PHILADELPHIA — Egypt’s up-and-coming star Fayrouz Aboelkheir continued her superb start to the 2025/26 season with a hard-fought win over World No.18 Farida Mohamed in the final of the 2025 Chestnut PSA squash Classic.
The World No.11 was able to book her place in the final of the Silver-level final at The Philadelphia Club, when she beat top seed Tinne Gilis in the semi-finals in a thrilling five-game win.
No.4 seed Farida Mohamed, meanwhile, reached her first final of the season following a victory over No.2 seed Georgina Kennedy.
After losing out in the opening two games by 11-5 scorelines, British No.1 Kennedy was forced to withdraw from the match due to a wrist injury she originally picked up when warming up.
The match between Aboelkheir and Mohamed was the fifth meeting between the pair, with both sharing two wins each with the last two meetings being over 50-minute matches, so the final was set up to be a tough contest.
The first game of the evening proved to be exactly that, with Aboelkheir leading the opener 8-1. However, despite the advantage, she was clawed back by Mohamed, who brought the scores back to 9-7.
But despite her compatriots’ determined efforts, the 19-year-old was able to regain her grip on the game and respond well to the growing pressure, eventually winning 11-9.
The battle continued between the two Egyptians into the second game, with neither of them giving the other any breathing space, and with the score locked at 10-10, it was anyone’s to win.
Despite the strong start by Aboelkheir, her 23-year-old opponent was able to show her determined spirit once again in the second game, securing the final two points to win 12-10.
In the third game it seemed that nothing could separate the two finalists, with the scoreline reaching 11-11, psasquashtour.com reported.
But No.3 seed Aboelkheir was eventually able to overcome the challenges from her opponent, winning a gruelling 23-minute game 13-11.
And after a fatiguing 23-minute third game, Egypt’s up-and-coming star proved to be too much for her opponent in the fourth.
Despite the contest being close between the pairing, Aboelkheir was able to race towards the trophy, winning the final game 11-4 in five minutes.
The 19-year-old, Fayrouz Aboelkheir, was able to crown herself champion at the Chestnut Hill Classic 2025, beating her opponent, Farida Mohamed, 3-1, after a gruelling 55-minute match.
Gilis, Kennedy, Aboelkheir and Mohamed all advanced to the semi-finals of the Chestnut Classic after the quartet claimed respective wins in the quarter-finals.
Both home hopes were knocked out on day three of the event, as No.4 seed Mohamed defeated last year’s runner-up Marina Stefanoni in four games, while No.2 seed Kennedy got the better of the second American in the draw, No.5 seed Sabrina Sobhy.
Mohamed and Stefanoni were only split by two spots in the current PSA World Rankings coming into the match, but it was World No.18 Mohamed who managed to come on strong as the match entered its mid and latter stages. After losing a tight first game to World No.20 Stefanoni, the Egyptian rallied impressively, taking the next three games by 11-6, 11-8, 12-10 scorelines to book her spot in the semi-finals.
Mohamed’s opponent in the next round will be No.2 seed Georgina Kennedy, after the British No.1 continued her blemish-free tournament with a commanding 11-7, 11-6, 11-5 win over Sobhy.
After a runner-up finish at the Canadian Women’s Open last month, Kennedy continued her fine form with her second successive three-game win of the week, after previously defeating Nicole Bunyan in the second round.
In the other half of the draw, top seed Gilis and No.3 seed Aboelkheir both advanced to set up a semi-final showdown.
Belgian No.1 Gilis survived an early scare before eventually overcoming Scottish No.1 Georgia Adderley in four games. The World No.8 looked in trouble after losing the opening game 11-5, but held her composure to firstly draw herself level, before moving through to take the subsequent three games, 11-7, 11-3, 11-6 to wrap up her win after 53 minutes.
Meanwhile, Aboelkheir continued her impressive start to the 2025/26 season with confident straight games win over No.8 seed Malak Khafagy.
The 19-year-old has already captured the Open Squash Classic title and reached the Diamond-level CIB Egyptian Open semi-finals this season and looked in fine form as she dispatched her compatriot by an 11-7, 11-6, 11-9 scoreline.
