Mohamad Zakaria and Joel Makin will renew their rivalry for a fourth time this year when they battle it out for the Swedish Open squash championships title today.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Zakaria and Makin, the top two seeds for the Silver-level event in Stockholm, defeated Marwan ElShorbagy and Leonel Cardenas, respectively, to set up their fourth meeting in 2026. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The duo have played three blockbuster battles already this year, with two of those clashes at the New Zealand Open and Australian Open both clocking up over 100 minutes. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Egyptian starlet Zakaria, who faced ElShorbagy for the first time on the PSA Squash Tour today, claimed an impressive 11-7, 9-11, 11-4, 11-4 victory over the former World No.3.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cVery tough match, I\u2019m still very mad about the second game. It just shows how tricky Marwan [ElShorbagy] is and how it\u2019s always never over. After that second I just felt that this was going to be a very tough match and I\u2019m happy I was able to close it out,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cMarwan is actually a very close friend of mine, probably my closest friend on Tour for me. I learned a lot from him even when I was coming up on the Tour, I definitely learned a lot from him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cTo play an important match against him today is a full circle moment, and I\u2019m happy we have this kind of relationship and I was able to get a tough match with him in such a great event like this.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Meanwhile Makin, who was defeated by Zakaria last time out at the El Gouna International in April, downed Cardenas in straight games as he continues his quest for silverware. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Makin, who was victorious last time he stepped on court with Cardenas at the J.P. Morgan Tournament of Champions 2025, controlled proceedings throughout his 11-6, 11-9, 11-6 triumph. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI just wanted to show the level gap there, hit my spots and even if it gets messy just still be able to hit my spots, separate myself and get across the middle,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI was happy with my performance today, given the amount of time away, to keep coming and a clinical performance, I\u2019m happy going into the final.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe only pressure in this game is self-imposed. It\u2019s your expectation, that\u2019s where the pressure comes from. I\u2019ve been on Tour for years, seven years in the top ten now so hopefully I can keep pushing into that next bracket and challenge the top guys again, that\u2019s what all this is for.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In the women\u2019s event, it will also be the top two seeds who square off for the title after Fayrouz Aboelkheir and Gina Kennedy won their semi-final showdowns against Nele Gilis and Amanda Sobhy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Aboelkheir, who\u2019s yet to drop a game in Stockholm, swept aside Gilis in straight games to book her place in the final.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
World No.7 Aboelkheir was tactically immaculate against the Belgian, with her precise ball striking into the back corners throughout helping her win 11-7,11-3, 11-0 in less than half an hour. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cNele [Gilis] is a great player, we\u2019ve played a lot and the last time it was a 3-2 match so I just wanted to make sure I was sharp from the beginning and I was,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cShe came back so I knew I had to pull out all of my strengths and shots to just get a win against her. I\u2019m so happy to be through and I can\u2019t wait for my match tomorrow.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe credit definitely goes to my coaches back home. we worked hard a lot throughout the summer and I think I got better squash, but I didn\u2019t get a proper chance to actually show it off with the win that much, so I\u2019m so happy and I\u2019m looking forward to my next match tomorrow to get one more.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Kennedy, playing her 300th<\/sup> match on Tour, built on yesterday\u2019s terrific comeback victory in the quarter finals against Rowan Elaraby, moving Sobhy well around the court and taking her opportunities in the front to close out a 11-8, 12-10, 9-11, 11-2 win. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI\u2019m really happy with that. Amanda [Sobhy] is honestly class, the amount of time I watch her play and text her afterwards being like, \u2018Mate, you are a joy to watch!\u2019\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cShe\u2019s a fellow Harvard alumni so I\u2019ve been looking up to her for years. Her story is inspiring, I feel people don\u2019t even know half of what she\u2019s been through, so honestly the amount she\u2019s achieved is just incredible and always a joy to play against.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIt\u2019s so hard to play her; she\u2019s got all the variation in the book and in my opinion one of the best ball strikers in the game. You have to play your absolute best to beat Amanda.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Results <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Men\u2019s Semi Finals: <\/strong> Women\u2019s Semi Finals: <\/strong> Mohamad Zakaria and Joel Makin will renew their rivalry for a fourth time this year when they battle<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":16271,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[37],"class_list":["post-16270","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-newsbeat","tag-squash"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t
[1] Mohamad Zakaria (EGY) bt [3] Marwan ElShorbagy (ENG) 3-1: 11-7, 9-11, 11-4, 11-4 (67m)
[2] Joel Makin (WAL) bt [5] Leonel Cardenas (MEX) 3-0: 11-6, 11-9, 11-6 (52m)<\/p>\n\n\n\n
[1] Fayrouz Aboelkheir (EGY) bt [4] Nele Gilis (BEL) 3-0: 11-7, 11-3, 11-0 (27m)
[2]\u00a0Georgina Kennedy (ENG) bt [3] Amanda Sobhy (USA) 3-1: 11-8, 12-10, 9-11, 11-2 (45m)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"