Amina Orfi (Photo PSA)
Grasshopper Cup 2026 top seed Amina Orfi recovered from 1-0 down to triumph 2-1 and progress to the semi finals of the Gold-level event at Zurich Hauptbahnhof.
The World No.3 came out on top in an all-Egyptian battle with Salma Hany to earn her place in the last four.
Orfi, playing at the Grasshopper Cup for the first time, fell behind after Hany’s high tempo helped her take the lead but Orfi stepped up and capitalised on errors from her opponent to come back and win 8-11, 11-6, 11-4.
“I thought I played well,” she said.
“It’s been a year since we last played and she’s been playing well in the last few tournaments, she has great hands and I was excited to get on court. What helped me come back was the crowd and the amazing venue. It’s full as well so that gave me the energy to keep going.
“i’m really enjoying it [playing in Zurich]. It’s my first time playing this tournament and I think everything about it is so nice. I’m enjoying my time here in Zurich.”
Orfi’s semi-final opponent will be Sivasangari Subramaniam – a rematch of their encounter in the final of the Rich Venus Karachi Open – after the Malaysian comprehensively advanced to the last four with a dominant 11-5, 11-4 success against Nada Abbas.
Gina Kennedy and Satomi Watanabe will square off in the second women’s semi-final after they defeated Fayrouz Aboelkheir and Jasmine Hutton, respectively.
Kennedy, who lost to Watanabe in the final of the Steel City Open in March, came from 1-0 down to topple Aboelkheir 2-1, while Japanese No.1 Watanabe stretched her unbeaten run on the PSA Squash Tour over Hutton to five matches following a 2-0 win.
In the men’s side of the draw, Victor Crouin is through to the semi finals of the Grasshopper Cup for the first time after he came back from 1-0 down to overcome Declan James 2-1.
Crouin, who reached the quarter finals on his Zurich debut in 2025, has gone one better in 2026 after ending James’s excellent run at this year’s event.
James, who vanquished No.5 seed Youssef Ibrahim in round two, clawed back a 7-3 deficit to win the first 12-10, but a wave of attacks from Crouin, combined with sustained pressure on the Englishman, helped him complete the turnaround, taking the second and third games 11-7, 11-7.
“I tried to play the best squash I could tonight. Declan [James] definitely made it very tough out there – he’s got such a good squash IQ on there, he was using his strength as well as he could and he was trying to make the game as clean as possible and try and make it difficult to move around,” he said.
“As well as throwing the boast and the drop, he was being aggressive as much as possible and he made it really tough out there.
“In the second game I had to go close and he would still pick it up. I thought if I made it tough in the third I thought I could get that one.”
Former World Champion Diego Elias awaits Crouin in the semi finals on Saturday evening, with the tournament’s top seed holding off Mohamed Abouelghar 2-1.
2023 champion Karim Gawad and Joel Makin will lock horns for a place in the final to face either Elias or Crouin following their victories against Abhay Singh and Iker Pajares, respectively.
Gawad produced some of his scintillating best to defeat Singh 2-0, while Makin had to fight back from 1-0 down to see off Pajares 2-1.
Quarter-final Results
Men: [1] Diego Elias (PER) bt. [8] Mohamed Abouelghar (EGY) 2-1: 11-7, 7-11, 11-3 (43m); [3] Victor Crouin (FRA) bt. Declan James (ENG) 2-1: 10-12, 11-7, 11-7 (49m); [4] Joel Makin (WAL) bt. Iker Pajares (ESP) 2-1: 8-11, 11-6, 11-9 (50m); [2] Karim Gawad (EGY) bt. Abhay Singh (IND) 2-0: 12-10, 11-9 (31m)
Women: [1] Amina Orfi (EGY) bt. [6] Salma Hany (EGY) 2-1: 8-11, 11-6, 11-4 (46m); [3] Sivasangari Subramaniam (MAS) bt. [7] Nada Abbas (EGY) 2-0: 11-5, 11-4 (16m); [5] Georgina Kennedy (ENG) bt. [4] Fayrouz Aboelkheir (EGY) 2-1: 9-11, 11-1, 11-8 (28m); [2] Satomi Watanabe (JPN) bt. [8] Jasmine Hutton (ENG) 2-0: 11-5, 11-9 (21m)
