will face top seed and Diego Elias in the semi-finals after the Peruvian took down Canadian home favourite and eighth seed David Baillargeon in brutal fashion, recording an 11-0, 11-6, 11-2 win in just 27 minutes.

In the other half of the draw second seed Mazen Hesham will face Egyptian compatriot and third seed Youssef Soliman after the pair recorded wins over Swiss duo Yannick Wilhelmi and Nicolas Mueller.

Round Two : Farkas and Wilhelmi reach quarters with upset wins

There were two upsets in round two of the Canadian Men’s Open as 9/16 seeds Balasz Farkas Balazs and Yannick Wilhelmi beat fourth and sixth seeds Abdulla Al-Tamimi and Auguste Dussourd to join the remaining seeds in the last eight.

Farkas will face Switzerland’s Dimitri Steinmann in the quarter-finals while Wilhemli meets second seed Mazen Hesham.

Elsewhere, last home hope standing David Baillargeon will face top seed Diego Elias in the next round after the eights seeded Canadian fought back from a game down to beat Japan’s Ryunosuke Tsukue while Elias beat USA’s Todd Harrity in straight games.

Round One : Walsh and Poleshchuk reach Round Two

England’s Tom Walsh and Israel’s Daniel Poleshchuk reached the second round of a Silver-level PSA World Tour event for the first time in their careers after wins on day one of the Canadian Men’s Open 2024, with all eight 9/16 seeds advancing to face the top eight seeds in Round Two.

World #67 Walsh recovered from an edgy start at Calgary’s Bow Valley Athletic Club to dispatch Colombian Edgar Ramirez 11-8, 11-9, 11-8 and set up a second round clash with Egyptian second seed and Mazen Hesham.

“I guess I’m considered a ‘good draw’ in these kind of events at the moment, which is a bit tough mentally, so I knew I had an opportunity to get the win,” Walsh said afterwards.

World #69 Poleshchuk meanwhile cruised past Tayyab Aslam with the Pakistani – who was playing just his second PSA World Tour match since 2022 after a lengthy spell out injured – unable to deal with the pace of the Israeli, Poleshchuk claiming an 11-7, 11-3, 11-5 win in just 24 minutes.