The seeded players arrived, but the danger level did not drop. Young Egyptians, qualifiers and Lucky Losers continued to make life miserable for established names, while several top players — Victor, Fayrouz, Siva, Hania and others — were forced to problem-solve rather than simply dominate…
* The qualifiers and Lucky Losers kept causing havoc.
- Ruqayya Salem backed up her Round One upset by beating 9th seed Tinne Gilis in four, coming from 9-5 down in the fourth with six straight points
- Lucky Loser Yasshmita Jadishkumar went even further, recovering from 2-0 down to beat Farida Mohamed 11-9 in the fifth and reach the last 16.
* Kareem El Torkey produced the first major men’s seeding upset, taking out 9th seed Aly Abou Eleinen in four close games.
His thoughts afterwards were revealing: stop thinking about the opponent, stay in the moment, play your own squash.
* Victor Crouin survived one of the matches of the day.
Two games down and facing match balls against an outstanding Velavan Senthilkumar, Victor fought back to win in five after 78 minutes — another reminder of how much he relies on mental toughness when the squash isn’t quite flowing.
* Fayrouz Aboelkheir had to dig very deep against Anahat Singh.
It was a superb, clean five-game battle full of attacking squash, with Anahat’s extraordinary lobbing and maturity standing out before Fayrouz finally took control in the last two games.
* Sana Ibrahim caused another women’s upset, beating 13th seed Salma Hany in five in a tense, physical match. Sana spoke afterwards about staying positive, handling the refereeing, resisting the “mind games”, and believing in herself until the final point.
* The top women made very different kinds of statements.
- Newly crowned World #1 Amina Orfi was brutally efficient against close friend and training partner Amina El Rihany, dropping only ten points, while Nouran Gohar continued her comeback with a straight-games win — and, predictably, was still finding things she could have done better.
- Amanda Sobhy’s first match was all nervous energy. She admitted she never really settled against Grace Gear, so simply went into “turbo mode” — run, hit, don’t think — and got through in three. Very Amanda, and very revealing about where she still is mentally on this latest comeback.
- Satomi Watanabe opened up about disappointment and Olympic pressure. After a clinical win over Zeina Mickawy, she spoke candidly about her Asian Games semi-final defeat, the pressure she felt, losing her head mentally, and the longer road towards LA 2028 through the rankings.
- Siva Subramaniam got another reminder of the danger of Egyptian juniors. Wildcard Nadia Mahmoud took the first game and played fearlessly, forcing Siva to calm herself down, sharpen her length and rely on experience to regain control.
- Gina Kennedy looked extremely sharp against Lucy Turmel. She spoke afterwards about finally finding a better balance physically, moving away from over-training, and how her work with Rodney Martin is helping her trust her squash rather than simply relying on fitness.
* Yahya Elnawasany had to solve the puzzle of Marwan Assal.
Yahya described the young Lucky Loser’s squash as “unique”: highly attacking, unpredictable in pace and pattern, very much the fearless junior style that makes Egyptian youngsters so awkward for established pros.
And more of the same tomorrow…. Stay Tuned…
