Joachim Chuah (Mas) 3-0 David Baillargeon (Can) 11-6, 11-3, 7-11, 11-1 (41m)
[4] Rowan Elaraby (Egy) 3-1 [*] Yasshmita Jadishkumar (Mas) 9-11, 11-9, 11-3, 11-4 (39m)
Egypt’s Rowan Elaraby and Malaysia’s Joachim Chuah were crowned the NASH Cup 2026 champions yesterday after two exciting finals delighted the London, Ontario crowd.
The women’s final was up first, with former World No.7 Rowan Elaraby looking to claim her first title since 2022, whilst Yasshmita Jadishkumar was looking to claim the biggest title of her career. Both finalists knocked out home opposition in the semi-finals with Elaraby defeating Zeina Zein and Jadishkumar downing Canadian No.1 Hollie Naughton.
As the final got underway, it was clear that Jadishkumar was not content with just reaching the final, she wanted to win. She raced out to a 5-0 lead in the opening game and despite Elaraby winning nine of the next ten points to lead 9-6, the Malaysian fired back to win six points in a row to take game one 11-9.
The class and quality of Elaraby was evident in the first game but it wasn’t until the latter stages of the second that it truly took over. She recovered from 7-5 down in game two to win 11-9 and equalise in the final. From there, the result was inevitable. Elaraby moved through the gears and showed the Ontario crowd exactly why she is a former top ten player. She won 11-3, 11-4 in games three and four, both lasting no more than 6 minutes. An emphatic finish to a superb tournament for the Egyptian.
The following men’s final held a chance for a home champion, the first NASH Cup home champion since the same player, David Baillargeon, won the event back in 2023. He was up against tournament surprise package Joachim Chuah, who was chasing his biggest title to date and his second title of the year.
Chuah has been in top form all week and picked up right where he left off from his semi-final win over Ronald Palomino to take the opening two games 11-6, 11-3 and place one hand on the trophy. Spurred on by the home crowd, Baillargeon roared back, taking the fourth game 11-7 and giving himself a shot at making a comeback.
The end came quickly for the Canadian No.1 however, the effort it took to force the fourth game seemed to take too much out of Baillargeon, much to Chuah’s delight. The Malaysian wasted no time in the fourth game and won 11-1 to claim his sixth PSA title.
Semi-Finals : Elaraby the only remaining seed
Just one seed made it through to the finals in Ontario as Egypt’s fourth seed Rowan Elaraby and Malaysia’s Yasshmita Jadishkumar beat home hopefuls Zeina Zein and Hollie Naughton in the women’s semi-finals.
David Baillargeon continued his run with a win over Brice Nicolas to ensure home representation in the finals, where he’ll face Malaysia’s Joachim Chuah, who removed the last remaining men’s seed in straight games.
Canadian No.1 and 2023 NASH Cup champion David Baillargeon has kept home hopes alive after he defeated France’s Brice Nicolas in a three-game, 55-minute contest. Nicolas took out No.2 seed Toufik Mekhalfi in the quarter-finals but came up against a strong, structured Baillargeon in the final four and, after claiming two tough opening games 11-9, 12-10, the Canadian stormed to victory in game three, winning 11-3.
Hoping to deny the Ontario squash fans a home champion will be Malaysia’s Joachim Chuah. The 22-year-old World No.95 has been in sensational form this tournament and continued that last night, taking out the only remaining seed Ronald Palomino in straight games. Chuah took both the first two games 11-7, before closing out game three 11-8 to win in 40 minutes.
The women’s final will be a battle between Egypt and Malaysia after Rowan Elaraby and Yasshmita Jadishkumar denied a guaranteed home winner as they defeated Zeina Zein and Hollie Naughton both in four-game encounters. Former World No.17 Elaraby ended the run of giant killer Zeina Zein to reach the final, the Egyptian scored the first two games in strong style and didn’t panic after losing game three in a tiebreak. She regained dominance and took the final game 11-5 to move into her 10th PSA final, looking for a first title in more than four years.
She’ll take on Yasshmita Jadishkumar in the final, after the Malaysian got the better of Canadian No.1 Hollie Naughton in a hard-fought four game clash. After taking the opener 12-10, Jadishkumar saved two game balls in the following game to steal the game by the same scoreline as the first and like Elaraby, didn’t panic after losing the third game – closing out game four 11-8 to reach the biggest final of her career.
Quarter final matches were amazing with stiff competition
The upsets continued on Quarter-Finals Day, with just three seeded players remaining in the draw.
Three Past Champions – David Baillargeon, Hollie Naughton and Zeina Zein – all Canadian, are among the final eight. It’s the first time we have had two Malaysians – Joachim Chuah and Yasshmita Jadishkumar – in the semis, a country that has never been on the NASH Cup trophy.
Focusing on the women’s draw first, Zeina Zein backed up her amazing performance over top seed Torrie Malik to earn her spot in the final four, now beating Ireland’s Hannah Craig in four games. Zein powered into a two-game lead, despite being forced to a fourth by Craig, and found her top form once again to come through in 48 minutes. She’ll now face Egypt’s former World No.7 Rowan Elaraby in the semis after she made light work of compatriot Haya Ali.
The other women’s semi-final will see Canadian No.1 Hollie Naughton face Malaysia’s Yasshmita Jadishkumar. Naughton came through two tough opening games with Egypt’s Menna Hamed before cruising to victory in the third game, winning 11-3. Jadishkumar was up against No.8 seed Marie Stephan and showed no signs of nerves as she confidently booked her spot in the next round, winning 12-10, 11-5, 11-3 in less than half an hour.
The men’s draw will see only one top-eight seed in the semi-finals. No.2 seed Toufik Mekhalfi was beaten by compatriot Brice Nicolas in a straight-games, 58-minute contest. Playing a similar style of squash, Nicolas won 11-9, 11-3, 11-9 to book his spot in the biggest event semi-final of his career. He’ll now take on Canadian David Baillargeon after he kept home hopes alive in the men’s draw, beating Pakistan’s Muhammad Huzaifa Ibrahim in four games.
Malaysia’s Joachim Chuah continued his impressive run as he beat USA’s Nicholas Spizzirri in just over half an hour, 3-0. He’ll face the only remaining top eight seed in the men’s draw, Ronald Palomino in the final four after the Colombian ended the impressive run of Bailey Malik in a tight 3-1 contest.
Day One – Malik Twins face each other…
The first day of action saw Bailey and Heston Malik draw each other in round one. A five-setter was somewhat inevitable, seeing as the pair know each other’s games so well. Heston held the advantage heading into the fourth game after winning the first and third games both 13-11. But Bailey forced his way back into the contest by winning the fourth game 11-5 before going on to take the decider 11-9. He’ll now face No.3 seed Mohamed ElSherbini in round two.
Elsewhere in the men’s draw, two upsets took place as France’s Brice Nicolas took out Daniel Poleshchuk in a 45-minute four-game contest whilst Pakistan’s Muhammad Huzaifa Ibrahim also needed four games to move past USA’s Dillon Huang. Ibrahim will now face No. 7 seed Finnlay Withington in the next round, while Nicolas will play Perry Malik as the top seeds enter the fray.
In the women’s draw, two upsets took place on day one. Canada’s Zeina Zein scored a win over Poland’s Karina Tyma, coming through 12-10 in the fourth game after dropping the opener. 18-year-old Egyptian Malak Samir needed just 28 minutes to beat Swiss Ambre Allinckx. Zein will now play top seed Torrie Malik in the round of 16, whilst Samir will take on compatriot and No.5 seed Haya Ali.
The top eight seeds feature the likes of former World No.7 Rowan Elaraby, who will play Ruqayya Salem in round two, and Commonwealth Games Bronze Medalist Hollie Naughton, who will face Hong Kong, China’s Hele Tang.
Men & Women $33k PSA Copper, 14-18 Sep, London, Canada
The 18th Annual NASH Cup officially begins Monday at London Squash & Fitness.
Players started arriving yesterday.
The event starts Monday September 14th with Lightning Matches @ 5pm and a food truck (Pit Stop Grill) at London Squash. The lightning matches will feature up to 16 of our professionals and a mix of 16 students and local players. Each game is to 3 (must win by 2).
Notable Stories for our Media Friends
- Main Draws feature 31 of the world’s top 100 male & female professionals.
- 22 players are competing in the NASH Cup for the first time.
- The field includes players from 22 countries including first time representation from Croatia and Slovenia.
- Four returning champions – Auguste Dussourd (2019/21); Zeina Zein (2022); David Baillargeon (2023) & Hollie Naughton (2023)
- At least two players are recovering from injury and looking to climb the ranks. Rowan Elaraby (Egypt) is currently 47th in the world but has been ranked as high as 7th; David Baillargeon (Canada) is 127th in the world but has been ranked as high as 39th.
- The Jack Fairs Open PSA Challenger returns for a third year featuring 16 of Canada’s rising stars including 5 members of Westerns current and past men’s squash team. Next week is Western Homecoming, which adds a little something…
Did you know? Western University men’s program has dominated OUA squash for 42 years, a dynasty unmatched by any other university sports team in OUA history (or any college/university team globally). It was a primary reason the NASH Cup starts. We honour western’s long-time coach and his legacy with the Jack Fairs Open which aims to boost Canada’s rising stars as they look to squash’s Olympic debut in 2028.
