Calgary CFO Consulting Services PSA Women’s Squash Week: Heikal Stuns Top Seed Turmel

Unseeded Nour Heikal stunned No.1 seed and defending champion Lucy Turmel to reach the semi-finals of the Calgary CFO Consulting Services PSA Women’s Squash Week. 

The 20-year-old Egyptian is at a career-high ranking of No.72 in the world after an impressive run of form in recent weeks, and reached the last eight in Alberta with a win over fifth seed Marie Stephan in the second round. 

She now has an even better scalp on her resume, though, after sinking the English player to record her first ever win over a top-25 player. 

Stepping on court in the final match of the day after three relatively quick encounters, Heikal established an early lead in game one and took less than eight minutes to get the first game on the board. 

Turmel responded by taking the second 11-8, but fell behind once again in the third, losing it 12-10 after initially saving three game balls from 10-7 down. 

The 24-year-old Englishwomen then overcame a slow start to game four – which saw her fall 3-1 behind – to send the match into a decider, in which she put herself on the brink of glory at 9-6 up, only for Heikal to turn the tables. 

She reeled off five points in a row, helped by a pair of strokes, to clinch a dramatic victory 11-9 in the fifth, avenging her semi-final defeat to Turmel in the SA Open semi-finals earlier this season. 

The Alexandria native will now take on compatriot Salma Eltayeb for a place in the final, after the No.3 seed saw off the challenge of another Egyptian 20-year-old, Menna Walid, winning 11-1, 11-8, 13-11 in exactly half an hour. 

The other two quarter-finals also ended in straight-game victories, with Nicole Bunyan keeping home hopes alive with a win over Alina Bushma, while Georgia Adderley ended the run of Poland’s Karina Tyma. 

The semi-finals of the Calgary CFO Consulting Services PSA Women’s Squash Week will kick off at 5pm local time (11pm GMT) on Saturday, March 16, with both matches streaming live on the Calgary Women’s Squash Week Facebook page. 

You can stay up to date with all the results on the PSA Challenger Tour here.