Challenger Tour Round-Up: El Sirty & Ismail Win in Madeira, Elhammamy Claims Title in First Event

International Tournament Madeira Island 

Moustafa El Sirty marked his return to the PSA Tour by winning the men’s International Tournament Madeira Island, while Rana Ismail claimed glory in the women’s competition. 

El Sirty was playing in his first event since February, and had knocked out the No.1 and 3 seeds – Bernat Jaume and Ben Smith – to reach this final. 

Standing in his way was Portugal’s own Rui Soares, who was hoping to make it third time lucky after finishing as runner-up in this event in each of the last two years. 

Defeat for Soares in the 2021 final also came against El Sirty, and the Portuguese No.1 suffered the same fate this time around, going down 3-1 in 56 minutes. 

Speaking after the match, El Sirty said: “It’s incredible. It gives me a lot of confidence to be back. It gives me that feeling that I can still play and I can still do what I was doing before and improve. I’m very proud.” 

El Sirty’s victory completed an Egyptian double following Ismail’s win earlier in the day. 

The No.2 seed came into this tournament having reached the semi-finals of the London Open last week and carried that good form all the way to the title in Funchal. 

In truth, she was never truly troubled by Chan Yiwen in the final, despite dropping game three after taking a two-game lead, and came out firing again in the fourth, dropping just three points to wrap up glory. 

“It’s a really good feeling,” she said after the match. 

 “It’s more than just winning, I needed this win. It’s my first title in around a year. I tried to believe in myself that I could win, I tried to play my best squash and I’m happy to have won.” 

BKY Technologies Open 

Home favourite Salah Eltorgman claimed his second straight title on Canadian soil, beating Egypt’s Abdelrahman Nassar in the BKY Technologies Open final. 

Eltorgman won the UNDERHILL GEOMATICS Sport Central Open in Vancouver last week and followed that up with this victory in Edmonton, beating the No.6 seed 3-1 in 58 minutes. 

The young Canadian cruised through the first game 11-4 and edged the second 11-9, but was made to work hard for victory in the end, with Nassar winning the third 11-9 and forcing a tie break in game four, but Eltorgman ultimately came out on top, winning 13-11 to get his hands on the trophy. 

Les Elles de l’Est 

16-year-old Egyptian Nadien Elhammamy followed in the footsteps of some iconic names, including Ramy Ashour, by winning the title in her first ever PSA Tour event, the Les Elles de l’Est. 

Elhammamy was unseeded for this tournament but reached the final without dropping a game, and came face-to-face with another 16-year-old rising star in No.1 seed Lauren Baltayan. 

Perhaps feeling the pressure of being the top seed and home favourite, Baltayan struggled to find her feet in the opening two games, falling 2-0 down and winning just eight points along the way. 

The roles were reversed in the next two games, though, this time it being the Egyptian who lost her way as Baltayan hit back to force a decider. 

But a third straight game would be a step too far, a backhand volley on match ball from Elhammamy handing her an 11-8 victory and securing the trophy. 

PI Constructora IlI Open Colombiano La Pradera 

Ronald Palomino won his first title since returning from a long injury layoff, claiming the PI Constructora IlI Open Colombiano La Pradera on home soil. 

The 24-year-old is a former World No.70, but missed much of 2023 through injury, and entered here as the No.3 seed. 

He knocked out top seed Edgar Ramirez in the semi-finals and followed that up with a 3-1 victory over eighth seed Jose Santamaria in an all-Colombian final. 

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