Open Squash Classic : It’s Fayrouz and Victor in NY

Second seeds Victor Crouin and Fayrouz Aboelkhier  won the Open Squash Classic titles, beating Leonel Cardenas and Nada Abbas on finals day in New York.

Five days of squash drew to a conclusion with two entertaining finals at Open Squash FiDi, where  crowd favourite Crouin went one better than in this event last year, when he finished as runner-up.

Prior to his success was a women’s final between second seed Aboelkheir and top seed Abbas, in  a rematch of the Carol Weymuller Open final just across the East River in Brooklyn earlier this year.

Aboelkeheir came out on top that day and repeated the feat here in Downtown Manhattan, in a match that swung one way and then the other.

“I’m very happy,” the teenager said. “I think New York has been my favorite city. I’ve made a lot of great memories here and I love it. I’m so happy to win my second big title here.

“We all have those ups and downs during the game, but I’m happy that I managed to regain my focus and know how to stick to my plan more, and I’m so grateful for that.”

Most of those watching the men’s final were cheering on French #1 Crouin, who has close ties with Open Squash and bears the club’s name on his shirt. He and Cardenas knew each other’s games well coming into the contest, having faced off nine times in the past, with Crouin winning six of those.

Crouin had too much on the day, both in terms of quality and energy, closing out game three in just eight minutes to get his hands on the trophy, going one better than in this event 12 months ago.

“It feels amazing,” Crouin said. “It was one of the goals to win here at Open Squash after losing in the final last year, so it feels good.

“It was a long week, very exhausting with yesterday’s match against Eain Yow, so I’m glad I got it done in three convincing games there today.

“I’ve got to thank Melvil, my fellow French player, for doing most of the work yesterday. Leonel was definitely a bit tired and I seized the opportunity and it was a good day today.”

Semis : Finalists decided with trio of five-setters in New York

A thrilling semi-finals day saw three of the four matches go the distance in New York.

All four encounters were taking place on the all-glass show court at Open Squash FiDi, nestled in the heart of Downtown Manhattan, with views to the Statue of Liberty from one end of the club.

Women’s Top seed Nada Abbas and Malak Khafagy, who ousted third seed Salma Hany in the quarters, were the first to take to the court with Abbas dominating to win in straight games.

The first men’s match was Leonel Cardenas against impressive young Frenchman Melvil Scianimanico, who had knocked out seventh seed Mohamed ElSherbini and England’s Nick Wall en route to the last four. Scianimanico looked to have the momentum as he recovered from two games down losing just five points in the 3rd and 4th games, but it was the Mexican who recovered to claim the decider.

Defending champion Farida Mohamed made the better start in the second women’s semi, takin the first game in extra points before second seed Fayrouz Aboelkheir recovered to take the lead. Mohamed levelled but it was Aboelkheir who edged the decider 11-9.

The men’s final will see last year’s runner-up Victor Crouin go up against Cardenas, after the second seeded Frenchman’s five-game win over Eain Yow Ng. As in the first men’s semi the favourite – Crouin – saw a two game lead disappear before consolidating to take the decider.

Quarters : Khagafy takes out third seed Hany

Egypt’s Malak Khafagy upset third seed Salma Hany on quarter-finals day at the Open Squash Classic, a day which also featured a five-game win for Mexico’s Leonel Cardenas.

All eight seeds had progressed in the women’s draw, and it was Alexandrian duo Khafagy and Hany who got the action underway on day three, with Khagafy coming from a game down to complete the upset.

Elsewhere in the women’s draw there were 3-0 wins for the top two seeds Nada Abbas and Fayrouz Aboelkheir, while defending champion Farida Mohamed needed four games to battle past Georgia Adderley.

In the men’s draw France’s Melvil Scianimanico continued his impressive week in the men’s draw, beating Nick Wall 3-0 to reach his first ever Bronze event semi-final. Scianimanico’s reward is a semi-final showdown with fourth seed Leonel Cardenas, who came out on top of a five-game tussle with rising star Noor Zaman.

The second men’s semi-final will see Eain Yow Ng take on Victor Crouin, after their 3-0 wins over Miguel Rodriguez and Adrian Waller.

Round Two : Wall takes out top seed ElShorbagy

Nick Wall stunned top seed and defending champion Marwan ElShorbagy on day two of the Open Squash Classic, which also featured an epic win for Noor Zaman over fifth seed Gregoire Marche.

Elshorbagy is the World #6 and returned to New York to defend his title at Open Squash FiDi, nestled in the heart of Manhattan’s Financial District. He had never lost to Wall on the PSA Tour before, while the southpaw was coming into this event on the back of a second-round defeat at last week’s Charlottesville Open.

Earlier in the afternoon Zaman and Marche had played out an breathtaking, 75-minute battle on Court 4, with the young Pakistani player underlining his credentials as a rising star on the men’s game.

There was also another impressive win for rising French star Melvil Scianimanico, who knocked out seventh seed Mohamed ElSherbini, while Miguel Rodriguez got the better of Moustafa Elsirty in a 3-0 win that lasted 68 minutes.

Meanwhile in the women’s draw all eight seeds progressed, though sixth seed Lucy Turmel had to battle past Alina Bushma in five games in the final women’s match of the day.

Round One : Stunning comeback from Alex Haydon

Alexandra Haydon staged a stunning fightback to beat crowd favourite Hannah Craig on a dramatic opening day of the Open Squash Classic 2025, saving six match balls in an epic, five-game win.

The uniquely-situated venue – right in the heart of downtown Manhattan and with views to the Statue of Liberty – is once again playing host to a Bronze-level event for both men and women in 2025, and there was drama in both draws throughout the first day of competition.

The headline-maker among that drama was Haydon’s fightback win over Irish #1 Craig, a result that seemed more than unlikely when the Australian was 10-5 down in game five.

That match followed an impressive win for Simon Herbert on the glass court, but there was more drama over on Court 4, most notably in the first match of the evening session.

England’s Kiera Marshall had only received an entry into the draw a few days ago following a withdrawal, but took the game to Egypt’s Menna Hamed.

The two players split the first four games as momentum shifted back and forth, with an injury break to Hamed midway through game four adding to the tension. Marshall then raced out to a 6-1 lead in the decider, but Hamed dug deep to keep herself in the contest, winning five of the next six points to close the gap to one, then got over the line from 9-all.

There was still time for another entertaining tussle on Court 4, too, as Veer Chotrani and Abhay Singh went toe-to-toe in an all-Indian matchup. Perhaps remarkably, the two had never faced each other in a competitive match, but know each other’s games inside out nonetheless.

Crucially, though, Chotrani had crowd support on his side, with a host of his former college teammates from Cornell – plus his coach David Palmer – cheering him on at every turn. He did lose the first game, 11-6, but took control from there, winning the next three games 11-6, 11-5, 11-5 to set up a second-round clash with second seed Victor Crouin.