LONDON – Egypt’s Salma Hany has claimed the 2025 Manchester Squash Open title after beating top seed and defending champion Georgina Kennedy in a thrilling final in the PSA Squash Tour Bronze-level events. The No.3 seed won 11-9 in the fifth game to capture her first title of the season.
Hany was electric out the gate as she controlled all areas of the court in the opening game and put her stamp on proceedings from the outset. She rattled off the winners and in no time and took the game 11-2 to silence the home crowd.
Kennedy fought back in game two and started to get in front of Hany. Kennedy’s trademark quick boast was starting to ask questions of the Egyptian’s movement and answers weren’t coming.
“I still can’t believe it’s over. What a battle.” Salma said after her win.
“I feel really proud with how I kept it together till the end. I felt really sharp but playing Gina is not easy at all. She’s such a fighter. We played a battle here last year so I’m just really happy I could win this one.
“This means a lot. This is extra special. Especially after my injury at the start of the season and it was really important to me and my team and we’ve all been through a lot with the injury,” the Egyptian star added according to psasquashtour.com.
“It was really tough and I just wanted to stand up for myself and my team and I’m always so grateful for their support and here’s to more wins.”
Kennedy’s line hitting improved and so did her points haul. She moved through the gears to win the game 11-9.
Hany returned to winning ways in the third game and hit an incredible nine winners to move back ahead on the scoreboard.
The World No.15 made use of the slightly spongey ball to find winner after winner but Kennedy’s basic game was not good enough and invited Hany to attack.
After taking the third game 11-3, Kennedy chose to change the ball which worked perfectly at the start of the game.
The top seed ran out to a 4-1 lead by stepping up on the volley and forced Hany into making guesses when her attacks were loose.
Hany gave up the ghost at the end of the game with Kennedy holding a strong lead at 10-5 and it wasn’t ling before we entered the fifth game.
In the men’s final, Mexico’s Leonel Cardenas has claimed the Manchester Open 2025 title in superb style after coming through a five-set battle with Egypt’s top seed Aly Abou Eleinen.
Both men’s finalists had reached the title decider relatively unscathed and knew that only their best would be good enough to capture the trophy.
The Mexican No.1 stormed through the first game, using his strength around the middle of the court to dominate the rallies and leave Eleinen searching for answers. None came for the top seeded Egyptian and in a matter of minutes, the No.2 seed was in the lead.
The Egyptian fired back in game two and started to assert himself at the front of the court to showcase his attacking abilities. He claimed the game 11-5 to draw level in a match that was just getting started.
