Anahat Singh (Photo PSA)
Anahat Singh and Declan James both reached their maiden Bronze-level finals, beating Sabrina Sobhy and Karim El Hammamy respectively on semi-finals day at the Squash on Fire Open 2026.
Teenage star Anahat had staged a stunning fightback to beat No.2 seed Sana Ibrahim in the quarter-finals, and was going up against the in-form Sabrina Sobhy – who recent reached a Silver-level final in Cleveland – 24 hours later.
If there was any lingering fatigue from going the distance with Ibrahim, 17-year-old Anahat showed no signs of it in the early exchanges on court, carving her way to a two-game lead inside 20 minutes, displaying the fluid, free-flowing style of squash that has served her so well in her young career so far.
At 7-5 up in the third, it appeared as though she might be heading through in straight games, too, but with some vocal American support in the crowd, Sobhy fought her way back into the contest, winning six of the next eight points to force a fourth game.
But key to Anahat’s impressive game are her composure and high squash IQ, both of which came to the fore in game four, as she stormed out to a 9-3 lead and within two points of victory.
Sobhy continued to fight for every point but would only win another two, with Anahat unable to hide her smile after booking a spot in the biggest final of her career to date.
That result followed a 3-1 win for James in the first men’s semi-final, albeit a 3-1 win that came in contrasting style to the 32-minute encounter between Singh and Sobhy.
Taking on Egypt’s El Hammamy – who had already knocked out the No.2 and No.5 seeds this week – James found himself behind after losing a 20-minute first game 11-9.
The experienced Englishman stuck to his patient gameplay, though, slowly wearing his opponent down with incredibly consistent hitting.
An 11-7 success in game two was followed by an 11-8 win in game three, as the match duration passed the 75-minute mark.
Had El Hammamy been able to force a decider, the match would have likely last more than 100 minutes, but instead James took control in the fourth, closing it out 11-5 when an El Hammamy forehand drop found the tin.
James’ opponent on finals day will be fellow Englishman and No.1 seed Mohamed Elshorbagy, who put in a dominant display to beat Fares Dessouky 3-0, reaching his 81st PSA Tour final in the process.
The women’s final, meanwhile, will also feature the No.1 seed, Gina Kennedy, after she put a disappointing first game behind her to beat Melissa Alves 3-1 in the day’s opening match.
SEMI-FINAL RESULTS
Women’s
[1] Georgina Kennedy (ENG) bt. [3] Melissa Alves (FRA) 3-1: 3-11, 11-2, 13-11, 11-8 (40m)
[7] Anahat Singh (IND) bt. Sabrina Sobhy (USA) 3-1: 11-9, 11-3, 9-11, 11-5 (32m)
Men’s
[6] Declan James (ENG) bt. Karim El Hammamy (EGY) 3-1: 9-11, 11-7, 11-8, 11-5 (90m)
[1] Mohamed ElShorbagy (ENG) bt. [3] Fares Dessouky (EGY) 3-0: 11-6, 11-5, 11-4 (34m)
