Men & Women $18k PSA Challengers, 09-13 Sep, Maspeth, USA
Egyptian duo Salman Kahalil and Nour Khafagy made history on the weekend as they captured the titles in the first ever Challenger 18 level event on the PSA Squash Tour, at the Maspeth Welding Intsel Steel Court Championship 2026.
Top seed Khalil dropped only one game on route to the final, beating Sebastien Salazar, Brice Nicholas and Omar Said to set up a showdown with compatriot and hot prospect Adam Hawal. Khalil lost the opening game against Hawal 14-12 but recovered in emphatic fashion to take the next three games 11-4, 11-6, 11-1 in 58 minutes. A seventh PSA title for Khalil and a second for the season, maintaining his unbeaten start to the 26/27 campaign.
In the women’s draw unseeded Nour Khafagy stormed through the draw, taking out No.4 seed Saran Nghiem before beating Margot Prow to reach the semi-finals. She then defeated top seed Amina El Rihany in four games to set up a final meeting with No.2 seed Alina Bushma. The Ukrainian found herself 2-1 up then match ball up in the fourth game but back came Khafagy. She won the fourth 12-10 then captured the decider 11-5 to claim her fourth PSA title.
