ODENSE, Denmark — Egypt’s Malak Khafagy and Scotland’s Rory Stewart clinched the titles of the Odense Squash Open.
The Egyptian came into the tournament as one of the unseeded players, and caused upset after upset to take the title.
Khafagy, who is just 18-years-old, started her week with a tight five-game victory over Frenchwoman Ella Galova, but from there, she went from strength to strength.
In the second round, the Egyptian defeated the tournament’s top seed, Cindy Merlo, before then getting the better of England’s Torrie Malik in the quarter finals, with both wins coming in four games.
Khafagy downed Spain’s Marta Dominguez Fernandez in the last four to reach her third final on Tour.
The final saw Khafagy come up against Finnish No.1 Emilia Soini in Odense, Denmark.
The opening game was the crucial one, with the 18-year-old Egyptian winning it on a tie-break 12-10.
From there, she was in control, winning the second 11-6 before cruising to the third game 11-2. The win is her first on Tour, and she joins a growing list of young Egyptians to taste success prior to turning 19.
In the men’s event, Scotland’s Rory Stewart came in as the No.3 seed, and he went on to win for the third time in the 2022-2023 campaign.
After receiving a first-round bye, the Scot started with straight games wins over Malaysia’s Mohammad Syafiq Kamal and Switzerland’s Yannick Wilhelmi.
That was followed by a semi-final victory over Englishman Ben Coleman to see Stewart move into the final.
Spain’s Bernat Jaume was his opponent in the final on Saturday, and although the Spaniard won the third game on a tie-break, the Scot was able to win the fourth to secure the victory, his third this season.
Elsewhere, top seed Ibrahim El-Kabbani won an all-Egyptian final to claim the Bangamata Squash Tournament in Chattogram, Bangladesh.
El-Kabbani came in as the top seed for the Challenger 5 level competition in the Bangladeshi city of Chattogram, and he would drop just a single game throughout the event.
He started his week with a confident 11-5, 11-5, 11-6 victory over Bangladesh’s MD Parvez Karim, before then coming from behind to down Malaysia’s Amir Amirul in four games. The fourth of those went to a tie-break, which the Egyptian claimed 12-10.
Another Malaysian lay in wait in the quarter-finals of the tournament, where El-Kabbani downed Hafiz Zhafri in straight games.
He then also won in three in the semi-finals, beating the tournament’s surprise package, No.16 seed Hazem Hossam 11-2, 11-5, 11-2.
The final saw El-Kabbani take on compatriot Seif Shenawy, with the tournament’s No.2 seed actually being ranked two places higher. However, El-Kabbani showed his class in the final. He won 11-7, 12-10, 11-2 to secure his first title of the 2022-2023 season.
Meanwhile, India’s Velavan Senthilkumar took the title at the Poznan Squash Open after beating top seed Rowan Damming in a lengthy final.
The Challenger 3 level competition at the 11Punkt Squash Klub in the Polish city of Poznan, and the Indian came into the tournament as the No.8 seed.
He started his week with a comfortable victory wildcard Tomasz Matejski, before then causing his first upset of the week.
Senthilkumar then defeated England’s Robert Downer in four games in the quarter-finals, in one of two matches he played.
The second saw him defeat Spaniard Nilo Vidal, the No.5 seed. The Indian required less than half an hour to get the job done, winning 11-7, 11-5, 11-4 to move through to the final in Poznan.
The final was a huge battle between Senthilkumar and Dutchman Rowan Damming.
The Indian took a two-game advantage in the contest after wining the second on a tie-break 13-11, but the reigning World Junior Champion fought back to level the match, after also winning the fourth on a tie-break.
It was anyone’s to win in the decider, and Senthilkumar took it 11-7 to claim his fourth Tour title, and his first since 2021.
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