El Tayeb & Soliman Secure Zed Open Titles

Egypt's Nour El Tayeb won her first Tour title since becoming a mother when overcoming top seed and compatriot Salma Hany to claim the inaugural women's CIB Zed Open, the PSA World Tour Bronze event at Zed Park in Cairo.

It's the the world No.11's first PSA title since October 2020 and the 12th of her career. The 29-year-old - who is married to world No.1 Ali Farag and gave birth in July last year - got the better of world No.9 Hany by an 11-7, 12-14, 11-6, 11-4 margin in 74 minutes,

El Tayeb was just two points from victory when a loss of power at Zed Park resulted in a lengthy delay. That only served to be a minor impediment to El Tayeb's title charge as she quickly dispatched Hany upon her return to court to complete a win which will see her move back into the world's top 10 when the latest PSA Women's World Rankings are published today.

"I feel great. It's one of the happiest titles I've won," said El Tayeb afterwards.

"I took a year's break, so I wanted to do well coming back after having a baby. This week, with how my preparation was in pre-season and how I was mentally and physically, to play such a tough match, physically, emotionally and psychologically, I'm very happy with how I played.

"When it happened [the power cut], I'm glad it didn't happen when we were closer in the match. It's the first time this has happened to me, and I was just trying to take everything in as it's a big final. I've only played one big final in Egypt before, but it was a new experience for me and I was trying accept it, and I'm glad I managed to control it."

The men's final followed the women's and top seed Youssef Soliman captured the biggest PSA title of his career after a sublime display from the world No.17 saw the favourite dismantle No.2 seed Victor Crouin.

Soliman won the title without dropping a game after powering past Rui Soares, Moustafa El Sirty and Raphael Kandra - in contrast to Crouin, who survived two five-game battles against Juan Camilo Vargas and Balázs Farkas in the second round and quarter-finals, respectively.

Soliman hit his targets with aplomb and completely nullified Crouin as he completed an 11-8, 11-5, 11-6 victory to secure the ninth PSA title of his career.

"To win my biggest title in Egypt, in front of a home crowd, my friends and family, it means a lot," Soliman said.

"I need to thank some people behind this tournament for having us this week. Like I've said before, this is the best Bronze event to happen to the PSA and I'm looking forward for this tournament to keep going."

El Tayeb and Soliman also take early leads on the CIB Road to Egypt Standings. Points are on offer at all PSA World Tour events during the 2022-23 season, with the top eight players qualifying for the season-ending CIB PSA World Tour Finals.

The next stop on the PSA World Tour will be the Qatar Classic - which takes place in Doha between September 4-10 - and the South Western Women's Open, which will be held in Houston, USA, between September 6-11. Both tournaments will be shown live on SQUASHTV.