[4] Siva Subramaniam (Mas) v Fayrouz Aboelkheir (Egy) 9-11, 4-11, 11-7, 11-8, 11-7 (63m)
PSA : Siva will go to World #4 on Monday after that result…
As James Willstrop once said “Squash is such a mental game it’s a joke.
A very close first game, at 9/9, it’s anybody’s game. Two missed opportunities from Siva, and the Egyptian takes the opener 11-9, 13m.
To put it frankly, Siva couldn’t have played a worst second game. 7/0 for Fayrouz, 5 errors from the Malaysian… 8m 11/4.
🎙️ "𝘽𝙚𝙖𝙪𝙩𝙞𝙛𝙪𝙡!" 🎯
Fayrouz Aboelkheir with the perfect long drop 🔥
📺 @SquashTV pic.twitter.com/BMYTbf4rN3
— SQUASHTV (@SquashTV) October 13, 2026
And as often, when a player goes down deep, she comes back all guns blazing. And that’s exactly what happened. From that point on, Siva was playing freely, ahead in the 3rd the whole game, and back 11/7, forcing a few errors out of Fayrouz.
In the 4th, Fayrouz was briefly ahead 6/4, but we came back level quickly, 6/6, 7/7 8/8. Two unforced errors from the Egyptian, 10/8, and a sharp attacking boast, 11/8, back level…
Fayrouz played catch up the whole decider, but Siva was far in front, and the Egyptian never was able to level… 11/7 in the last game…
Comeback complete for Sivasangari Subramaniam! 💪
The World No.5 battles back from 2-0 down to defeat Fayrouz Aboelkheir in front of the iconic Great Pyramids of Giza! 🤩
📺 @SquashTV pic.twitter.com/N6WfEk7T38
— PSA Squash Tour (@PSASquashTour) October 13, 2026
The Words from the Coach (Greg Gaultier)
In the first game, there was good squash from both players. At 9-all, she blew it on… Fayrouz serves, and she goes for a forehand cross-court nick off the serve. She hits the tin when she could simply have played to the other side. Then she misses a volley drop. And we know full well that Fayrouz is dangerous.
Then she tightened up a bit in the second game. She played tentatively, and Fayrouz attacked her straight away. When you tighten up, you move badly and everything falls apart. I told her: “Anyway, you’re up against the wall now. You need to free your arm, get into the ball a bit more, and put a bit more intention into your shots. You’re playing tentatively.”
Fayrouz is enjoying herself and making the most of it. On top of that, she volleys well, and she has plenty of shots when she’s given a bit of time. You need to bring a bit of uncertainty and be sharper in what you offer, in all your movement and your striking. There should be variation, of course, but with more intention. It mustn’t be too soft, otherwise she has too much time on the ball. You can play soft, that’s not the problem, but if you play soft at shoulder height, she’ll smash you.
“I just told myself to just keep fighting through. Fayrouz is such a dangerous player, very smart on court. But I know I have the physicality to get stuck in, play as long as I want on this court, and I’m happy with how I dealt with it. Not my best match, but I’m happy to get through. You just have to fight when you’re not playing your best, and that’s what I did. “Obviously we hope Olivia can get back to tour soon. With me personally though, I’m proud with how I’m going. I tried to fight through today, win these kind of matches, to get up the rankings. “Mentally I’m just trying to stay strong. I think Greg is building that side of my character.” 
Siva : “I’m definitely happy with how I fought today. I wasn’t quite feeling it in the first two games. The first was close, but then in the second it was weird, I couldn’t even hit the ball.
