Ayman & El Torkey Claim Breakthrough Victories At Squash On Fire Open

Egyptian duo Kenzy Ayman and Kareem El Torkey both reached their first PSA Squash Tour Bronze-level semi-finals after shock upsets over No.2 seed Nele Gilis-Coll and No.6 seed Velavan Senthilkumar at the 2025 Squash On Fire Open in Washington DC.

In the biggest upset in the women's draw, Ayman began the match in fantastic form, finding her shots well in the front corner as Gilis-Coll's retrievals were not quite quick enough with the Egyptian earning a one-game lead.

The second game saw a far closer contest. The Belgian began lengthening the rallies, and pacifying Ayman's accurate shot-making to push the pair into a tie-break. The No.7 seed had four game balls saved by her opponent in what felt like a pivotal moment in the match, but she showed her mettle to convert the game on her fifth time of asking to take a 2/0 lead.

From there, the Egyptian managed to remain comfortably ahead in the third game as she cruised to one of her biggest wins to date.

"I can't believe it. I'm so proud of myself, I'm over the moon right now," said Ayman afterwards.

"The match was really tense... ...The second game was the key of the match. When it went to 13-13, I was really tired. I think if I had lost that game, I would've lost all of the other games. When I won the second game, Nadine [Shahin] in my corner told me - 'You're going to win this in the third match', so for me it was that moment."

Another incredible clash closed out the day's proceedings as unseeded El Torkey overcame India's Senthilkumar, the No.6 seed, to reach his maiden Bronze-level semi.

The match was close-fought from the beginning, with El Torkey using an impressively wide range of shots to force his left-handed opponent around the court. The two players were level at one-all after the first two games, but it was the Indian who claimed the lead at 2/1 to go one game away from the semi-finals.

El Torkey rallied well, and put in a blistering performance to restore parity in the match to force the match into a decider.

The players were perfectly-matched, as all four corners saw deep, explosive movements from the Indian and the Egyptian, but it was El Torkey who had the first match ball at 10-9. Senthilkumar dug deep, levelling the scoreline at 10-10 and 11-11, but ultimately the unseeded El Torkey won out to earn his place in the semi-final.

Elsewhere, Malaysia's Eain Yow Ng same back from a game behind to claim victory over Karim El Hammamy, and top seeds Marwan ElShorbagy and Rowan Elaraby progressed to the next round after convincing victories over Omar Mosaad and Salma Eltayeb respectively.