Canadian Men’s Open 2026 : It’s Victor !!

Final : Crouin ends Elnawasany run to claim the title

Victor Crouin claimed his 23rd PSA title with victory at the AirSprint Private Aviation Canadian Men’s Open 2026, beating Yahya Elnawasany in straight games in Calgary.

The World #5 came into the tournament after claiming the biggest title of his career at the Texas Open, as he continued his search for the Canadian Men’s Open title as the second seed. A 2023 finalist and a 2025 semi-finalist, Crouin had only dropped one game en route to this years final, looking determined to lift the trophy that had eluded him on two separate occasions.

Standing in his way on finals day was seventh seed Yayha Elnawasany, who had been a giant killer throughout the tournament after eliminating both the top seed Marwan ElShorbagy, as well as the third seed Leonel Cardenas.

However, the Frenchman wasn’t looking to be another victim of the World #25’s giant-killings this week, as he reeled off victory in straight games.

“I’m feeling great,” Crouin said. “I’m very happy to have won another title in the space of just two to three weeks. It’s been a great few weeks in North America, and it’s good to finish on a win.”

“And that’s why I came back to this tournament, I wanted to get that win, get the points and keep going up in the ranking.”

Quarters : Elnawasany comeback stuns top seed ElShorbagy

Yahya Elnawasany staged a tremendous comeback to eliminate the top seed Marwan ElShorbagy in the quarter finals in Calgary.

In the opening match of the day the seventh seeded Egyptian booked his place in the semi-finals, beating his first top 10-ranked player 6-11, 7-11, 11-7, 11-7, 11-5.

With a 2-0 lead it looked as if the semi-final spot was secured for World #8 ElShorbagy, but his 24-year-old opponent had other ideas, as he began a comeback that would ultimately provide a massive upset.

“I can’t process it just yet, I am feeling over the moon. I can’t put it into words, it was my first-ever win against a Top 10 player, and even a Top 8 player. I am happy with how I am progressing, and I am happy with how I am improving every day and improving over every tournament.

“I had to change some technical things as well as tactical things, and then it just clicked, he was leading in the third, and then it clicked, and I was able to hold on to it,” he continued: “It is really, really special.”

Elnawasany will face Leonel Cardenas in the semi, the third seed advancing to the last four after beating Adrian Waller in straight games.

Second seed Victor Crouin advanced to the semi-finals following an entertaining 3-0 win against Miguel Rodriguez, and in the semi-final he’ll play another Colombian in sixth seed Juan Vargas who overcame fourth seed Greg Lobban in straight games.

Semis: Elnawasany battles past Cardenas to reach final

World #25 Yahya Elnawasany has reached the final of the after an impressive 3-1 victory over Leonel Cardenas, as he continues to have an unbelievable tournament.

Elnawasany, who approached the tie without a win against the World #14 having lost all five of their previous meetings, was looking to upset yet another top-four seeded player after yesterday’s five-game comeback against Marwan ElShorbagy.

In the opening game Cardenas started the quicker of the pair, growing a 4-1 lead and took it 11-8 after 25 minutes.

The seventh seed’s patience in the long rallies and sharp attacking play caused Cardenas issues, as Elnawasany went on to win seven consecutive points, claiming the second 11-6. Nearing the hour mark as the match moved into the third, two-minute rallies became a regular occurrence, with both players being pushed to the limit.

In the third it was Elnawasany who raced away, winning six of seven points, to claim the third 11-6. Moving into the fourth, the Egyptian would take full control of the contest and proved to be too much for his opponent as he won 11-4.

“I am feeling really good. Before I came to Canada, I never imagined that I would reach two finals in a row, let alone win a title, and play back-to-back here.

“I was suffering from the inconsistency in the previous years, so I am really happy that I could push and be consistent in a number of matches.”

He continued: “It was tough in the first game, and it went his way. The second game was really close. I knew I was putting the work in to his legs, and today I knew it was a close first game and I knew it could swing my way, so I was ready to take the opportunity, and I was happy to do that.”

Elnawasany will face second seed Victor Crouin in the final. Crouin, who arrived at this tournament after winning the Texas Open, secured his place in the final after a dominant straight-game victory over Juan Vargas.

A former finalist at the event in 2023, Crouin put in a dominant performance. Despite going 2-0 down in the opening two games, the Frenchman was able to comfortably re-establish control in the contest to overcome the sixth seed, winning 11-6, 11-7.

And with momentum in favour of the World #5, he was able to seal his place in the final two with a dominant third game performance, converting a 9-0 opening to an 11-3 victory.

Round Two: Elnawasany holds off Perez in 90-minute battle

World #25 Yahya Elnawasany secured a place in the last eight after a hard-fought battle, beating Spain’s Ivan Perez 3-1 in a 90-minute match. Despite the margin in the scoreline, there was very little to separate the two on the glass court in Calgary.

Elnawasany edged the opening two games before  Perez reduced the deficit, but the Spaniard’s  efforts would come to nothing with the Egyptian re-establishing control of the contest in the fourth, winning 11-5.

Coming off the back of his victory at the McMillan Goodfellow Classic copper event last week, Elnawasany has been showing strong form and will be looking to capitalise on it as he moves one step closer to potentially lifting another title.

After the match, the seventh seed said: “I am feeling really happy, it was a tricky match. I knew this was going to be a tough match because it was also my first time on this court, and I had never played in this altitude before, but I am happy to have come away with the win.

“I was leading 9-7 in the third, and he hit a silly mistake at 8-7 and I thought ‘Okay, I am starting to get into his head and he’s starting to give up’ but suddenly he came back, and I made a couple of mistakes and lost focus, and then the game was over.

“So, I am happy that I was able to back myself up and not crack, but it was tough, as the games are long and it’s hard physically, so to play one more game, it was tough on the mind.”

Elnawasany will now face top seed Marwan ElShorbagy in the quarterfinals. The World #8 reached the last eight after an impressive comeback victory against compatriot Nathan Lake to avoid a potential early exit. Lake, who took the opener 11-2, was unable to hold onto his lead as the top seed clawed his way back into the contest, winning the next three games 11-6, 11-8, 11-7.

Elsewhere, Adrian Waller was able to stun the eighth seed Raphael Kandra to secure his spot in the last eight. The Englishman’s 3-1 victory sets him up for an exciting quarter-final match against third seed Leonel Cardenas, who progressed after beating Toufik Mekhalfi in three straight games.

Other notable results in the second round included second seed Victor Crouin beating England’s Nick Wall in a 62-minute battle, winning 3-1, and fourth seed Greg Lobban staging a comeback against Simon Herbert to win 9-11, 12-10, 11-5, 11-4.

Round One: Osborne-Wylde survives Farkas resurgence to win five-game thriller

Samuel Osborne-Wylde came through a 67-minute battle on the opening day, holding off Balazs Farkas over five games to advance into the second round.

The 22-year-old from England made a strong start to the contest, winning the opening two games 11-5, 11-7, and looked to be in total control. However, this strong start didn’t hold, as momentum began to swing in favour of his Hungarian opponent.

The World #54 was able to launch a strong attack, winning the next two games 11-8 and 11-7, and was moving closer to securing an epic comeback on the opening day in front of the Calgary crowd. With momentum in favour of Farkas, it seemed that the fifth was set up to be one-way traffic.

However, the Englishman had other ideas and was able to turn the tide of the contest with a flurry of winners, securing a place in the last 16 with an 11-5, 11-7, 8-11, 7-11, 11-4 scoreline. Osborne-Wylde will now face off against the fifth seed Miguel Rodriguez in the second round.

“At 2-0 I thought I was playing some good squash, and it turned it to a battle quite quickly, a lot more quickly than I wanted it to. Obviously, I am happy to win, but I am definitely going to watch that back and have a look at where I went wrong in that third or fourth game.

“But credit has to go to Farkas you know, at 3-0/4-0 in the third and fourth, a lot of people would have thrown it then but credit to him and he actually played his best squash when he was down so, yeah credit to him.”

Osborne-Wylde will be joined in the second round by his compatriot Simon Herbert, who booked his place into the last 16 after a brutal five-game match against the home-crowd favourite David Baillargeon. Herbert was forced to come from behind after going one game down, and was pushed to the limit by the Canadian over 77-minutes, which included two tie-breaks, with the Englishman eventually coming out on top, winning 7-11, 12-10, 11-8, 10-12, 11-6

Elsewhere, Nathan Lake got his campaign up and running with an impressive three-game victory against David Bernet. In the opening game of the contest Lake was able to comeback from 6-9 down, winning the next five points, to win 11-9. From then on the World #50 was able to build on this momentum, and was able to withstand any potential threats from his Swiss opponent, winning the tie 11-9, 11-8, 11-7 to progress to the last 16 where he will face top seed Marwan ElShorbagy.

Other notable winners in the opening round included Nick Wall, who overcame Argentina’s Leandro Romiglio in a 54 minute battle winning 3-1, England’s Adrian Waller beat his compatriot Tom Walsh in three straight games, and France’s Toufik Mekhalfi beat home favourite Connor Turk in a 47-minute encounter, winning 11-8, 11-8, 6-11, 11-3.

Preview

Former World #3 Marwan Elshorbagy is the top seed for the event as he looks to claim a second title of 2026 after his Motor City Open victory in January. Elshorbagy has competed in Canada seven times in his career, winning on two occasions, at the Edmonton Open and Northern Ontario Open, both 13 years ago in 2013. The Englishman has seen his ranking slip slightly to World #8 and will be determined to claim another title this season to make a run back towards the top five.

The second seed for the event is the in-form Frenchman Victor Crouin. The new World #5 recently claimed his biggest ever event win at the Texas Open Gold event, beating former World Champion Diego Elias in the final. After moving to World #5 recently, Crouin became only the third ever Frenchman to reach the world’s top five. He returns to Calgary for the third time in his career, a runner-up in 2023 and semi-finalist last season, he’ll be looking to continue his fine form and claim back-to-back titles.

Last year’s runner-up Leonel Cardenas returns as the third seed this season, looking to claim a first Bronze event win since April last year. The Mexican is already the highest-ranked Mexican ever on the PSA Tour but will be determined to break into the top 10 for the first time, a milestone that has been within his grasp for a few months now. The Mexican has competed in Canada 20 times in his career so far, claiming titles six times, a positive place for Cardenas as he eyes more glory in the country.

Having recently announced his current progress to obtain Australian citizenship, Greg Lobban will just be thinking about performing well on the squash court itself. He lost out to Yahya Elnawasany in the semi-finals of the McMillan Goodfellow Classic, a seeding upset but not a major shock given Lobban’s time spent on court throughout the event. As fourth seed this week, he’ll be looking to bounce back in style by not only achieving his semi-final seeding but going further to stake his claim for a title.

Danger lurks in the 5/8 seeding places as former World #4 and former British Open champion Miguel Rodriguez, Colombian #2 Juan Vargas, the aforementioned Elnawasany and German #1 Raphael Kandra will all look to make life hard for the top four seeds.