Rowan Elaraby marked her return to the PSA Tour with a win, beating Hannah Craig 11-5, 11-5, 12-10 at the Steel City Open squash championship in Pittsburgh, a day which saw top seed Satomi Watanabe survive a scare and Saran Nghiem knock out the No.7 seed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Twenty-five-year-old Elaraby had been out of action since suffering a devastating leg injury at last year\u2019s World Championships in May, requiring surgery that she described as being the most painful of her entire life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But she made her long-awaited return to action here in Pennsylvania, where Irish No.1 Craig was standing in her way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Elaraby had coach Wael El Hindi in her corner, but even he could not have scripted a better start to the match, as the No.6 seed won the first seven points inside four minutes, going on to close out game one 11-5.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Egyptian was moving freely and showed little sign of any lingering injury issues, picking up where she left off in game one with another 11-5 success in the second.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Craig dug deep in game three and even brought up a game ball at 10-9, but was unable to convert, opening the door for Elaraby to clinch the tiebreak and book herself into round two.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A hug from El Hindi after stepping off court prompted an outpouring of emotions from the 25-year-old, who was quickly congratulated by Jasmine Hutton and both Sabrina and Amanda Sobhy, who interrupted her own pre-match warm-up to celebrate with Elaraby, recognising the significance of the moment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Sobhy\u2019s attention soon turned back to her own round-two match, which saw her beat rising French star Lauren Baltayan to set up a mouthwatering quarter-final with her sister, Sabrina, who was simultaneously beating wildcard Charlotte Pastel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Earlier in the day, top seed Satomi Watanabe overcame a tough test in the form of Nadien Elhammamy, having to fight back from a game down to win in four.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Elhammamy was a World Junior Championships runner-up in 2025 and showcased her burgeoning talents to full effect in an impressive opening game here against the World No.6, needing just 10 minutes to close it out 11-5.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
She continued to showcase her aggressive style and shot-making capabilities in a tense second game, too, matching Watanabe all the way to 9-9.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Japanese star held firm, though, letting out a huge roar and pumping her first after wrapping up the game 11-9 on a forehand down the line.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And from there, she took control, losing only nine more points in the match to book herself a spot in round two, where she will face England\u2019s Nghiem.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The 22-year-old was taking on Malak Khafagy in a battle between two of college squash\u2019s most talented players, with Khafagy plying her trade at UPenn, while Nghiem lines up for Harvard.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
They had never faced off on the PSA Tour before this match, but went toe-to-toe for almost an hour in front of an engrossed crowd on the traditional court, with the match swinging one way and then the other.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Nghiem won the first 11-7 before losing the next two 11-8, only to force a decider with another 11-7 success in game four.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
She then found herself 4-2 behind in game five only to turn the tide with four points on the bounce, establishing a lead that she would never relinquish, with a stroke decision down the backhand side handing her another 11-7 success.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The day\u2019s other winners were Georgina Kennedy \u2013 who will now play Elaraby \u2013 Hutton and Melissa Alves, who all recorded straight-game wins, beating Jana Swaify, Margot Prow and Nadine Shahin respectively.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The quarter-finals of the Steel City Open get underway at 5pm local time (GMT-5) on Friday, February 27, streaming live on SQUASHTV.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Round Two Results<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n [5] Melissa Alves (FRA) bt. Nadine Shahin (EGY) 3-0: 11-5, 11-5, 11-8 (23m) Rowan Elaraby marked her return to the PSA Tour with a win, beating Hannah Craig 11-5, 11-5, 12-10<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":9912,"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":[44],"tags":[37],"class_list":["post-9911","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-international","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
[4] Jasmine Hutton (ENG) bt. Margot Prow (BAR) 3-0: 11-1, 11-7, 11-8 (26m)
Saran Nghiem (ENG) bt. [7] Malak Khafagy (EGY) 3-2: 11-7, 8-11, 8-11, 11-7, 11-7 (54m)
[1] Satomi Watanabe (JPN) bt. Nadien Elhammamy (EGY) 3-1: 5-11, 11-9, 11-3, 11-6 (44m)
[6] Rowan Elaraby (EGY) bt. Hannah Craig (IRL) 3-0: 11-5, 11-5, 12-10 (34m)
[2] Georgina Kennedy (ENG) bt. Jana Swaify (EGY) 3-0: 11-3, 11-5, 11-3 (27m)
[8] Sabrina Sobhy (USA) bt. Charlotte Pastel (USA) 3-0: 11-3, 11-0, 11-1 (23m)
[3] Amanda Sobhy (USA) bt. Lauren Baltayan (FRA) 3-0: 11-8, 11-6, 11-4 (27m)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"