Defending champion Nour El Sherbini ended home interest at the 2024 J.P. Morgan Tournament of Champions after downing USA’s Olivia Weaver to progress to the semi finals of the Platinum-level event. 

The World No.1’s experience came to the fore as she maintained her 100 per cent record against the last remaining representative for the USA. 

Despite a positive start from Weaver, El Sherbini extinguished hopes of a semi final appearance on home court for the American as she pressed on to win 11-9, 11-4, 11-7 in 33 minutes. 

“I’m feeling really good and I’m happy with my performance,” El Sherbini said. 

“It was a tough match, to be honest – way tougher than last week [at the Florida Open]. There’s been a lot of rest days and quick matches in between. 

“It’s a bit tricky [playing an opponent twice in the space of a couple of weeks] – she will have watched the match and would have wanted to change a few things in her game plan and I want to keep my game plan so it’s a bit difficult what to expect what was going to happen this time. I had my game plan and I thought I will see how it goes.” 

El Sherbini will meet Hania El Hammamy for the fifth time this season in the last four on Wednesday after the World No.2 comprehensively defeated fellow Egyptian Fayrouz Aboelkheir.

El Hammamy was sharp from the off and upped the pace to make life difficult for Aboelkheir, who was appearing in a quarter final of a Platinum event for the first time in her career. 

World No.2 El Hammamy forced some key errors from Aboelkheir’s racket, taking a 3-0: 11-9, 11-6, 11-7 victory. 

“Fayrouz [Aboelkheir] is a gifted player for sure,” she said afterwards. 

“She had a good win in the previous round against Salma Hany, but I think I’ve reached where I am and I’ve earned this position for a reason. 

“I’ve gained a lot of experience and I’ve had a lot of battles to be in this position. I needed to bring that on today.” 

In the men’s draw, French No.1 Victor Crouin produced an immaculate performance to shock World No.3 Paul Coll and reach his first Platinum semi final since 2022. 

Crouin, whose last appearance in the last four of a Platinum event came at the Qatar Classic in 2022, was tactically impeccable throughout as he claimed his first win over the New Zealander in almost two years. 

After edging a monumental 32-minute opening game 16-14, Crouin proved to be too strong to keep Coll at bay and notch a 3-0: 16-14, 11-7, 11-5 triumph. 

“We’re lucky to have a day off in between matches. I train hard every day for these kind of tournaments where I can play back-to-back matches so I’m not afraid to step back on court after two five setters,” said Crouin on court afterwards. 

“I’m enjoying it out there so there’s no tension in my body, so I can recover faster and get ready for the next match. 

“But it’s Paul Coll and he’s the fittest player on tour, he was on a really good streak of matches so I knew it was going to be tough. The last time I beat him was when he got to World No.1, so I thought I could do it again.” 

Two-time champion Ali Farag stands in Crouin’s way of a place in the final following his win against his compatriot Tarek Momen. 

Farag, who won the event in 2019 and 2022, got the better of Momen for the third time this season having already beaten the former World Champion at the U.S. Open and the Qatar Classic.

The World No.1 capitalised on a number of errors from his opponent’s racket to go one game up before Momen deservedly levelled as he reduced the error count and started to find his targets. However Farag was back in control and began to force mistakes from Momen, which he swooped on to book a semi final spot by triumphing 3-1: 11-6, 9-11, 11-4, 11-8.

“It was a very tough match,” said Farag. 

“I think I had control of most of the first – I told Nour [El Tayeb] that Tarek [Momen] is going to come out firing and he’s going to be a lot more solid. I thought we both played well and we both deserved that game and I wish I was 2-0 up. 

“I had to change a few things in the third and in the fourth I was little bit disappointed as I was running away with it but I gave him a loose, easy unforced error that got him back into it. If you give Tarek a sniff he will take it so I’m glad I won that fourth.” 

The quarter finals of the J.P. Morgan Tournament of Champions continue tomorrow at 17:00 (GMT-5) with the bottom half of the draw, with action taking place on the iconic all-glass court inside Grand Central Terminal. All four matches will be streamed live on SQUASHTV.

Stay up to date on the 2024 J.P. Morgan Tournament of Champions on the PSA website or by following the PSA on X, Facebook, Instagram, TikTok and YouTube. 

Results: J.P. Morgan Tournament of Champions 2024 – Men’s quarter finals (top half)

[1] Ali Farag (EGY) bt [8] Tarek Momen (EGY) 3-1: 11-6, 9-11, 11-4, 11-8 (61m)

Victor Crouin (FRA) bt [3] Paul Coll (NZL) 3-0: 16-14, 11-7, 11-5 (65m)

Results: J.P. Morgan Tournament of Champions 2024 – Women’s quarter finals (top half)

[1] Nour ElSherbini (EGY) bt [8] Olivia Weaver (USA) 3-0: 11-9, 11-4, 11-7 (33m)

[3] Hania El Hammamy (EGY) bt Fayrouz Aboelkheir (EGY) 3-0: 11-9, 11-6, 11-7 (35m) 

Draw: Men’s quarter finals (bottom half) – to be played January 23

[4] Mostafa Asal (EGY) v [5] Mohamed Elshorbagy (ENG)

[6] Mazen Hesham v [2] Diego Elias (PER)

Draw: Women’s quarter finals (bottom half) – to be played January 23

Rowan Elaraby (EGY) v Amina Orfi (EGY) 

[6] Nour El Tayeb (EGY) v [2] Nouran Gohar (EGY)

17-year-old Egyptian Fayrouz Aboelkheir has reached her first Platinum event quarter final at the J.P. Morgan Tournament of Champions 2024 after an impressive performance against compatriot Salma Hany.

Aboelkheir was aggressive in all areas and was determined to leave no stone unturned as she looked to continue her run in New York. The World No.35 pulled away in the opener to take the game 11-5 and showed no signs of slowing down. 

Hany found her length in the second game and started to move her younger opponent into all four corners, but the teenager was more than up to the task and continued to impose herself on the match. After establishing a 2-0 lead, Aboelkheir claimed the third game 11-7 to move into her first quarter final at a Platinum event, where she will now face No.3 seed Hania El Hammamy.

“I feel amazing to be honest. To do this here in New York in Grand Central Terminal is a dream come true.” said Aboelkheir after her win.

“I’ve had a lot of time to think during my rest day. I was prepared and really wanted to win tonight. I was hungry for more. I made it to the last 16 but I wanted more. I’ll enjoy my win tonight and go back and recover and starting from tomorrow, i’ll prepare for the quarters. Hania [El Hammamy] beat me at the Grasshopper Cup so I want to get revenge for that.”

The other seeding upset of the day came from France’s Victor Crouin, who claimed his revenge over No.7 seed Marwan Elshorbagy, who defeated him in last years quarter final. 

Crouin found himself 2-1 up in the clash but was pegged back to 2-2 by Elshorbagy, who needed to utilise all of his experience to stop the momentum of the Frenchman. The score reached 6-6 in the decider and it was Crouin who managed to pull ahead to 9-6 by using his movement to attack. 

The World No.11 set himself up with three match balls at 10-7 and converted at the first time of asking to reach a second successive quarter final in New York.

Day five will see the remaining round three matches take place with action taking place on the iconic all-glass court inside Grand Central Terminal. Action will be available to watch live on SQUASHTV .

Stay up to date on the 2024 J.P. Morgan Tournament of Champions on the PSA website or by following the PSA on X, Facebook, Instagram, TikTok and YouTube. 

Results: J.P. Morgan Tournament of Champions 2024 Men’s RD3 (top-half)

[1] Ali Farag (EGY) bt Baptiste Masotti (FRA) 3-1: 8-11, 11-2, 11-1, 11-8 (42m)

[8] Tarek Momen (EGY) bt Iker Pajares Bernabeu (ESP) 3-1: 11-4, 8-11, 11-8, 11-6 (60m)

Victor Crouin (FRA) bt [7] Marwan Elshorbagy (ENG) 3-2: 7-11, 12-10, 11-3, 9-11, 11-7 (75m)

[3] Paul Coll (NZL) bt Yahya Elnawasany (EGY) 3-0: 11-6, 11-3, 11-2 (33m)

Results: J.P. Morgan Tournament of Champions 2024 Women’s RD3 (top-half)

[1] Nour ElSherbini (EGY) bt Malak Khafagy (EGY) 3-0: 11-7, 11-4, 11-4 (23m)

[8] Olivia Weaver (USA) bt Lucy Beecroft (ENG) 3-0: 11-6, 11-7, 11-8 (33m)

Fayrouz Aboelkheir (EGY) bt Salma Hany (EGY) 3-0: 11-5, 11-9, 11-7 (32m)

[3] Hania El Hammamy (EGY) bt Satomi Watanabe (JPN) 3-1: 11-3, 5-11, 14-12, 12-10 (55m)

Draw: Men’s RD3 – to be played January 21

[6] Mazen Hesham v Fares Dessouky (EGY) 

Youssef Ibrahim (EGY) v [2] Diego Elias (PER) 

[4] Mostafa Asal (EGY) v Mohamed Abouelghar (EGY)

Nathan Lake (ENG) v [5] Mohamed Elshorbagy (EGY)

Draw: Women’s RD3 – to be played January 21

Amina Orfi (EGY) v [7] Tinne Gilis (BEL)

[4] Nele Gilis (BEL) v Rowan Elaraby (EGY)

Mariam Metwally (EGY) v [2] Nouran Gohar (EGY)

[6] Nour El Tayeb (EGY) v Sabrina Sobhy (USA) 

Draw: Men’s quarter finals (top-half) – to be played January 22

[1] Ali Farag (EGY) v [8] Tarek Momen (EGY)

Victor Crouin v [3] Paul Coll (NZL)

Draw: Women’s quarter finals (top-half) – to be played January 22

[1] Nour ElSherbini (EGY) v [8] Olivia Weaver (USA)

Fayrouz Aboelkheir (EGY) v [3] Hania El Hammamy (EGY)

USA’s Sabrina Sobhy delighted her home crowd with an excellent 3-0 triumph against Sivasangari Subramaniam to book her place in round three of the 2024 J.P. Morgan Tournament of Champions in New York.

Sobhy, who was meeting Subramaniam for the second time on the PSA World Tour in the space of a couple of months, avenged her defeat at the Hong Kong Football Club Open to progress to the third round by winning 11-9, 11-7, 11-4.

“Coming into this match I thought it was going to be closer. I knew it was going to be really hard – the score didn’t necessarily display how difficult it was,” she said.  

“Siva [Subramaniam] is always such a threat; if you ever give her anything open it could be in the nick immediately.  

“I tried to be focused and present. At the end when I had a comfortable lead I couldn’t think about winning at all because I knew she could have easily got six, seven, eight points in a row.  

“She has that much talent and that much capability and it’s always going to be a battle regardless.” 

In the men’s draw, reigning champion Diego Elias made a successful start to his title defence by dispatching tournament wildcard Andrew Douglas 3-0, while World No.27 Nathan Lake pulled off the biggest shock result of the day, coming back from one game down to defeat World No.16 Mohamed ElSherbini.

Round three of the 2024 J.P. Morgan Tournament of Champions begins tomorrow from 12:00 (GMT-5), with the top half of the draw. All eight matches will be held at the iconic all-glass court inside Grand Central Terminal and streamed live on SQUASHTV.

Stay up to date on the 2024 J.P. Morgan Tournament of Champions on the PSA website or by following the PSA on X, Facebook, Instagram, TikTok and YouTube. 

Results: J.P. Morgan Tournament of Champions 2024 Men’s RD2

[4] Mostafa Asal (EGY) bt Patrick Rooney (ENG) 3-0: 11-5, 11-6, 11-6 (48m)

Mohamed Abouelghar (EGY) bt Greg Lobban (SCO) 3-0: 11-5, 15-13, 11-8 (42m)

Nathan Lake (ENG) bt Mohamed Elsherbini (EGY) 3-1: 9-11, 12-10, 11-3, 11-6 (49m)

[5] Mohamed Elshorbagy (ENG) bt Cesar Salazar (MEX) 3-0: 11-7, 11-8, 11-3 (37m)

[6] Mazen Hesham (EGY) bt Auguste Dussourd (FRA) 3-1: 7-11, 11-6, 11-5, 11-8 (51m)

Fares Dessouky (EGY) bt Miguel Rodriguez (COL) 3-1: 11-5, 11-9, 6-11, 11-8 (61m)

Youssef Ibrahim (EGY) bt Nick Wall (ENG) 3-1: 13-11, 11-8, 8-11, 11-5 (53m)

[2] Diego Elias (PER) bt [WC] Andrew Douglas (USA) 3-0: 11-4, 11-5, 11-8 (39m)

Results: J.P. Morgan Tournament of Champions 2024 Women’s RD2

[4] Nele Gilis (BEL) bt Sana Ibrahim (EGY) 3-0: 11-6, 11-9, 11-5 (39m)

Rowan Elaraby (EGY) bt Lucy Turmel (ENG) 3-0: 14-12, 11-8, 11-7 (41m)

Amina Orfi (EGY) bt Nadine Shahin (EGY) 3-0: 11-3, 11-5, 11-6 (26m)

[7] Tinne Gilis (BEL) bt [WC] Caroline Fouts (USA) 3-0: 11-5, 11-6, 11-5 (31m)

[6] Nour ElTayeb (EGY) bt Emily Whitlock (WAL) 3-0: 11-6, 11-4, 13-11 (36m)

Sabrina Sobhy (USA) bt Sivasangari Subramaniam (MAS) 3-0: 11-9, 11-7, 11-4 (37m)

Mariam Metwally (EGY) bt Zeina Mickawy (EGY) 3-0: 11-4, 11-5, 11-8 (25m)

[2] Nouran Gohar (EGY) bt Rachel Arnold (MAS) 3-0: 11-1, 11-4, 11-6 (23m)

Draw: Men’s RD3 – to be played January 20

[1] Ali Farag (EGY) v Baptiste Masotti (FRA)

Iker Pajares Bernabeu (ESP) v [8] Tarek Momen (EGY)

[7] Marwan Elshorbagy (ENG) v Victor Crouin (FRA)

Yahya Elnawasany (EGY) v [3] Paul Coll (NZL)

Draw: Women’s RD3 – to be played January 20

[1] Nour ElSherbini (EGY) v Malak Khafagy (EGY)

Lucy Beecroft (ENG) v [8] Olivia Weaver (USA)

Salma Hany (EGY) v Fayrouz Aboelkheir (EGY)

Satomi Watanabe (JPN) v [3] Hania El Hammamy

Draw: Men’s RD3 – to be played January 21

[4] Mostafa Asal (EGY) v Mohamed Abouelghar (EGY)

Nathan Lake (ENG) v [5] Mohamed Elshorbagy (EGY)

[6] Mazen Hesham v Fares Dessouky (EGY)

Youssef Ibrahim (EGY) v [2] Diego Elias (PER)

Draw: Women’s RD3 – to be played January 21

[4] Nele Gilis (BEL) v Rowan Elaraby (EGY)

Amina Orfi (EGY) v [7] Tinne Gilis (BEL)

[6] Nour El Tayeb (EGY) v Sabrina Sobhy (USA)

Mariam Metwally (EGY) v [2] Nouran Gohar (EGY)

Egyptian trio Salma Hany, Malak Khafagy and Yahya Elnawasany claimed impressive wins on day two of the 2024 J.P. Morgan Tournament of Champions as they claimed places in round three of the PSA World Tour Platinum event.

Khafagy was first to secure her place in round three, a first appearance in the last sixteen for the 19-year-old. She defeated Hong Kong’s Tomato Ho in straight games at the Nicol Squash Club, avenging her 3-2 loss from the New Zealand Open. 

Khafagy now faces top seed and idol Nour ElSherbini on Saturday and can’t wait to step onto court with the World No.1.

“Last time I played her [Tomato Ho] I was 2-0 up and I lost so I was devastated with the way I dealt with the match,” she said.

“Now I won in three, I’m so proud with how solid I was and I’m excited. Coming here I wasn’t expecting anything and I wanted to play my best and I wanted to enjoy it. Now I’ve beaten them both, it means everything to me and I super overwhelmed and I don’t know how to process everything right now!

“Nour [El Sherbini] is my role model and we grew up watching her at the same club. We train together, I see her every day, she’s like an older sister to me and I’m super excited to play with her. It’s a pleasure to be on court with her.”

Compatriot Salma Hany was up against No.5 seed Georgina Kennedy in her opening match of the tournament. A tough match on paper for both players, which proved to be the case on the all-glass court in Grand Central Station.

Hany battled back from 2-1 down to down World No.6 Kennedy and reach the last sixteen of a Platinum event for the fifth time this season.

After overcoming Switzerland’s Nicolas Mueller in round one, Yahya Elnawasany scored another big win on day two as he defeated compatriot Aly Abou Eleinen to book his place in the third round. Three tight games went the way of the younger Egyptian, who will now face No.3 seed Paul Coll.

Day three will see the remaining round two matches take place with selected action taking place on the iconic all-glass court inside Grand Central Terminal. Glass court action will be available to watch live on SQUASHTV .

Stay up to date on the 2024 J.P. Morgan Tournament of Champions on the PSA website or by following the PSA on X, Facebook, Instagram, TikTok and YouTube. 

Results: J.P Morgan Tournament of Champions 2024 Men’s RD2

[1] Ali Farag (EGY) bt Omar Mosaad (EGY) 3-0: 11-2, 13-11, 11-2 (31m)

Baptiste Masotti (FRA) bt Ramit Tandon (IND) 3-1: 4-11, 11-8, 11-9, 13-11 (42m)

Iker Pajares Bernabeu (ESP) bt Gregoire Marche (FRA) 3-1: 12-14, 11-8, 11-5, 11-2 (63m)

[8] Tarek Momen (EGY) bt Faraz Khan (USA) 3-0: 11-6, 11-5, 11-9 (31m)

[7] Marwan Elshorbagy (ENG) bt Tsz Kwan Lau (HKG) 3-1: 12-10, 11-7, 10-12, 11-9 (44m)

Victor Crouin (FRA) bt Youssef Soliman (EGY) 3-2: 11-7, 12-10, 8-11, 6-11, 11-4 (81m)

Yahya Elnawasany (EGY) bt Aly Abou Eleinen (EGY) 3-0: 15-13, 11-9, 16-14 (62m)

[3] Paul Coll (NZL) bt Eain Yow Ng (MAS) 3-0: 11-6, 11-8, 11-3 (35m)

Results: J.P Morgan Tournament of Champions 2024 Women’s RD2

[1] Nour ElSherbini (EGY) bt Sarah-Jane Perry (ENG) 3-0: 11-6, 11-4, 11-5 (22m)

Malak Khafagy (EGY) bt Tomato Ho (HKG) 3-0: 11-8, 11-6, 11-6 (33m)

Lucy Beecroft (ENG) bt Georgia Adderley (SCO) 3-2: 6-11, 11-9, 9-11, 11-3, 11-9 (65m)

[8] Olivia Weaver (USA) bt Farida Mohamed (EGY) 3-1: 11-5, 11-3, 9-11, 11-4 (34m)

Salma Hany (EGY) bt [5] Georgina Kennedy (ENG) 3-2: 12-10, 8-11, 10-12, 11-3, 11-7 (57m)

Fayrouz Aboelkheir (EGY) bt Hana Ramadan (EGY) 3-1: 11-5, 11-7, 5-11, 11-8 (33m)

Satomi Watanabe (JPN) bt Nicole Bunyan (CAN) 3-0: 11-9, 13-11, 11-4 (34m)

[3] Hania El Hammamy (EGY) bt Hana Moataz (EGY) 3-0: 11-9, 11-8, 11-8 (34m)

Draw: Men’s RD2 – to be played 19 January

[4] Mostafa Asal (EGY) v Patrick Rooney (ENG)

Greg Lobban (SCO) v Mohamed Abouelghar (EGY)

Nathan Lake (ENG) v Mohamed Elsherbini (EGY)

Cesar Salazar (MEX) v [5] Mohamed Elshorbagy (ENG)

[6] Mazen Hesham (EGY) v Auguste Dussourd (FRA)

Fares Dessouky (EGY) v Miguel Rodriguez (COL)

Youssef Ibrahim (EGY) v Nick Wall (ENG)

[WC] Andrew Douglas (USA) v [2] Diego Elias (PER)

Draw: Women’s RD2 – to be played 19 January

[4] Nele Gilis (BEL) v Sana Ibrahim (EGY)

Rowan Elaraby (EGY) v Lucy Turmel (ENG)

Amina Orfi (EGY) v Nadine Shahin (EGY)

[WC] Caroline Fouts (USA) v [7] Tinne Gilis (BEL)

[6] Nour ElTayeb (EGY) v Emily Whitlock (WAL)

Sabrina Sobhy (USA) v Sivasangari Subramaniam (MAS)

Zeina Mickawy (EGY) v Mariam Metwally (EGY)

Rachel Arnold (MAS) v [2] Nouran Gohar (EGY)

The prestigious J.P Morgan Tournament of Champions 2024 got underway today in New York City across four different venues with 32 matches taking place to decide the round two match ups.

Event wildcards Caroline Fouts and Andrew Douglas scored big upsets against French duo Melissa Alves and Sebastien Bonmalais to reach the second round in New York for the first time in their careers.

18-year-old Fouts is ranked 50 places below Alves in the current PSA World Rankings but produced a mature performance against the experienced World No.20 to book her place in round two. 

The American found herself 2-1 down in the contest but stuck to her aggressive, attacking style to constantly ask questions of Alves and force the Frenchwoman into many difficult situations. After levelling at 2-2, Fouts ran out to a 7-1 lead and didn’t take long to win the deciding game 11-3 and reach the second round of a Platinum event for the first time.

“It’s such a great experience,” said Fouts after her win.

“Last year I had a similar opportunity but I was really grateful to get through in a solid five game match today. I think this year I’ve had more opportunities in bigger events and I’ve learned a lot from the Challenger Tour events that I’ve played. I think I’ve really grown as a player.

“I had the chance to play in a home World Championships in Chicago last year and I’m just so hungry to be in these bigger events. I’m working hard to be in them on merit and more consistently too.”

Andrew Douglas is ranked 20 places below France’s Sebastien Bonmalais but after securing a 2-0 lead with a close 12-10 win in game two, the American went from strength to strength at the New York Athletic Club and closed out the match 3-0 to set up a meeting with defending champion Diego Elias in round two.

Egyptian duo Malak Khafagy and Yahya Elnawasany also scored upsets on day one as they overcame European duo Tesni Murphy (formerly Evans) and Nicolas Mueller at the Nicol Club and Harvard Club to progress.

Day two will see the top seeds enter the tournament with selected action now taking place on the iconic all glass court inside Grand Central Terminal. Glass court action will be available to watch live on SQUASHTV .

Results: J.P. Morgan Tournament of Champions 2024 Men’s RD1

Omar Mosaad (EGY) bt Rory Stewart (SCO) 3-1: 11-9, 13-11, 7-11, 11-9 (59m)

Ramit Tandon (IND) bt Saurav Ghosal (IND) 3-1: 11-3, 8-11, 11-7, 11-7 (49m)

Iker Pajares (ESP) bt Farkas Balazs (HUN) 3-0: 11-8, 11-1, 12-10 (47m)

Gregoire Marche (FRA) bt Leung Chi Hin Henry (HKG) 3-0: 11-6, 11-4, 11-6 (39m)

Faraz Khan (USA) bt Abdulla AL-Tamimi (QAT) 3-1: 11-9, 10-12, 11-3, 11-6 (35m)

Tsz Kwan Lau (HKG) bt Leonel Cardenas (MEX) 3-1: 11-9, 11-9, 9-11, 12-10 (46m)

Yahya Elnawasany (EGY) bt Nicolas Mueller (SUI) 3-1: 6-11, 11-9, 12-10, 12-10 (47m)

Patrick Rooney (ENG) bt Shahjahan Khan (USA) 3-0: 11-4, 11-9, 11-2 (35m)

Greg Lobban (SCO) bt Leandro Romiglio (ARG) 3-0: 11-8, 11-7, 11-7 (39m)

Mohamed Abouelghar (EGY) bt David Baillargeon (CAN) 3-0: 11-3, 11-7, 11-5 (29m)

Nathan Lake (ENG) bt Karim El Hammamy (EGY) 3-1: 9-11, 11-3, 11-5, 11-4 (42m)

Cesar Salazar (MEX) bt Raphael Kandra (GER) 3-1: 11-9, 6-11, 12-10, 11-8 (45m)

Auguste Dussourd (FRA) bt Nicholas Spizzirri (USA) 3-1: 11-6, 11-8, 7-11, 11-4 (43m)

Youssef Ibrahim (EGY) bt Timothy Brownell (USA) 3-1: 11-7, 8-11, 11-7, 11-5 (43m)

Nick Wall (ENG) bt Curtis Malik (ENG) 3-0: 11-2, 11-2, 11-2 (18m)

[WC] Andrew Douglas (USA) bt Sebastien Bonmalais (FRA) 3-0: 11-5, 12-10, 11-5 (32m)

Results: J.P. Morgan Tournament of Champions 2024 Women’s RD1

Tomato Ho (HKG) bt Emilia Soini (FIN) 3-0: 11-8, 11-7, 11-2 (23m)

Malak Khafagy (EGY) bt Tesni Murphy (WAL) 3-1: 13-11, 4-11, 11-2, 11-6 (40m)

Lucy Beecroft (ENG) bt Ineta Hopton (LAT) 3-1: 11-9, 11-2, 9-11, 11-3 (31m)

Georgia Adderley (SCO) bt Grace Gear (ENG) 3-0: 13-11, 11-2, 11-6 (30m)

Fayrouz Aboelkheir (EGY) bt Anna Serme (CZE) 3-0: 11-2, 11-4, 11-2 (16m)

Hana Ramadan (EGY) bt Millie Tomlinson (ENG) 3-0: 11-4, 11-4, 11-6 (23m)

Nicole Bunyan (CAN) bt Hollie Naughton (CAN) 3-0: 11-3, 11-7, 11-6 (26m)

Hana Moataz (EGY) bt Ka Yi Lee (HKG) 3-1: 13-15, 11-9, 11-3, 11-7 (39m)

Sana Ibrahim (EGY) bt Salma Eltayeb (EGY) 3-0: 11-7, 13-11, 11-9 (39m)

Lucy Turmel (ENG) bt Charlotte Pastel (USA) 3-0: 11-3, 11-4, 11-0 (22m)

Nadine Shahin (EGY) bt Nour Aboulmakarim (EGY) 3-1: 11-7, 11-5, 8-11, 11-5 (31m)

[WC] Caroline Fouts (USA) bt Melissa Alves (FRA) 3-2: 10-12, 11-8, 7-11, 11-8, 11-3 (57m)

Emily Whitlock (WAL) bt Enora Villard (FRA) 3-1: 11-4, 8-11, 11-3, 11-4 (38m)

Zeina Mickawy (EGY) bt Kenzy Ayman (EGY) 3-2: 12-10, 8-11, 11-1, 11-13, 11-6 (42m)

Mariam Metwally (EGY) bt Marie Stephan (FRA) 3-0: 11-5, 11-8, 11-1 (22m)

Rachel Arnold (MAS) bt Tsz-Wing Tong (HKG) 3-0: 11-7, 11-9, 11-7 (29m)

Draw: Men’s RD2 – to be played 18 January

[1] Ali Farag (EGY) v Omar Mosaad (EGY)

Baptiste Masotti (FRA) v Ramit Tandon (IND)

Iker Pajares Bernabeu (ESP) v Gregoire Marche (FRA)

Faraz Khan (USA) v [8] Tarek Momen (EGY)

[7] Marwan Elshorbagy (ENG) v Tsz Kwan Lau (HKG)

Youssef Soliman (EGY) v Victor Crouin (FRA)

Yahya Elnawasany (EGY) v Aly Abou Eleinen (EGY)

Eain Yow Ng (MAS) v [3] Paul Coll (NZL)

Draw: Women’s RD2 – to be played 18 January

[1] Nour ElSherbini (EGY) v Sarah-Jane Perry (ENG)

Tomato Ho (HKG) v Malak Khafagy (EGY)

Lucy Beecroft (ENG) v Georgia Adderley (SCO)

Farida Mohamed (EGY) v [8] Olivia Weaver (USA)

[5] Georgina Kennedy (ENG) v Salma Hany (EGY)

Fayrouz Aboelkheir (EGY) v Hana Ramadan (EGY)

Satomi Watanabe (JPN) v Nicole Bunyan (CAN)

Hana Moataz (EGY) v [3] Hania El Hammamy (EGY)

Draw: Men’s RD2 – to be played 19 January

[4] Mostafa Asal (EGY) v Patrick Rooney (ENG)

Greg Lobban (SCO) v Mohamed Abouelghar (EGY)

Nathan Lake (ENG) v Mohamed Elsherbini (EGY)

Cesar Salazar (MEX) v [5] Mohamed Elshorbagy (ENG)

[6] Mazen Hesham (EGY) v Auguste Dussourd (FRA)

Fares Dessouky (EGY) v Miguel Rodriguez (COL)

Youssef Ibrahim (EGY) v Nick Wall (ENG)

[WC] Andrew Douglas (USA) v [2] Diego Elias (PER)

Draw: Women’s RD2 – to be played 19 January

[4] Nele Gilis (BEL) v Sana Ibrahim (EGY)

Rowan Elaraby (EGY) v Lucy Turmel (ENG)

Amina Orfi (EGY) v Nadine Shahin (EGY)

[WC] Caroline Fouts (USA) v [7] Tinne Gilis (BEL)

[6] Nour ElTayeb (EGY) v Emily Whitlock (WAL)

Sabrina Sobhy (USA) v Sivasangari Subramaniam (MAS)

Zeina Mickawy (EGY) v Mariam Metwally (EGY)

Rachel Arnold (MAS) v [2] Nouran Gohar (EGY)

Mostafa Asal and Nour El Sherbini claimed the first PSA World Tour titles of 2024, winning their respective finals at the SmartCentres Kinetic Florida Open. 

Asal – the men’s No.2 seed – beat compatriot Mazen Hesham 3-1 in the first final of the day, before El Sherbini saw off Hania El Hammamy 3-0 in another all-Egyptian final. 

Both Asal and Hesham had come through tough, five-game matchups in the last four, and it was Asal who made the better start here, capitalising on some unforced errors in the early rallies to open up a 7-3 lead in the first. 

He soon had six game balls but only needed one, converting his first opportunity with a hard backhand winner to the forehand side, but the tables were turned in game two, with Hesham giving himself three game balls at 10-7. 

Asal saved the first two with some desperate retrievals, but he had no answer to Hesham’s winner at 10-9, with an overhead cross-court backhand volley hitting the nick and rolling. 

The No.2 seed stood in disbelief for a few moments after that winner, but he regained his focus in what would prove to be an extremely quick third, needing just five minutes to take it 11-1 and move within one game of glory. 

Hesham had requested a new ball to start game four, but it made little difference, with the younger of the two Egyptians flying out to a 5-1 lead in the blink of an eye. 

He would not have to wait long for glory either, winning the next six points to wrap up victory, securing his first title of the season and his 13th overall. 

Speaking moments after his win, Asal gave some honest thoughts about how he nearly walked away from the sport last year. 

“It’s kind of a relief,” he said. “I’m super, super happy with that. Champions find a way, always find a way. 

“Even in the ups and downs, there was lots of learning on the road. There were lots of downs, up a little bit and up again from the dead. I’m saying up from the dead because I was completely out, I was quitting when I knew I had the third ban. 

“I actually didn’t want to play again and there were lots of things happening. No one knows what’s inside of you, even if I have a bad attitude or a good attitude, it was tough for me as well.  

“It’s a learning process, and I learned a lot about finding the balance between everything in my life. I’m 22 years old and trying to improve myself and like I say, champions find a way. 

“I have been wrong a lot, but I’m maturing. I’m still 22 so I’m finding the right balance with the right people. Thankfully, the third time when I was banned, I learned a lot of things and I went to the right people.” 

Asal’s win was followed by glory for El Sherbini in the women’s final, capping a dominant week in which the World No.1 did not drop a game. 

That was a stark contrast to her opponent El Hammamy, who had needed four games to beat Amina Orfi in the quarter-finals and then come through an epic 99-minute matchup with Nouran Gohar in the last four. 

Given that difference in minutes on court, it was perhaps no surprise that it was El Sherbini who made the better start, controlling the early rallies before closing out game one when an El Hammamy lob went out. 

Any thoughts of another comfortable game for the top seed were quickly dispelled in game two, as El Hammamy found herself 9-4 up inside 10 minutes, but El Sherbini proved her class, reeling off seven points on the bounce – the last two on stroke decisions – to snatch the game away from her opponent. 

Determined not to give up without a fight, El Hammamy continued to throw everything at El Sherbini, even giving herself whiplash after a sprawling dive on the backhand side. 

But her efforts would ultimately prove to be in vain, as El Sherbini made the most of her freshness to clinch game three 11-7 and secure the 38th title of her PSA career. 

“I’m very pleased, very happy with my performance,” she said after victory. 

“I’m really pleased with how I’m playing, how I’m attacking, and I think I’ve improved from the first round until the finals. I’m definitely playing good squash that I’m really happy with. 

“Hania definitely wasn’t playing her best and she was feeling it from the past couple of matches, but I’ll just take the win keep going.” 

Results: SmartCentres Kinetic Florida Open 2024 – Men’s Final 

[2] Mostafa Asal (EGY) bt [4] Mazen Hesham (EGY) 3-1: 11-4, 9-11, 11-1, 11-1 (51m) 

Results: SmartCentres Kinetic Florida Open 2024 – Women’s Final 

[1] Nour El Sherbini (EGY) bt [3] Hania El Hammamy (EGY) 3-0: 11-5, 11-9, 11-7 (39m) 

Hania El Hammamy and Nouran Gohar produced another classic on semi-finals day at the SmartCentres Kinetic Florida Open, with El Hammamy emerging victorious after 99 minutes of breathtaking action. 

Almost seven months on from their record-breaking encounter at the CIB World Tour Finals – the longest PSA Tour women’s match ever – the Egyptian pair put on another show, this time with a spot in the Florida Open final on the line. 

They split the opening two games before Gohar took command of game three, quickly moving to 5-0 up and then closing it out 11-5 following a video review. 

Back came El Hammamy once more, though, with a new ball in play to start game four, and she ensured the match would go to a decider after winning the game on a stroke. 

It looked as though that might’ve taken the wind out of Gohar’s sails, too, as El Hammamy was quickly 5-1 up in the fifth, with victory in her sights. 

But this time it was Gohar who fought back, eventually forcing a tie break after some more brutal rallies. 

El Hammamy had already squandered one match ball at 10-9 up when the tie break began, and missed another two at 11-10 and 12-11, with the tension inside the arena now palpable. 

Gohar would then have a match ball of her own, saved by El Hammamy on a short backhand volley, but the drama would finally come to an end moments later. 

After bringing up another match ball on a stroke decision, El Hammamy clinched victory in sensational fashion, diving for a forehand and then hitting a backhand from her knee, before Gohar hit the tin to bring an end to the match. 

“It’s always physical against Nouran, it’s always long,” El Hammamy said after her win. 

“I just heard it was 99 minutes, so yeah, it’s always tough. I think today was more about squash, so I’m definitely glad about my performance, I’m glad that I managed to fight.” 

Discussing what she was thinking during the fifth-game tie break, El Hammamy added: “I knew how I was losing my match points, I made a lot of errors.  

“I had two match balls that I think I lost with an error, so maybe on the third or fourth, I tried to play safe. Even if I wanted to go short, I tried to play safe, not hit a winner, and I think with that dive I saved myself from one of those winners that Nouran likes to play. I dug deep in that last rally and I’m very pleased and very proud of myself.” 

El Hammamy also touched on the help of Laura Massaro, who she’s been working with remotely. 

“We called twice this morning,” she said. “She tried to prepare me mentally as much as possible for this match.  

“This matchup is not always about squash. For the last three meetings, it was more than squash, it was more about interactions with the ref, interactions between both of us, so she prepared me mentally for these scenarios, she prepared me well to know how to deal with them, so thanks to her, and thanks to my coach Omar AbdelAziz as well.” 

That match capped a breathtaking semi-finals day in which two other matches also went the distance. 

Mostafa Asal came back from 2-1 down to beat his idol, Mohamed Elshorbagy, 3-2, after Mazen Hesham had upset top seed and home favourite Diego Elias in the first match of the day. 

Playing at his home club, Elias came into the match with an impressive record against the Egyptian, winning 12 of their last 15 meetings, including each of the last nine, but he was unable to add another win to that record, going down in 77 minutes on the glass court. 

“I’m very, very pleased,” Hesham said after his win. “I haven’t beaten Diego in God knows how long.” 

“It’s been a few years and he’s been at the top of the rankings for around the last two years. He’s improved so much, mentally and physically, and he’s such a nice guy outside of the court as well. 

“Inside the court, I think both of us were a bit feisty but that happens with this sport. We respect each other so much, and I was really pleased with how both of us fought and kept our composure at the end, and I was really lucky that it went my way. Other times, it wouldn’t go my way, but it did today.” 

Nour ElSherbini was the only player to record a straight-games win, beating Olivia Weaver 3-0 in the other women’s semi-final. 

The finals of the SmartCentres Kinetic Florida Open take place from 15:00 (GMT-5) tomorrow, January 14. Watch the action live on SQUASHTV.    

Results: SmartCentres Kinetic Florida Open 2024 – Men’s Semi-Finals 

[4] Mazen Hesham (EGY) bt [1] Diego Elias (PER) 3-2: 11-7, 8-11, 5-11, 11-9, 11-7 (77m) 
[2] Mostafa Asal (EGY) bt [3] Mohamed Elshorbagy (ENG) 3-2: 7-11, 11-7, 10-12, 11-1, 11-2 (70m) 

Results: SmartCentres Kinetic Florida Open 2024 – Women’s Semi-Finals 

[1] Nour ElSherbini (EGY) bt [4] Olivia Weaver (USA) 3-0: 11-8, 11-6, 11-9 (38m) 
[2] Mostafa Asal (EGY) bt [3] Mohamed Elshorbagy (ENG) 3-2: 7-11, 11-7, 10-12, 11-1, 11-2 (70m) 

Draw: Men’s Final

[4] Mazen Hesham (EGY) v [2] Mostafa Asal (EGY) 

Draw: Women’s Final

[1] Nour ElSherbini (EGY) v [3] Hania El Hammamy (EGY) 

Mohamed Elshorbagy celebrated his 700th PSA Tour match with a win, beating Gregoire Marche to reach the semi-finals of the SmartCentres Kinetic Florida Open. 

The Englishman became the youngest player to hit that milestone since records began on what was also his 33rd birthday, and made sure it would be a day to remember with a 3-1 win. 

After opening up a sizeable lead early in game one, Elshorbagy was pegged back to 6-6 by the Frenchman, but he closed out the game nonetheless when Marche attempted an ambitious back-court boast that found the tin on game ball. 

Game two was more straightforward for Elshorbagy, who kept Marche at arm’s length throughout before hitting a crisp, cross-court forehand which found the nick on game ball, but Marche responded well to keep his hopes alive by winning game three. 

Looking to regain control, Elshorbagy dominated the opening rallies of game four to give himself a 6-2 lead, but Marche would not go down without a fight. 

He hit a brilliant forehand smash into the nick at 7-4 down then closed the gap to a single point after winning a breathless rally in which he had to recover from his knees, but ultimately it would prove to be too little too late, with another tin on match ball handing Elshorbagy victory. 

Speaking about his achievement of reaching 700 matches, Elshorbagy revealed his pride, while setting his sights on more milestones in the future. 

“I’m really proud,” he said. “I’m not sure how many players get to 700 – I know Greg [Gaultier] and James [Willstrop] were in the 700s – and I’m really, really proud of the achievement of being the youngest ever to do it. 

“But hopefully I have a few more years left in me, hopefully I can think about 800, and why not think about the 1,000th match one day, as long as I can keep myself healthy.” 

Speaking on the performance today, Elshorbagy added: “I’m really, really pleased. I think I played much better than yesterday, focus-wise, and performance-wise I felt much more comfortable with the court.  

“Greg obviously had a tough match yesterday and sometimes than can make you a little bit slow at the start and you get sharper as the match goes on, so after I lost that third game, I had to take the pace up to another level in the fourth, especially at the start.” 

Elshorbagy will take on Egypt’s Mostafa Asal in the semi-finals, after the ‘Raging Bull’ dominated Sebastien Bonmalais, dropping only 10 points in a 3-0 win, while Diego Elias and Mazen Hesham will contest the other match. 

The women’s semi-finals will also be contested by the top four seeds, after Hania El Hammamy came through an intense quarter-final clash with Amina Orfi in the day’s final match. 

The two young Egyptians put on a show for the watching Florida crowd, going toe-to-toe across more than an hour, with El Hammamy eventually running out a 3-1 winner. 

“It was a very tough match to be honest,” El Hammamy said after the win. 

“Amina is a very good player, she’s still 16 but the maturity and the level she’s playing at is definitely not 16, and I needed to be prepared very well. 

“But I’m definitely pleased with that performance. There’s probably a couple of areas in the second game that made me play a fourth, but overall I’m happy with that performance.” 

El Hammamy will play the returning Nouran Gohar, who beat Farida Mohamed 3-0, with the winner set to play either Nour ElSherbini or Olivia Weaver. 

The semi-finals of the SmartCentres Kinetic Florida Open take place from 13:00 (GMT-5) tomorrow, January 13. Watch the action live on SQUASHTV.  

Results: SmartCentres Kinetic Florida Open 2024 – Men’s Quarter-Finals 

[4] Mazen Hesham (EGY) bt [6] Joel Makin (WAL) 3-0: 11-8, 11-5, 11-8 (42m) 
[3] Mohamed Elshorbagy (ENG) bt Gregoire Marche (FRA) 3-1: 11-8, 11-7, 7-11, 11-6 (42m) 
[1] Diego Elias (PER) bt [5] Tarek Momen (EGY) 3-0: 11-6, 11-6, 11-3 (38m) 
[2] Mostafa Asal (EGY) bt Sebastien Bonmalais (FRA) 3-0: 11-3, 11-1, 11-5 (38m) 

Results: SmartCentres Kinetic Florida Open 2024 – Women’s Quarter-Finals 

[4] Olivia Weaver (USA) bt Chan Sin Yuk (HKG) 3-0: 11-5, 11-5, 11-6 (24m) 
[1] Nour ElSherbini (EGY) bt [5] Sivasangari Subramaniam (MAS) 3-0: 11-8, 11-9, 11-3 (34m) 
[2] Nouran Gohar (EGY) bt [8] Farida Mohamed (EGY) 3-0: 12-10, 12-10, 11-3 (54m) 
[3] Hania El Hammamy (EGY) bt [6] Amina Orfi (EGY) 3-1: 12-10, 7-11, 11-4, 11-6 (64m) 

Draw: Men’s Semi-Finals 

[1] Diego Elias (PER) v [4] Mazen Hesham (EGY) 
[3] Mohamed Elshorbagy (ENG) v [2] Mostafa Asal (EGY) 

Draw: Women’s Semi-Finals 

[1] Nour ElSherbini (EGY) v [4] Olivia Weaver (USA) 
[3] Hania El Hammamy (EGY) v [2] Nouran Gohar (EGY) 

Nouran Gohar made an emphatic return to action following a lengthy injury layoff, beating fellow Egyptian Zeina Mickawy 3-0 in round two of the SmartCentres Kinetic Florida Open. 

Gohar last played on the PSA World Tour at the QTerminals Qatar Classic in September, but she dominated proceedings here as if she’d never been away, taking just 27 minutes to book her spot in the last eight. 

Games one and two were comfortable for the World No.2, but it was her performance in game three that will have put her competitors on notice, with Gohar recording a bagel to complete the victory. 

“It feels great,” she said moments after victory. 

“Obviously, it takes you a while to get used to the court and the movements, even if you’re training, it’s completely different to a tournament and it has been almost six months, so it’s been quite a long time, but I’m glad to be back for sure.” 

Speaking about the process she went through to get back to playing again, Gohar added: “It’s funny, I was literally learning how to walk again, it felt so weird to not be able to walk for a while.  

“I was tying my shoes and not able to take two steps in a row and I was in so much pain for so long as well, so to be pain free is an absolute pleasure. And I just think it can get better, that’s the good part, that’s the positive about it, I can see myself improving every single day.”

Discussing the 11-0 scoreline in game three, the Egyptian revealed that she was solely focused on playing good squash. 

“I was just trying to find my range again, find my weight of shots and feeling comfortable on court,” she said. 

“I was just in the zone, not really thinking about the score to be honest, I was just thinking about where I’m hitting the ball.” 

Gohar was joined in the quarter-finals by Hania El Hammamy and Amina Orfi, who both won in the evening session to set up a mouthwatering rematch of their encounter at last season’s PSA World Championships, which El Hammamy won 3-2. 

In the men’s draw, French duo Sebastien Bonmalais and Gregoire Marche both knocked out seeded players, beating Miguel Rodriguez and Mohamed ElSherbini respectively. 

Speaking after his win, Bonmalais said: “I think it’s the best match I’ve had in my career. 

“I’m happy to win, Miguel is very strong and very dangerous. I usually struggle to play him because he’s fast and I don’t like people who are fast like me, but I managed to slow down the pace and focus on my shots being very tight.” 

Farida Mohamed, Mohamed Elshorbagy and Mostafa Asal were the other winners on day three. 

The quarter-finals of the SmartCentres Kinetic Florida Open take place from 12:00 (GMT-5) tomorrow, January 12. Watch the action live on SQUASHTV.  

For updates from the PSA World Tour, follow the PSA on X, Facebook, Instagram, TikTok  and YouTube. 

Results: SmartCentres Kinetic Florida Open 2024 – Men’s RD2 (bottom half) 

Gregoire Marche (FRA) bt [8] Mohamed ElSherbini (EGY) 3-2: 9-11, 11-8, 11-4, 7-11, 11-8 (83m) 
[3] Mohamed Elshorbagy (ENG) bt Nathan Lake (ENG) 3-0: 11-7, 12-10, 12-10 (31m) 
[2] Mostafa Asal (EGY) bt Leonel Cardenas (MEX) 3-0: 11-3, 11-5, 11-2 (38m) 
Sebastien Bonmalais (FRA) bt [7] Miguel Rodriguez (COL) 3-0: 11-6, 12-10, 11-2 (39m) 

Results: SmartCentres Kinetic Florida Open 2024 – Women’s RD2 (bottom half) 

[8] Farida Mohamed (EGY) bt Tomato Ho (HKG) 3-1: 11-6, 8-11, 11-2, 12-10 (32m) 
[2] Nouran Gohar (EGY) bt Zeina Mickawy (EGY) 3-0: 11-7, 11-6, 11-0 (27m) 
[3] Hania El Hammamy (EGY) bt Nour Aboulmakarim (EGY) 3-1: 11-5, 11-4, 8-11, 11-2 (36m) 
[6] Amina Orfi (EGY) bt Kenzy Ayman (EGY) 3-0: 11-4, 11-5, 11-2 (24m) 

Draw: Men’s Quarter-Finals 

[6] Joel Makin (WAL) v [4] Mazen Hesham (EGY) 
[3] Mohamed Elshorbagy (ENG) v Gregoire Marche (FRA) 
[1] Diego Elias (PER) v [5] Tarek Momen (EGY) 
Sebastien Bonmalais (FRA) v [2] Mostafa Asal (EGY) 

Draw: Women’s Quarter-Finals 

Chan Sin Yuk (HKG) v [4] Olivia Weaver (USA) 
[1] Nour ElSherbini (EGY) v [5] Sivasangari Subramaniam (MAS) 
[8] Farida Mohamed (EGY) v [2] Nouran Gohar (EGY) 
[3] Hania El Hammamy (EGY) v [6] Amina Orfi (EGY) 

The WSF Men’s and Women’s World Team Championships will be held concurrently for the first time in event history between December 9-15 when the Hong Kong Football Club hosts the historic tournament.

The WSF World Team Championships have been held biennially since 1967 (men’s)and 1979 (women’s),contested between teams of three players. North African squash powerhouse Egypt is currently the holder of both titles, with Nour El Sherbini, Nouran Gohar, Hania El Hammamy and Nour El Tayeb winning the women’s title in December 2022, while Ali Farag, Mostafa Asal, Mazen Hesham and Youssef Soliman won the men’s title in New Zealand last month.

The Hong Kong Football Club is one of the largest sports clubs in Asia. The club has a long-standing tradition of hosting major international sporting events, making it an ideal venue for the 2024 WSF World Team Championship. HKFC’s commitment to sporting excellence and its world-class facilities ensure that players and spectators alike will have an exceptional experience.

Founded in 1886, the club is a renowned squash destination, having hosted the inaugural WSF World Doubles Championships in 1997 and the 2014 WSF World Masters Championships, as well as numerous PSA World Tour and junior events.

The club’s facilities include three ASB glass courts, four traditional courts and space for a spectacular all-glass show court.

WSF President Zena Wooldridge said: “It is a historic milestone for our sport to deliver a combined WSF World Team Championships and Hong Kong, China and the Hong Kong Football Club are an excellent choice to host both flagship events together for the first time.

“This is another important step towards true gender parity in our sport and we’re confident this new format will prove popular to players and fans in raising the level of excitement and entertainment. Hong Kong’s vibrant squash community and its expertise in successfully organising major events makes it an ideal choice to host this momentous event.

“Following squash’s recent Olympic recognition, this news is an exciting way to start 2024.”

HKFC Chairman Neil Jensen expressed his excitement, stating: “We are honoured to have been chosen as the host for the 2024 WSF World Team Squash Championship. This is a historic moment for Hong Kong as we welcome this prestigious double world championship for the first time. 

“We are proud to showcase our state-of-the-art facilities and renowned hospitality at our club, and we look forward to making the championship a truly memorable event.”

Hong Kong’s Chan Sin Yuk upset No.7 seed Nada Abbas to reach her first ever PSA World Tour Gold event quarter-final on day two of the SmartCentres Kinetic Florida Open. 

The 21-year-old is ranked at No.51 in the world, 34 places below her Egyptian opponent, but defied those rankings to emerge victorious in five games.  

After losing a lengthy tie break 16-14 in the first, Chan controlled much of the next two games to take a 2-1 lead, but a change in ball handed the advantage back to Abbas to start the fourth, with the Egyptian racing into a 6-1 lead.  

Chan responded in style, though, levelling at 6-6 before giving herself a match ball at 10-9 up.  

She was unable to convert and Abbas would send the match into a decider moments later, but undeterred, Chan continued to be aggressive at the front of the court – a tactic that served her well throughout – and ran away with game five to book her spot in the last eight.  

“I’m really happy to be through,” she said after victory. 

“This was my first time playing against Nada but I’ve always known that she’s a really good player, so before the game I reminded myself many times that I had to take every point seriously, and give no easy points away.  

“She did that better than me in the first game so she took the first, and I had a match ball in the fourth and was really gutted not to have converted it, but I’m really happy with how I did in the fifth game.  

“I’ve always attacked a lot to the front, but today I was not thinking about winning with the drop shots, but just to play to the space, and that worked well.” 

Chan was joined in the quarter-final draw by both the men’s and women’s top seeds, with Nour ElSherbini and Diego Elias recording 3-0 wins in the evening session. 

Women’s World No.1 ElSherbini cruised to a 3-0 victory over fellow Egyptian Salma Eltayeb in just 20 minutes, while Elias – who trains at the Kinetic Indoor Racquet Club where this event is being held – saw off the challenge of England’s Nick Wall. 

Speaking after her win, ElSherbini said: “I’m happy with the way I played, happy with the first win of the year and looking forward to this week. 

“It was actually the first time I’ve ever played Salma. She’s a young, up-and-coming player so you don’t quite know what her game is or how she’s playing, but I know she’s very dangerous and has very good hands, so I had to be ready from the first point.” 

Joel Makin and Olivia Weaver were among the other winners on day two, beating Leandro Romiglio and Nicole Bunyan respectively. 

Round two of the SmartCentres Kinetic Florida Open concludes from 12:00 (GMT-5) tomorrow, January 11. Watch the action live on SQUASHTV. 

Results: SmartCentres Kinetic Florida Open 2024 – Men’s RD2 (top half) 

[6] Joel Makin (WAL) bt Leandro Romiglio (ARG) 3-0: 14-12, 11-7, 11-7 (45m) 
[4] Mazen Hesham (EGY) bt Abdulla AL-Tamimi (QAT) 3-1: 10-12, 11-3, 11-2, 11-2 (41m) 
[1] Diego Elias (PER) bt Nick Wall (ENG) 3-0: 11-5, 11-2, 11-8 (39m) 
[5] Tarek Momen (EGY) bt Raphael Kandra (GER) 3-1: 5-11, 11-8, 11-9, 11-4 (45m) 

Results: SmartCentres Kinetic Florida Open 2024 – Women’s RD2 (top half) 

Chan Sin Yuk (HKG) bt [7] Nada Abbas (EGY)3-2: 14-16, 11-9, 11-4, 10-12, 11-4 (57m) 
[4] Olivia Weaver (USA) bt Nicole Bunyan (CAN) 3-0: 11-2, 11-5, 11-4 (28m) 
[1] Nour ElSherbini (EGY) bt Salma Eltayeb (EGY) 3-0: 11-3, 11-5, 11-4 (20m) 
[5] Sivasangari Subramaniam (MAS) bt Lucy Beecroft (ENG) 3-1: 11-6, 11-7, 11-13, 11-8 (42m) 

Draw: Men’s RD2 (bottom half) – to be played January 11th 

Gregoire Marche (FRA) v [8] Mohamed ElSherbini (EGY) 
[3] Mohamed Elshorbagy (ENG) v Nathan Lake (ENG) 
Leonel Cardenas (MEX) v [2] Mostafa Asal (EGY) 
[7] Miguel Rodriguez (COL) v Sebastien Bonmalais (FRA) 

Draw: Women’s RD2 (bottom half) – to be played January 11th 

[8] Farida Mohamed (EGY) v Tomato Ho (HKG) 
Zeina Mickawy (EGY) v [2] Nouran Gohar (EGY) 
[3] Hania El Hammamy (EGY) v Nour Aboulmakarim (EGY) 
Kenzy Ayman (EGY) v [6] Amina Orfi (EGY) 

The Professional Squash Association (PSA) has today confirmed its PSA World Tour calendar for the remainder of the 2023-24 season, with 22 events set to take place between January – June.

The first tournament of 2024 is the inaugural SmartCentres Kinetic Florida Open which began yesterday and will finish on January 14, while the prestigious J.P. Morgan Tournament of Champions will be the first Platinum event of the year, taking place between January 17-25 at New York’s iconic Grand Central Terminal.

The North American leg of the tour continues with events in Brooklyn, Cincinnati, Detroit, Pittsburgh, Houston, Washington, Chicago, Calgary and Cleveland. The City Tattersalls Group Australian Open will be held in Sydney between March 20-24 and takes place in between the Optasia Championships (March 12-17) and the London Classic, which will make its debut at the famous Alexandra Palace between March 27 – April 1.

Also making its debut on the PSA World Tour calendar will be the German Open presented by Sportwerk, which will bring the world’s best players to Hamburg between April 3-7. The tour then heads to Egypt for the Black Ball Squash Open and El Gouna International Squash Open. The most prestigious tournament in squash, the PSA World Championships, will be held between May 9-17.

The Manchester Open closes out May, before the British Open returns to Birmingham’s Rep Theatre between June 2-9, marking the final Platinum event of the season. The PSA World Tour Finals will draw the campaign to a close between June 18-23.

PSA World Tour Calendar: January – June 2023

January 9-14     SmartCentres Kinetic Florida Open (Gold): Boynton Beach, United States

January 17-25     J.P. Morgan Tournament of Champions (Platinum): New York, United States

January 25-29     Carol Weymuller Open (Bronze, Women): Brooklyn, United States

January 31 – February 4     Bahl and Gaynor Cincinnati Gaynor Cup (Silver, Women): Cincinnati, United States

January 31 – February 4     Sturbridge Capital Motor City Open (Silver, Men): Detroit, United States

February 6-10     DAC Pro Squash Classic (Silver, Women): Detroit, United States

February 7-11     Pittsburgh Open (Silver, Men): Pittsburgh, United States

February 13-18     HSC Houston Men’s Open (Gold, Men): Houston, United States

February 14-18     Squash on Fire Open (Bronze): Washington, United States

February 21-28     Windy City Open presented by the Walter Family (Platinum): Chicago, United States

March 3-7     Canadian Open (Silver, Men): Calgary, Canada

March 5-10     Squash in the Land Presented by Greater Cleveland Squash (Silver, Women / Bronze, Men): Cleveland, United States

March 12-17     Optasia Championships (Gold, Men / Bronze, Women): Wimbledon, England

March 20-24     City Tattersalls Group Australian Open (Bronze): Sydney, Australia

March 27 – April 1     London Classic (Gold): London, England

April 3-7     German Open presented by Sportwerk (Bronze): Hamburg, Germany

April 11-16     Black Ball Squash Open (Gold): Cairo, Egypt

April 19-26     El Gouna International Squash Open (Platinum): El Gouna, Egypt

May 9-17     PSA World Championships: Venue TBA

May 22-26     Manchester Open (Silver): Manchester, England

June 2-9     British Open (Platinum): Birmingham, England

June 18-23     PSA World Tour Finals: Venue TBA

The above events are joint men’s and women’s tournaments unless stated otherwise. The venues of the PSA World Championships and PSA World Tour Finals will be announced separately.

Nathan Lake avoided a major upset in round one of the SmartCentres Kinetic Florida Open, coming from 5-2 down in the deciding fifth game to beat wild card Jeremias Azaña. 

Lake, the World No.29, needed more than an hour in total to get past his Argentine opponent, who was making the most of home-court advantage and a vocal crowd cheering him on, and pushed the experienced lefty all the way. 

Ultimately, though, Lake came out top, clinching victory with a crisp backhand winner to set up a second-round clash with compatriot Mohamed Elshorbagy. 

Speaking after his win, Lake said: “I’m pleased to come through at the end. It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out that that could’ve gone either way, and I’m just happy I got the win in the end. 

“I tried to remember times when I’ve been in winning positions against players ranked above me, and it’s a funny thing, your head. I was trying to think… he’s under his own pressure, try and stay focused and let it land where it does, so in general I was pretty happy with how I kept mentally strong. 

“It’s lovely to be in Florida. I live in New York at the moment and it’s very cold, so I’m pretty happy to swap the snow for a bit of sunshine, and I think the court looks spectacular.” 

Lake’s victory was one of five matches to go the distance on an exciting opening day in South Florida, with Nicole Bunyan among the other players to record a 3-2 win. 

The Canadian endured a tough first half of the season, but twice came from a game down to level her match with Mariam Metwally, eventually winning in 48 minutes to kick off 2024 in style. 

“It’s been a rough season so far, I have to say,” she said following her victory. 

“The first half didn’t start so well, but I knew that my level has been pretty decent, I just haven’t been able to find that form in tournaments. 

“So even though it was just a couple of tournaments between this week and the last one, I felt like coming into the new year would just be a clean slate, so I just tried to approach it like that, change a couple of things in my mindset and it paid off. 

“I told myself never to relax [in game five], because if I do, then I’ll just lose my structure, and she’s capable of hitting some pretty outrageous winners, so when I was up 8-3, 9-3, I just told myself to stay with it.” 

Gregoire Marche, Abdulla Al-Tamimi and Leonel Cardenas also won in five, with Cardenas needing six match balls to eventually see off Egypt’s Yahya Elnawasany, claiming the tie break 12-10. 

Round two of the SmartCentres Kinetic Florida Open begins from 12:00 (GMT-5) tomorrow, January 10. Watch the action live on SQUASHTV.

Results: SmartCentres Kinetic Florida Open 2024 – Men’s RD1 

Abdulla Al-Tamimi (QAT) bt Curtis Malik (ENG) 3-2: 12-14, 11-6, 11-9, 8-11, 11-1 (55m) 
Leandro Romiglio (ARG) bt Shahjahan Khan (USA) 3-1: 13-15, 11-6, 11-4, 11-2 (50m) 
Nick Wall (ENG) bt Ramit Tandon (IND) 3-0: 11-7, 11-6, 11-5 (28m) 
Raphael Kandra (GER) bt David Baillargeon (CAN) 3-0: 11-9, 11-5, 11-9 (33m) 
Nathan Lake (ENG) bt [WC] Jeremias Azaña (ARG) 3-2: 11-7, 3-11, 11-6, 6-11, 11-8 (68m) 
Gregoire Marche (FRA) bt Cesar Salazar (MEX) 3-2: 11-7, 9-11, 11-2, 6-11, 11-5 (55m) 
Leonel Cardenas (MEX) bt Yahya Elnawasany (EGY) 3-2: 11-5, 7-11, 11-5, 11-13, 12-10 (72m) 
Sebastien Bonmalais (FRA) bt Karim El Hammamy (EGY) 3-1: 13-11, 9-11, 11-7, 11-8 (71m) 

Results: SmartCentres Kinetic Florida Open 2024 – Women’s RD1 

Nicole Bunyan (CAN) bt Mariam Metwally (EGY)3-2: 4-11, 11-7, 9-11, 11-5, 11-3 (48m) 
Chan Sin Yuk (HKG) bt Tsz-Wing Tong (HKG) 3-1: 11-8, 11-2, 9-11, 11-6 (39m) 
Lucy Beecroft (ENG) bt [WC] Danielle Ray (CAN) 3-0: 11-4, 11-9, 11-9 (26m) 
Salma Eltayeb (EGY) bt Ineta Mackevica (LAT) 3-0: 11-6, 11-3, 11-5 (18m) 
Zeina Mickawy (EGY) bt Grace Gear (ENG) 3-1: 9-11, 11-9, 11-5, 11-2 (37m) 
Tomato Ho (HKG) bt Millie Tomlinson (ENG)3-1: 11-4, 9-11, 11-7, 11-5 (42m) 
Nour Aboulmakarim (EGY) bt Emilia Soini (FIN) 3-1: 11-9, 7-11, 11-3, 11-5 (37m) 
Kenzy Ayman (EGY) bt Anna Serme (CZE) 3-0: 11-7, 11-4, 11-9 (21m) 

Draw: Men’s RD2 (top half) – to be played January 10th 

[6] Joel Makin (WAL) v Leandro Romiglio (ARG) 
Abdulla Al-Tamimi (QAT) v [4] Mazen Hesham (EGY) 
Raphael Kandra (GER) v [5] Tarek Momen (EGY) 
[1] Diego Elias (PER) v Nick Wall (ENG) 

Draw: Women’s RD2 (top half) – to be played January 10th 

[7] Nada Abbas (EGY) v Chan Sin Yuk (HKG) 
Nicole Bunyan (CAN) v [4] Olivia Weaver (USA) 
[1] Nour ElSherbini (EGY) v Salma Eltayeb (EGY) 
Lucy Beecroft (ENG) v [5] Sivasangari Subramaniam (MAS) 

Draw: Men’s RD2 (bottom half) – to be played January 11th 

Gregoire Marche (FRA) v [8] Mohamed ElSherbini (EGY) 
[3] Mohamed Elshorbagy (ENG) v Nathan Lake (ENG) 
Leonel Cardenas (MEX) v [2] Mostafa Asal (EGY) 
[7] Miguel Rodriguez (COL) v Sebastien Bonmalais (FRA) 

Draw: Women’s RD2 (bottom half) – to be played January 11th 

[8] Farida Mohamed (EGY) v Tomato Ho (HKG) 
Zeina Mickawy (EGY) v [2] Nouran Gohar (EGY) 
[3] Hania El Hammamy (EGY) v Nour Aboulmakarim (EGY) 
Kenzy Ayman (EGY) v [6] Amina Orfi (EGY) 

Chennai: The Squash Rackets Federation of India (SRFI) has decided to curtail the entries (boys and girls) from India this year to the British Junior Open, considered the premier international squash event for juniors and held every January, to nine in all.

Considering that this is a prestigious tournament, the Federation believed it was time participation from the country should be restricted to the best performers of the year. Accordingly it has decided to pick five players with the best record not only in the national but Asian championship in 2019 for participation with financial benevolence from the Government. Another four who are all national champions in various age categories have been given the nod for participation at own cost.

In previous years, said Mr Cyrus Poncha, the Secretary General of SRFI, entry of any young player who had a fairly good ranking would get accepted and routed through the Federation. Last year in fact 25 players had been to Birmingham for the event but “we decided in keeping with the high status of the tournament, it would reflect Indian squash better by having the excellent performers of the year alone participating,” he added.

In keeping with this criteria, the following selections have been made for this year’s event:

Players to be funded by Government: 1.Veer Chotrani (Asian U-19 winner, 2019), did not participate in national; SRFI ranked 2. Yash Fadte(Asian U-19 silver medallist,2019), national champion, SRFI rank 1; 3.Neel Joshi (Asian U-17 silver medallist, 2019, national champion, SRFI rank 1; 4. Sanya Vats(Asian girls U-19 silver medallist, national champion, SRFI rank 1); 5. Anahat Singh (Asian U-13 silver medallist, national champion, SRFI rank 1)

Players to participate at own cost: 1. Yuvraj Wadhwani (boys U-15 national champion, SRFI rank 1); 2. Aishwarya Khubchandani ( girls U-17 national champion, SRFI rank 1); 3. Tiana Parasrampuria(girls U-15 national champion, SRFI rank 1); 4. Darshil Parasrampuria (boys U-11 national champion, SRFI rank 2)

Kathmandu: India added one more gold and a silver to the medal’s tally on Tuesday at the end of the Squash events in the South Asian Games being held here.

On the final day, the men’s and women’s teams played their final and decisive round robin league matches and while the women beat Pakistan 2-1 for the gold, the men counterparts went down to Pakistan 1-2 to settle for the silver. The highlight of the women team’s triumph was the resolute show of Tanvi Khanna, who came on to the court with the tie score 1-1. Though a touch of uncertainty caught up with her briefly, Tanvi defeated Faiza Zafar over four games to signal India’s second gold in squash. The first gold had come through Tanvi in the singles event held prior to the team event competition. For India, Sunayna Kuruvilla played the first match and she put India 1-0 up after beating Moqadaas Ashraf. However Sanya Vats failed against Madina Zafar and went down fighting. The stage was then set for Tanvi to take the lead role and she turned the star performer.

Later in the men’s competition, Harinder Pal Sandhu could not stand up to Tayyab Aslam and put India in the defensive. Even though Abhishek Pradhan then made amends by beating Muhammad Asim Khan over five well contested games. The win did not inspire Abhay Singh coming next and he lost to Farhan Mahboob and India’s quest ended.

India thus ended its squash campaign with two golds, three silver and one bronze.

The results: Men: India lost to Pakistan 1-2 (Harinder Pal Sandhu lost to Tayyab Aslam 11-5, 6-11, 4-11, 10-12; Abhishek Pradhan beat Muhammad Asim Khan 11-9, 4-11, 11-4, 5-11, 11-4; Abhay Singh lost to Farhan Mehboob 8-11, 10-12, 5-11); Women: India bt Pakistan 2-1 (Sunayna Kuruvilla bt Moaqadaas Ashraf 11-5, 11-8, 11-9; Sanya Vats lost to Madina Zafar 9-11, 11-13, 7-11; Tanvi Khanna bt Faiza Zafar 11-5, 4-11, 11-4, 11-5)

Florida: India’s Vikram Malhotra annexed his 11^th PSA title after winning the $ 12000 Life Time Betty Griffin memorial squash tournament, a PSA challenger event here late on Sunday. The top seeded Indian beat the sixth seeded Jesus Camacho of Mexico in the final 11-6, 11-6, 11-4.

Interestingly it was here in Florida that Vikram had won his first PSA title back in 2015. With his latest success, Vikram has also the highest number of PSA titles for an Indian male player. Ncidentally both Joshna Chinappa and Dipika Pallikal Karthik have 11 titles each in the women’s category.

The Indian had a comfortable start in getting past Anthony Rogal of England in the first round, then struggled a little against Leandro Romiglio of Argentina next in the quarters before winning in four games. Third seed Mazen Gamal of Egypt did not prove a push over in the semi-final, with the 84 minute match ending 11-9, 12-14, 11-3, 11-9 in Vikram’s favour.

Kathmandu: India finished with a gold, two silver and a bronze medal in the squash individual events which concluded on Sunday in the South Asian Games being held here. The team events get underway later in the day.

The gold medal for India came in the women’s singles which in any case was not a surprise with both the finalists being top seed Sunayna Kuruvilla and second seed Tanvi Khanna. The surprise was that it was Tanvi who won, after a dramatic reversal of form. Where Tanvi, ever keen to put in her best, seemed her usual self, Sunanya for a change looked a touch overawed by the occasion. Sunayna looking a little lethargic in the front helped Tanvi to make the most of the rival’s discomfiture. Playing her shots with confidence and pushing Sunayna around, Tanvi grabbed the chance to script a 11-8, 9-11, 12-10, 11-5 win and cover herself with glory. Sunayna took the silver medal.

In the men’s match involving the Pakistani top seed Tayyab Aslam and India’s Harinder Pal Sandhu, the Indian looked a touch jaded after the long match overnight. Though his characteristic fight surfaced, Tayyab looked lot more agile to dictate the tempo leaving Harinder to do all the retrievals. Even though Harinder grabbed the first game, the fortunes swung from there in favour of Tayyab. The Pakistan player ensured a 8-11, 11-3, 11-6, 11-8 win for the gold. Harinder settled for the silver medal. As the losing semi-finalist, Abhay Singh earned the bronze medal.

The team events in both sections are to be played on a round robin basis.

Kathmandu: India began its campaign on a positive note, winning its opening matches in the round-robin league in both the men’s and women’s section in the Squash team event of the South Asian Games here on Sunday.

The men beat Nepal 3-0 and the women too chalked out an identical margin win over Nepal again.

The results: Men: India bt Nepal 3-0 (Abhay Singh bt Arhant Simha 11-6, 11-4,11-8; Abhishek Pradhan bt Amir Belinda 11-3, 11-5, 11-1; Abhishek Agarwal bt Dipak Thapa 11-3, 11-1, 11-1); Women: India bt Nepal 3-0 (Tanvi Khanna bt Krishna Thapa 11-2,11-5, 11-6; Sanya Vats bt Bhavana Sunuwar 11-4, 11-2, 11-3; Urwashi Joshi bt Bipana Bhlon 11-4, 11-5, 11-2)

London: Second seed Jan Van Den Herrewegen of Belgium showed perfect control over proceedings to douse the enthusiam out of the Indian seventh seed Abhay Singh in three straight games 11-5, 12-10, 11-7 to enter the final of the Aston and Fincher Sutton Coldfield International, a PSA challenger event here late on Friday.

It was a repeat of the semi-final last year with one difference, Abhay had the last laugh then in what was a five-game battle. Jan had learnt the lesson and played with clear haste to start with to unsettle the Indian. Showing variety in his strokes, Jan forced Abhay to mistakes. However in the second game Abhay gave glimpse of a possible turn around as he made short of an early 1-5 arrears to force the Belgian to err. Abhay even had a game ball but Jan was able to wriggle out to win on extended points and that virtually sealed the match for him. He cruised through the next to win the match.

London: Indian ace Saurav Ghosal almost pulled off a stunner but the five game quarter final thriller against the top seed Mohamed ElShorbagy of Egypt ended in the latter’s favour late on Friday in the Channel VAS squash championship, a PSA World Tour gold event being held in Surrey.

The Egyptian just about managed to beat the seventh seeded Indian 5-11,11-9,11-9, 10-12, 12-10 and it took him 85 minutes to complete the task and in the process saved a match ball and some anxious moments.

London: Saurav Ghosal who opened his campaign in the second round showed good touch to oust Tom Richards of England 11-3, 11-5, 11-5 to move into the quarterfinal of the Channel VAS Championship, a PSA world tour gold event being held at the St George’s Hill LTC in Surrey.

The seventh-seeded Indian is once again pitted to face the top seed Mohamed ElShorbagy of Egypt next. The two had only a few days ago met in the World Championship where ElShorbagy won but after getting a feel of the Indian ace’s fighting qualities.

Chennai: The Indian juniors are ready for their next big challenge, the World junior men’s and women’s individual championship (July 30 to August 4) followed by the World junior women’s team championship(August 5 to 9) both to be held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

In all 11 players will be participating from India in these championships. The junior women’s team comprises Sanya Vats, Yoshna Singh, Aishwarya Khubchandani and Ananya Dabke. All these four players will be joined by Amira Singh and Megha Bhatia in the Individual competitions, that precedes. The team event is held once in two years. At the 2017 edition held in Tauranga, New Zealand, the girls had finished 6^th.

The boys who will be taking part in the junior men’s individual championship are Tushar Shahani, Veer Chotrani, Arnaav Sareen, Rahul Bhaita and Yash Fadte.

The squad will be accompanied by the following officials: Coaches: Bhuvneshwari Kumari, Abhinav Sinha and Cyrus Poncha. M. Dimple will be the physiotherapist.

11 July 2019: Baseline Ventures today announced the signing of two of India’s biggest squash stars as Joshna Chinappa and Saurav Ghosal joined the roster of athletes managed by the company. Both the athletes have been flag bearers for the country in squash and grabbed headlines recently when they won the men’s and women’s title at the Asian Championships in May earlier this year.

Kolkata’s Saurav Ghosal has been a consistent performer for more than a decade and had recently reached his career-best ranking of World number 10 in April this year, becoming the first Indian to break into the top 10 in the process. The 32-year-old had a prodigious start to his career and had become the first Indian to achieve number one ranking at Junior level in the sport. He was also the first Indian to bag a medal in the sport when he secured a bronze medal at Doha in the 2006 Asian Games.

Joshna Chinappa has been one of India’s finest squash players who has been bringing the country medals for the last 15 years. In 2014, she paired with Dipika Pallikal to win India’s first Commonwealth Games Gold medal in Glasgow, a feat she almost repeated in 2018 Commonwealth Games in Gold Coast eventually bagging a Silver. 2016 saw her break into the top 10 of squash world rankings. She enjoyed a successful campaign in the Jakarta Palembang Asian Games where she won the Bronze in the Singles event and a Silver in the Team event. In June, she broke the record of Bhuvneshwari Kumari by lifting the National squash title for a record 17^th time.

Chinappa expressed her delight on the development, saying, “I’m thrilled to sign with Baseline Ventures and am looking forward to a fruitful association with the company. I have a busy 2019 ahead and I hope to make it count by putting my best foot forward. Ghosal also expressed similar emotions when he said, “It’s been a good year for me personally. After achieving my career-best ranking, I’m really excited to have signed with Baseline Ventures.”

Vishal Jaison, Co-founder of Baseline Ventures, sounded extremely excited about the signings. He was quoted as saying, “Saurav and Joshna are proven performers in their sport and arguably the best squash talent this country has produced. It’s an absolute pleasure to have them with us. Their name only makes the roster of athletes Baseline Ventures exclusively manages more impressive.”

 The company that was founded in 2014 is one of the leaders in sports, events, entertainment and licensing in India. They represent and manage some of the biggest names in Indian sports including PV Sindhu, Pankaj Advani, Prithvi Shaw, Smriti Mandhana and Ravindra Jadeja among others. Earlier this year, they had also signed shooters Apurva Chandela and Saurabh Chaudhary apart from table tennis star Sathiyan Gnanasekaran and swimmer Sajan Prakash.