Late Entrants El Torkey & Palomino Claim Upsets Wins On Canadian Open Day One

World No.65 Kareem El Torkey and world No.78 Ronald Palomino made the most of late entries into the 2025 AirSprint Private Aviation Canadian Men's Open by claiming upset victories on day one of the PSA Squash Tour Bronze event in Calgary.

El Torkey and Palomino, who received positions in the main draw after the late withdrawals of Youssef Soliman, the No.2 seed, and Addeen Idrakie, took their respective opportunities with both hands, recording impressive wins over England's Simon Herbert and Canada's David Baillargeon on the all-glass court in Bow Valley Square.

Egypt's El Torkey, 20, took to the court on the back of a title victory at the Goodfellow Classic in Toronto last week, and continued his fine form to hold off a late charge from Herbert and win in five games.

In a match that swung this way and that, it was El Torkey who produced some impressive, clinical squash in the fifth game to set up a second-round tie with top seed and former World Champion Mohamed ElShorbagy.

After the match, El Torkey said: "This was such a difficult one to get through today after my win in Toronto.

"I just flew in today and was just trying to keep my mind and body healthy. I got around one hour of sleep today, so I'm very happy to be through today. It means so much to me to be playing at this level.

"I still don't have any plans [to face the top seed]. I'll make sure to make one though. Let's hope there's a show tomorrow with Mo, and hopefully, I'll play well."

Colombia's Ronald Palomino scored the other notable upset on the opening day of action, overcoming Canadian No.1 David Baillargeon in three games.

Despite playing in front of a partisan home crowd, Palomino controlled proceedings from point one, moving through to take the victory over an increasingly hampered Baillargeon by an 11-4, 11-9, 11-7 scoreline.