Nicole Bunyan (Photo PSA)
Nicole Bunyan delighted her home crowd on day one of the Canadian Women’s Open 2025 after staging an excellent comeback victory against Amina El Rihany at Brookfield Place in Toronto.
Bunyan, backed by a partisan crowd, fought back from 2-1 down against the young Egyptian to notch an 11-8, 4-11, 2-11, 11-6, 11-9 victory at the Silver-level event on the PSA Squash Tour.
The request for a new ball from the Canadian No.2 at the end of the third looked to have halted El Rihany’s momentum as the 22-year-old appeared to be in full control with a 2-1 lead. However Bunyan roared back to clinch a place in round two by overturning the deficit.
“That was an uncomfortable match for sure!” she said afterwards.
“Even though I won the first it was tough going. I put a lot of work into her but I was feeling it a little bit with the nerves and everything. I’ve been wanting to get a good win under my belt this season which had yet to come.
“I found myself down but after I won that first I dipped a little bit and she started using that soft ball and started attacking a lot. I had to grind my way back into it and fortunately somehow I did.”
Saran Nghiem also produced a sensational fightback as she recovered from 2-0 down to dispatch Haya Ali 3-2.
Nghiem’s reward is a second round meeting with top seed Amina Orfi, who lost out to Hania El Hammamy this evening in the Comcast Business U.S Open title decider in Philadelphia.
“To have support is amazing and to everyone who came out today, we really appreciate it,” she said.
“I didn’t have anyone in my corner until the last game when Lucy [Beecroft] came and really kicked my butt! I didn’t think about the ranking too much, when I was 0-2 down I wanted to put in a good performance and not have any regrets.”
Home hopes ended for Canadian wildcards Niki Shemirani and Danielle Ray after losing out to Alicia Mead and Nour Heikal, respectively. Egypt’s Nardine Garas came from 2-1 down to overcome Xin Ying Yee, while Anahat Singh and Marta Dominguez beat Cindy Merlo and Tsz-Wing Tong, respectively.
Meanwhile, the Toronto Athletic Club Open 2025 also kicked off today. The first two rounds of the Copper-level men’s event are being held at the Toronto Athletic Club, with the stunning glass court at Brookfield Place hosting the quarter finals onwards.
Perry Malik claimed one of the biggest results of the opening day after he downed former World No.17 Cesar Salazar comprehensively 3-0 in 24 minutes.
Results
Round One: Saran Nghiem (ENG) bt. Haya Ali (EGY) 3-2: 6-11, 8-11, 11-6, 12-10, 11-3 (43m); Nardine Garas (EGY) bt. Xin Ying Yee (MAS) 3-2: 12-10, 5-11, 9-11, 11-5, 11-8 (47m); Nicole Bunyan (CAN) bt. Amina El Rihany (EGY) 3-2: 11-8, 4-11, 2-11, 11-6, 11-9 (57m); Alicia Mead (ENG) bt. Niki Shemirani (CAN) 3-0: 11-6, 11-7, 11-4 (23m); Marta Dominguez (ESP) bt. Tsz-Wing Tong (HKG) 3-1: 11-8, 11-6, 6-11, 13-11 (45m); Nour Heikal (EGY) bt. Danielle Ray (CAN) 3-0: 11-5, 11-9, 11-3 (22m); Anahat Singh (IND) bt. Cindy Merlo (SUI) 3-0: 11-3, 11-3, 11-4 (17m); Torrie Malik (ENG) bt. Hannah Craig (IRL) 3-0: 11-7, 12-10, 11-3 (31m)
