Fayrouz Aboelkheir held on to beat Farida Mohamed (Photo PSA)
Fayrouz Aboelkheir held on to beat Farida Mohamed in a thrilling semi-final clash at the Open Squash Classic 2025, on a day which saw three of the four matches go the distance in New York.
All four encounters were taking place on the all-glass show court at Open Squash FiDi, nestled in the heart of Downtown Manhattan, with views to the Statue of Liberty from one end of the club.
A healthy crowd was in attendance from the first rally of the day, too, with Nada Abbas and Malak Khafagy the first to take to the court.
Khafagy had upset No.3 seed Salma Hany in the last eight but was unable to repeat that feat 24 hours later, going down 3-0 in 33 minutes.
That would prove to be the shortest and least dramatic of the semi-final matches, with the remaining three clashes totalling more than three hours.
The first of those was Leonel Cardenas against impressive young Frenchman Melvil Scianimanico, who had knocked out seventh seed Mohamed ElSherbini and England’s Nick Wall en route to the last four.
He looked to have met his match in the form of Cardenas, though, losing the first two games 11-4, 11-8, but he stormed back into the match by winning the next two games, displaying more of the exceptional speed and athleticism that had unpinned his earlier wins this week.
Going into game five, he appeared to have momentum on his side, but Cardenas made his experience count, going short with more regularity and accuracy in the decider to help close it out 11-5.
By the the time the following match – between No.2 seed Aboelkheir and No.4 seed Mohamed – got underway, the seats were close to capacity inside the club, and the pair produced a thrilling encounter which swung one way and then the other.
It was defending champion Mohamed who made the better start, displaying her trademark powerful hitting on her way to a 10-6 lead in game one.
Aboelkheir would save all four game balls, plus another in the tiebreak, and while she ultimately lost the game 13-11, she perhaps took some confidence from that fightback into game two, leveling the match with an 11-6 success.
An 11-1 scoreline in game three put Aboelkheir in control, but Mohamed – who had coach Ahmed Effat as well as her mum and sister watching on – turned the tide with a one-sided win of her own in the fourth, letting out regular roars of emotion upon winning crucial points.
The contrast in emotions was stark as the match went deep into a fifth, with Mohamed turning to her corner and celebrating crucial points throughout, while Aboelkheir remained calm and composed.
It appeared as though it would be Mohamed heading into the final to defend her title, as she moved within two points of victory at 9-6, but Aboelkheir had other ideas.
She swiftly leveled at 9-9 and then brought up a match ball with a deep backhand crosscourt, before Mohamed found the tin with a backhand serve return on the following point.
Aboelkheir and Abbas will now go head-to-head for the title in a rematch of the Carol Weymuller Open final from earlier this year, which Aboelkheir won to claim her maiden World event title.
The men’s final, meanwhile, will see last year’s runner-up Victor Crouin go up against Cardenas, after the Frenchman’s five-game win over Eain Yow Ng.
In a similar vain to Cardenas’ win over Scianimanico, Crouin controlled much of the first two games before losing the next two, with the Malaysian reading his opponent much better in games three and four.
He also seemed to enjoy the benefit of a bouncier new ball in game four, despite it being requested by Crouin, and went into the decider with momentum behind him.
But if Ng had the momentum on his side, Crouin had the crowd on his, and he raced away with an 11-4 success, setting himself up for a chance to go one better than in this event 12 months ago.
RESULTS
Men’s Semi-Finals
[4] Leonel Cardenas (MEX) bt. Melvil Scianimanico (FRA) 3-2: 11-4, 11-8, 5-11, 2-11, 11-5 (58m)
[2] Victor Crouin (FRA) bt. [3] Eain Yow Ng (MAS) 3-2: 11-7, 11-4, 7-11, 6-11, 11-4 (76m)
Women’s Semi-Finals
[1] Nada Abbas (EGY) bt. [7] Malak Khafagy (EGY) 3-0: 12-10, 11-9, 11-6 (33m)
[2] Fayrouz Aboelkheir (EGY) bt. [4] Farida Mohamed (EGY) 3-2: 11-13, 11-6, 11-1, 3-11, 11-9 (50m)
