Egyptian teenager Mohamad Zakaria is through to his maiden Diamond-level quarter-final after dispatching Juan Vargas in straight games at the British Open squash championships at the Rep Theatre in Birmingham.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The two-time World Junior Champion was foiled by Mohamed ElShorbagy in round three of last year\u2019s event and by Joel Makin at the same stage of the Egyptian Open \u2013 the other Diamond event on the PSA Squash Tour calendar \u2013 at the start of this season, but the 18-year-old was successful on this occasion for a last eight berth. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Victory for Zakaria ends Vargas\u2019 memorable run in Birmingham, after the Colombian staged a magnificent comeback to axe three-time champion ElShorbagy in round two. However Zakaria was too strong for Vargas, winning 11-7, 11-4, 11-7. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cHe [Vargas] played a very good match,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI thought I was prepared but I wasn\u2019t. I didn\u2019t start well and I didn\u2019t find my range on the court, maybe towards the back I am hitting good lines but apart from that I couldn\u2019t really find the front but I will get better towards the end of the tournament and I am sure I will figure it out. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIt has been a very good season for me, every match I am playing I am just telling myself just don\u2019t ruin this season, don\u2019t lose a match you shouldn\u2019t be losing and I feel like it has been working so far. I am happy that I have been showing a really strong level so far.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Standing in Zakaria\u2019s way of a place in the semi finals is defending champion Diego Elias, who overcame Youssef Soliman to progress to the quarter finals. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Elias, who became the second South American to win the British Open after Miguel Rodriguez achieved that feat in 2018, won 3-0 after the Egyptian retired due to injury. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Reigning World Champion Mostafa Asal and Victor Crouin go head-to-head in the quarter finals on Thursday following their straight game wins over Eain Yow Ng and Adam Hawal, respectively. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
In the women\u2019s event, Fayrouz Aboelkheir will feature in her first British Open quarter-final following her come-from-behind victory over her Egyptian compatriot Salma Hany. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Aboelkheir hasn\u2019t gone beyond round three in the previous two years in Birmingham, but the World No.7 prevailed this time as she defeated her fellow countrywoman 3-1. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Hany, who was winless against Aboelkheir in over three years on Tour, deservedly drew first blood with a 11-7 victory, but 20-year-old Aboelkheir battled back to win the ensuing games 11-7, 11-4, 11-2 for a quarter-final spot. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cSalma [Hany] is such a great player, she\u2019s been on Tour longer than I have and I think she was one of my biggest wins before and I\u2019m happy to be on court with her,\u201d she said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIt\u2019s such a pleasure \u2013 I was growing up watching her as one of the most attacking players on Tour so I\u2019m glad to be through today. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIf someone had told me 10 days ago I would be playing in the quarter finals I would say you\u2019re crazy! But I\u2019m here and I believe that I belong in that place.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
World No.1 Hania El Hammamy will meet Aboelkheir in the last eight on Thursday, and the former champion continued her hunt for a second British Open crown after downing Rowan Elaraby 3-0. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
El Hammamy, who lifted the British Open in 2022, stretched her unbeaten run over Elaraby on Tour to nine matches following a 13-11, 11-3, 11-7 victory. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Recently-crowned World Champion Amina Orfi will lock horns with Amanda Sobhy in the last eight, as the 18-year-old overcame Melissa Alves \u2013 who retired due to injury at the start of the third game \u2013 while U.S. No.2 Sobhy produced an immaculate performance to overcome Tinne Gilis 3-0. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI am very pleased with that. We are neck and neck in the rankings and I saw this as a great opportunity to not only get a scalp against someone in the top ten, but in terms of playing people around my area and the rankings and having a good fair battle, which is always nice. So I am very proud of my performance today,\u201d Sobhy said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIt\u2019s really hard to not enjoy a venue like this [The Rep], and a crowd that is this amazing. I really appreciate the support \u2013 I heard a lot of vocal Sobhy supporters which we love so I am very happy.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Results\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Men\u2019s Round Three (top half)<\/strong> Results \u2013 Women\u2019s Round Three (top half): Quilter Cheviot British Open 2026<\/strong> Egyptian teenager Mohamad Zakaria is through to his maiden Diamond-level quarter-final after dispatching Juan Vargas in straight games<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":13366,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[37],"class_list":["post-13365","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-newsbeat","tag-squash"],"aioseo_notices":[],"featured_image_urls":{"full":["https:\/\/www.infinitysport.asia\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/Mohamad-Zakaria.jpg",2560,1706,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/www.infinitysport.asia\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/Mohamad-Zakaria-150x150.jpg",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/www.infinitysport.asia\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/Mohamad-Zakaria-300x200.jpg",300,200,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/www.infinitysport.asia\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/Mohamad-Zakaria-768x512.jpg",640,427,true],"large":["https:\/\/www.infinitysport.asia\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/Mohamad-Zakaria-1024x682.jpg",640,426,true],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/www.infinitysport.asia\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/Mohamad-Zakaria-1536x1024.jpg",1536,1024,true],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/www.infinitysport.asia\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/Mohamad-Zakaria-2048x1365.jpg",2048,1365,true],"morenews-large":["https:\/\/www.infinitysport.asia\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/Mohamad-Zakaria-825x575.jpg",825,575,true],"morenews-medium":["https:\/\/www.infinitysport.asia\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/Mohamad-Zakaria-590x410.jpg",590,410,true]},"author_info":{"info":["admin"]},"category_info":"Newsbeat<\/a>","tag_info":"Newsbeat","comment_count":"0","jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.infinitysport.asia\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/Mohamad-Zakaria.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.infinitysport.asia\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13365","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.infinitysport.asia\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.infinitysport.asia\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.infinitysport.asia\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.infinitysport.asia\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13365"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.infinitysport.asia\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13365\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":13367,"href":"https:\/\/www.infinitysport.asia\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13365\/revisions\/13367"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.infinitysport.asia\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/13366"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.infinitysport.asia\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13365"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.infinitysport.asia\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13365"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.infinitysport.asia\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13365"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
[1] Mostafa Asal (EGY) bt. Ng Eain Yow (MAS) 3-0: 11-5, 11-4, 11-5 (43m)
[6] Victor Crouin (FRA) bt. Adam Hawal (EGY) 3-0: 11-7, 11-8, 11-6 (44m)
[7] Mohamad Zakaria (EGY) bt. Juan Vargas (COL) 3-0: 11-7, 11-4, 11-7 (40m)
[3] Diego Elias (PER) bt. Youssef Soliman (EGY) 3-0: 11-3, 3-0 ret. (25m)<\/p>\n\n\n\n
[1] Hania El Hammamy (EGY) bt. Rowan Elaraby (EGY) 3-0: 13-11, 11-3, 11-7 (35m)
[7] Fayrouz Aboelkheir (EGY) bt. Salma Hany (EGY) 3-1: 7-11, 11-7, 11-4, 11-2 (47m)
Amanda Sobhy (USA) bt. [8] Tinne Gilis (BEL) 3-0: 11-6, 11-6, 11-5 (31m)
[3] Amina Orfi (EGY) bt. Melissa Alves (FRA) 3-0: 11-7, 11-5 ret. (28m)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"