Weekend Round-Up: Asal, Mohamed, Turmel and Subramanium Secure Biggest Titles

Four players secured the biggest titles of their professional careers across the PSA Challenger Tour over the past week.

Mostafa Asal, Lucy Turmel, Farida Mohamed and Sivasangari Subramanium all bettered their previous biggest titles, while Chan Yiwen secured her first victory on the tour.

The biggest title of the week was won by Mostafa Asal, with the World No.41 taking home the CAS international Squash Championships trophy.

The Egyptian overcame compatriot Youssef Soliman in a thrilling five-game final, which lasted just under an hour.

To reach the final, the 17-year-old had already gotten past fellow Egyptian Mazen Gamal, and the tournament’s No.1 seed, Scotland’s Greg Lobban.

Taking place in the same venue was the Pakistan International Women’s Squash Tournament, which was also won by an Egyptian.

Farida Mohamed took home the trophy, also claiming the biggest title of her career, as she beat Switzerland’s Cindy Merlo in four games in the final.

Like Asal, Mohamed had already overcome a fellow Egyptian to reach the final. She had beaten Sana Ibrahim in the semi finals, after getting past No.6 seed Riffat Khan from Pakistan.

In St. Louis, Sivasangari Subramanium took the first 20k title of her short career, as she shocked Egypt’s Nada Abbas in the final.

Subramanium was the No.2 seed coming into the tournament, while Abbas was the No.1 seed. The Malaysian had already had to get past the No.3 seed Haley Mendez and No.5 seed Lee Ka Yi to reach the final of the Racquet Club Pro-Series event.

England’s Lucy Turmel also secured the biggest title victory of her career this weekend, as she won the Springfield Scottish Squash Open.

The Englishwoman got the better of France’s Melissa Alves in the final in Edinburgh, taking 36 minutes to win the last match the 10k event.

Turmel had previously beaten Malaysia’s Aika Azman, fellow Englishwoman Jasmine Hutton and Spain’s Cristina Gomez to reach the final.

On the men’s side of the draw in Edinburgh, Edmon Lopez denied an English double, as he downed Patrick Rooney to take the title back to Spain.

Lopez won the final in four, with the match taking just over an hour, as he recorded the 7th title of his professional career.

There was a Malaysian double in front of the home crowds in Kuala Lumpur. Firstly, Mohd Syafiq Kamal took victory in the men’s draw of the SRAM PSA 1 event.

He overcame India’s Aditya Jagtap, who was the No.1 seed for the tournament, in five games, taking 76 minutes to secure the title.

It was a landmark day for Chan Yiwen, though, as the 18-year-old won her first PSA event. She beat the unseeded Ainna Amani in just 23 minutes to claim victory.

Yiwen had knocked out the No.1 seed in the semi finals, as she downed Wen Li Lai to reach the final. She also beat No.7 seed Aparajitha Balamurukan and compatriot Jessica Kong en route to her first title.

The Rochester Pro-Am was also held over the weekend, with an all-Mexican final taking place between Leonel Cardenas and Mario Yanez.

It was the former that came out on top, as the No.1 seed overcame the No.2 seeded Yanez in straight games to lift the fifth title of his career.

Result – Final: CAS International Squash Championship
[3] Mostafa Asal (EGY) bt [2] Youssef Soliman (EGY) 3-2: 8-11, 7-11, 11-2, 11-1, 11-7 (55m)


Result – Final: Pakistan International Women’s Squash Tournament
[1] Farida Mohamed (EGY) bt [3] Cindy Merlo (SUI) 3-1: 11-8, 9-11, 11-9, 11-5 (38m)

Result – Women’s Final: Springfield Scottish Squash Open
[1] Lucy Turmel (ENG) v [2] Melissa Alves (FRA) 3-0: 12-10, 13-11, 11-7 (36m)

Result – Men’s Final: Springfield Scottish Squash Open
[2] Edmon Lopez (ESP) bt [7] Patrick Rooney (ENG) 3-1: 13-11, 11-9, 8-11, 13-11 (65m)

Result – Final: Racquet Club Pro-Series
[2] Sivasangari Subramanium (MAS) bt [1] Nada Abbas (EGY) 3-1: 9-11, 11-6, 13-11, 11-6 (41m)

Result – Final: Rochester Pro Am
[1] Leonel Cardenas (MEX) bt [2] Mario Yanez (MEX) 3-0: 11-7, 11-6, 15-13 (58m)

Result – Women’s Final: SRAM PSA 1
[8] Chan Yiwen (MAS) bt Ainaa Amani (MAS) 3-0: 11-3, 11-7, 11-4 (23m)

Result – Men’s Final: SRAM PSA 1
[2] Mohd Syafiq Kamal (MAS) bt [1] Aditya Jagtap (IND) 3-2: 13-11, 9-11, 12-10, 10-12, 11-4 (76m)