Swedish Open : It’s Fayrouz & Mohamad !!

Top seeds Aboelkheir and Zakaria lift Swedish Open Titles

Egyptian pair Fayrouz Aboelkheir and Mohamad Zakaria lifted the Champion Fiberglass Swedish Open 2026 presented by Boka Bord titles in Stockholm after overcoming Georgina Kennedy and Joel Makin.

Aboelkheir became the first-ever women’s champion of the Swedish Open, emphatically beating English #1 Kennedy in straight games for an eighth PSA title.

“I’m feeling over the moon,” she said. “I’m very happy to win another title and one here Stockholm. This city is amazing so I wanted to leave it with a very good note and I’m very happy to be here. “It feels special [becoming the first women’s champion of the Swedish Open]. To say I’d be the first one to ever win this event is a new record for me and I can’t wait to come back and just do more records in this space.

“I don’t remember the last time I won an event without dropping a game, but I’m just very happy and I played against top players this week. I’m very pleased with my performance and how I stuck to it. I’m just grateful for it.”

In the men’s event Zakaria landed his ninth Tour title by defeating Makin in four games.

“I feel very proud for several things,” he said. “First is really recovering from a very low spot last week when I lost in Qatar. It was an important step in my career because I got to really focus on the changes I need to do instead of dwelling on the loss.

“I’m really proud of myself now because I put a lot of work not just on court, but mentally to try to accept that I need to change some stuff. It’s easier said than done, it’s very tough and I’m happy with the people around me.

“The matches with Joel are now becoming a classic. They’re always very tough physically, but I think this time the difference was the first two games. I had the upper hand a little bit and I was trying to get in front and not let balls get behind me.

“At the third, I took my foot off the gas pedal a little bit and he played very well. I’m happy that he’s recovering from his injury and he’s getting back to the Joel Makin we all know.”

Semi-Finals : Top seeds through top finals in Stockholm

Top seeds Fayrouz Aboelkheir and Mohamad Zakaria won through to the finals with wins over Marwan ElShorbagy and Nele Gilis, where the Egyptian pair will  meet British second seeds Gina Kennedy and Joel Makin, victors over Amanda Sobhy and Leonel Cardenas.

Mohamad Zakaria and Joel Makin will renew their rivalry for a fourth time this year when they battle it out for the Champion Fiberglass Swedish Open 2026 title tomorrow afternoon.

Zakaria and Makin, the top two seeds for the Silver-level event in Stockholm, defeated Marwan ElShorbagy and Leonel Cardenas, respectively, to set up their fourth meeting in 2026.

The duo have played three blockbuster battles already this year, with two of those clashes at the New Zealand Open and Australian Open both clocking up over 100 minutes.

Egyptian starlet Zakaria, who faced ElShorbagy for the first time on the PSA Squash Tour today, claimed an impressive 11-7, 9-11, 11-4, 11-4 victory over the former World No.3.

“Very tough match, I’m still very mad about the second game. It just shows how tricky Marwan is and how it’s always never over. After that second, I just felt that this was going to be a very tough match, and I’m happy I was able to close it out,” he said.

“Marwan is actually a very close friend of mine, probably my closest friend on Tour for me. I learned a lot from him even when I was coming up on the Tour, I definitely learned a lot from him. To play an important match against him today is a full circle moment, and I’m happy we have this kind of relationship and I was able to get a tough match with him in such a great event like this.”

Meanwhile Makin, who was defeated by Zakaria last time out at the El Gouna International in April, downed Cardenas in straight games as he continues his quest for silverware. Makin, who was victorious last time he stepped on court with Cardenas at the J.P. Morgan Tournament of Champions 2025, controlled proceedings throughout his 11-6, 11-9, 11-6 win.

“I just wanted to show the level gap there, hit my spots and even if it gets messy just still be able to hit my spots, separate myself and get across the middle,” he said.

“I was happy with my performance today, given the amount of time away, to keep coming and a clinical performance, I’m happy going into the final.

“The only pressure in this game is self-imposed. It’s your expectation; that’s where the pressure comes from. I’ve been on Tour for years, seven years in the top ten now so hopefully I can keep pushing into that next bracket and challenge the top guys again, that’s what all this is for.”

In the women’s event, it will also be the top two seeds who square off for the title after Fayrouz Aboelkheir and Gina Kennedy won their semi-final showdowns against Nele Gilis and Amanda Sobhy.

Aboelkheir, who’s yet to drop a game in Stockholm, swept aside Gilis in straight games to book her place in the final. The World No.7 was tactically immaculate against the Belgian, with her precise ball striking into the back corners throughout helping her win 11-7,11-3, 11-0 in less than half an hour.

“Nele is a great player, we’ve played a lot and the last time it was a 3-2 match so I just wanted to make sure I was sharp from the beginning and I was,” she said.
“She came back so I knew I had to pull out all of my strengths and shots to just get a win against her. I’m so happy to be through and I can’t wait for my match tomorrow.
“The credit definitely goes to my coaches back home. we worked hard a lot throughout the summer and I think I got better squash, but I didn’t get a proper chance to actually show it off with the win that much, so I’m so happy and I’m looking forward to my next match tomorrow to get one more.”

Kennedy, playing her 300th match on Tour, built on yesterday’s terrific comeback victory in the quarter finals against Rowan Elaraby, moving Sobhy well around the court and taking her opportunities in the front to close out a 11-8, 12-10, 9-11, 11-2 win.

“I’m really happy with that. Amanda is honestly class, the amount of time I watch her play and text her afterwards being like, ‘Mate, you are a joy to watch!’” she said.

“She’s a fellow Harvard alumni so I’ve been looking up to her for years. Her story is inspiring; I feel people don’t even know half of what she’s been through, so honestly the amount she’s achieved is just incredible and always a joy to play against.

“It’s so hard to play her; she’s got all the variation in the book and in my opinion one of the best ball strikers in the game. You have to play your absolute best to beat Amanda.”

Day Three, Quarter-Finals – Gina epic comeback!

England No.1 Gina Kennedy staged an epic comeback to book her place in the semi-finals  recovering from 2-0 down against Rowan Elaraby.

Elaraby, who produced a sublime fightback of her own from 2-0 down yesterday against Hollie Naughton, made a blistering start against Kennedy by taking the first two games 11-3, 11-9.
The 26-year-old appeared to be feeling the effects of her five-game, 54-minute thriller in round two, as Kennedy took advantage of her opponent’s restricted movement to level the match, winning the third and fourth games both 11-4. Kennedy completed the turnaround in just under an hour, closing out the decider 11-4 to book her place in tomorrow’s semi finals.

“I’m really proud of the way I fought there. The second game was really crucial, but I felt as though I was getting momentum,” she said. “I didn’t panic today because I’ve had a few times where she’s absolutely blitzed me before in the first game, so that experience helped me settle down today. I found it really difficult to find my targets in the back at the beginning. I feel that changing from the traditional courts to the glass courts is difficult – I struggled in Qatar as well. I didn’t want the same thing to happen.

“Rowan and I always have really good matches. She’s coming in off a horrific injury, so I really respect her and the way she fights every single time.”

Kennedy faces Amanda Sobhy for a place in the final tomorrow afternoon after the U.S. No.2 swept aside Hana Ramadan 3-0. Meanwhile top seed Fayrouz Aboelkheir and Nele Gilis will square off in the other women’s semi-final after they defeated Nadien Elhammamy and Lucy Turmel.

Aboelkheir, who beat Elhammamy just a few weeks ago at the Qatar Classic, dominated her Egyptian compatriot, taking a comfortable 11-5, 11-4, 11-3 win. Gilis’ accuracy into the back corners were troublesome throughout for Turmel as the Belgian recorded a 11-7, 5-11, 11-5, 11-4 success.

In the men’s event, No.1 seed Mohamad Zakaria came through a stern test from Declan James to move into the last four. Zakaria, taking on James for the first time on Tour, looked to extend the rallies throughout their 55-minute tussle, with World No.23 James coming into today’s encounter off the back of a bruising 74-minute round two clash with Kareem El Torkey.

James stood toe-to-toe with the Egyptian teenager, however Zakaria’s quality ultimately proved decisive as he secured a 11-5, 11-9, 11-6 victory.

“He’s so experienced; he showed it yesterday to come back against Kareem,” he said.
“I knew he had to be moving – if he wasn’t, he’d be in front of me, and he’d be so good from that area. I tried to really focus on being in front and showing my shots. It was a bit of back and forth in areas when I couldn’t do that, but I’m just glad I managed to do it otherwise it could have been a lot tougher for me.

Zakaria takes on Marwan ElShorbagy next after the Englishman delivered an impressive performance to beat Yahya Elnawasany 3-1. The second men’s semi-final pits Joel Makin against Leonel Cardenas following their wins over Gregoire Marche and Mohamed Abouelghar.

Round Two: Elaraby back from the brink

Rowan Elaraby produced a sensational comeback from 2-0 down to overcome Hollie Naughton at the Champion Fibreglass Swedish Open 2026 to reach the quarter-finals of the Silver-level event in Stockholm.

Elaraby lost the first two games 11-9, 11-8 to the Canadian No.1 and appeared to be exiting the tournament, but strong performances in the third and fourth games helped the Egyptian draw level. The former World No.7, who has been on the comeback trail in 2026 after sustaining a serious leg injury at the PSA World Championships in 2025, kept her composure in the fifth to complete the epic resurgence with an 11-8 win.

“I think the only feeling I have right now is just relief,” she said.

“I’m just so proud of myself for getting out of the match with the win. Hollie [Naughton] was playing amazing, I couldn’t find my length game in the beginning and I kept losing focus throughout the first two games so I’m just happy that I found a way in the end and got the win.

Elaraby will take on the No.2 seed Gina Kennedy in the last eight tomorrow after the English No.1 downed her compatriot Saran Nghiem 3-0, while No.1 seed Fayrouz Aboelkheir kicked off her Swedish Open campaign by defeating Lauren Baltayan by the same scoreline.

In the men’s event, Declan James produced an excellent comeback of his own, recovering from 2-1 down to overcome eighth seed Kareem El Torkey, converting on his second match ball to advance to the last eight, claiming a 5-11,11-7, 7-11, 11-9, 13-11 in 74  minutes.

“It was a very scrappy match. It was really a match of two halves,” he said. “He won the first very easily and then I came back really well in the second, and then he won the third very easily. I think 9-4, 9-5 or something in the fourth game, I was kind of on the way out and I was saying to myself, ‘Come on, this isn’t really enough of a fight that you’re putting up. If you’re going to lose, make it harder than it is now.’

“The points were going by too quickly, so I managed to reel a few points off in that fourth game, and that just gave me a lot of confidence physically. I was still in pretty good order, I came out at the start of the fifth with really good energy, and it just got so scrappy towards the end.”

James’s quarter-final opponent will be top seed Mohamad Zakaria, who defeated Simon Herbert for a last eight berth, however the Englishman was forced to retire due to injury towards the end of the second game.

Elsewhere, Mohamed Abouelghar fought back from 1-0 down to beat Patrick Rooney, while No.2 Joel Makin dispatched Nicolas Mueller with a 3-0 scoreline.

Round One : Home hopes extinguished in Stockholm

Nadien Elhammamy fended off a spirited comeback from Cindy Merlo at the Roslagshallen Squash Club, Stockholm to secure her place in the second round.

“I’m not very happy with my performance, but I’m glad I found a way to pull through,” she said. “I don’t think that was one of my best performances, especially the third and the fourth games, but I’m glad on such a bad day I found a way to pull through and keep my focus until the end. Hopefully I’m going to play much better tomorrow.

English duo Alicia Mead and Saran Nghiem produced some of the biggest upsets of the day, with Mead ousting Nour Aboulmakarim 3-1, while Nghiem got the better of her fellow countrywoman Grace Gear in straight games.

Canadian #1 Hollie Naughton denied Hannah Craig a sensational comeback, with the Irishwoman surging back from 2-1 down to make it all square. However, it was Naughton who came out on top by keeping her cool in the fifth, closing it out 11-9.

Home hopes were dashed after both women’s wildcards Moa Bönnemark and Lovisa Ronge were beaten by Habiba Hani and Nadine Shahin while men’s wildcard Joel Viksten’s run ended at the hands of Greg Lobban.

In the men’s matches, Ivan Perez stunned Juan Vargas to earn his spot in round two with a 3-1 win over the Colombian, while Balazs Farkas overturned a 1-0 deficit against Bernat Jaume to win in four games.

In the final match of the day, Patrick Rooney prevailed in the all-English encounter with Samuel Osborne-Wylde, who was forced to retire in the early stages of the fourth game due to injury.

 

Preview :

The event will be the biggest squash tournament ever in Northern Europe, offering up a total prize pot of $109.000. It will also be the first time Sweden has hosted a women’s World Tour event, and the first time in almost 40 years that a glass court will be featured in Stockholm.

Men

Arriving as top seeds will be World Junior Champions Mohamad Zakaria and Fayrouz Aboelkheir, both of whom will be eyeing first titles of the season and wins that could push them ever closer to the top five in the PSA World Rankings.

The Egyptian, a four-time World Junior Champion, can be found in the same quarter of the draw as fellow Egyptian rising talent Kareem El Torkey, the No.8 seed this week, and the same half of the draw as No.3 seed Marwan ElShorbagy.

In the bottom half of the draw, No.2 seed Joel Makin will mark his return from injury in Stockholm, competing in his first event since the PSA Squash Tour Finals in June. The World No.8 endured an injury-stricken 2025/26 campaign on tour and will hope a strong off-season of recovery leaves him well-placed not only for a strong push at the Swedish Open, but also for the upcoming major events beyond that on tour.

The Welshman can be found in the same half of the draw as No.4 seed Mohamed Abouelghar, No.5 seed Leonel Cardenas and No.7 seed Gregoire Marche.

Women

Meanwhile, in the women’s draw, World No.7 Aboelkheir will be on the hunt for a fifth PSA Tour title and her third Silver-level title since the start of last season. If the 20-year-old reaches the final this week, she will climb to a career-high rank of World No.6 in the PSA Rankings, overtaking Japanese No.1 Satomi Watanabe.

Standing in Aboelkheir’s way in the top half of the draw will be the likes of No.4 seed Nele Gilis, No.6 seed Lucy Turmel and No.7 seed Mariam Metwally.

After an encouraging start to the season, highlighted by her win over World No.1 Hania El Hammamy at the London Classic, Georgina Kennedy arrives at the Swedish Open as tournament No.2 seed.

The England No.1 will look to overturn that record when she opens her account up against either Grace Gear or Saran Nghiem, before a potential quarter-final against the in-form No.5 seed Rowan Elaraby.

Elsewhere in the bottom half of the draw lies No.3 seed Amanda Sobhy, a big danger to any player in the world on her day. The southpaw, who currently sits at World No.10 in the PSA World Rankings, is a potential semi-final opponent for Kennedy. The U.S. No.2 could also face No.8 seed Hana Ramadan at the quarter-finals stage if the pair were to come through their opening round matches.