Peruvian Elias & Egypt's Gohar Crowned British Open Champions

Peru's world No.2 Diego Elias and Egypt's world No.1 Nouran Gohar have been crowned the 2025 GillenMarkets British Open champions after Elias took down world No.1 Mostafa Asal and Gohar fought back to defeat World Champion Nour El Sherbini at the Birmingham Repertory Theatre.

In the women's final, another thrilling chapter in the ongoing Gohar-El Sherbini rivalry was penned as the defending champion came from behind twice to win her third British Open title.

The match between the Egyptian pair, who have dominated the top of the PSA World Rankings for much of the last decade, was the 40th between them on tour and was another classic.

Eight-time World Champion El Sherbini made the stronger start, looking relaxed in a quick first game to take the opener 11-9.

Gohar struck back 12-10 in game two but fell behind again 7-11 in game three as El Sherbini again pushed ahead.

Disaster struck for El Sherbini in game four. At 8-7 up and just three points from the title, the Egyptian landed hard on her shoulder after diving for the ball.

After an injury break the world No.2 returned to court, but could not prevent Gohar from levelling 13-11 to take the match into a decider.

El Sherbini looked to have regained her rhythm when she opened up a 4-1 lead in game five, only to be undone by a sudden surge from Gohar, with the world No.1 upping the pace as she rattled off the next ten points to complete a stunning comeback.

"This is the best crowd I've played in front of," said Gohar afterwards.

"Nour El Sherbini is incredible and I was thinking about this rivalry we've shared. Not a lot of people know this but the first major we played against each other was 2016 when we were 18 and 20. That's just crazy to think about and sharing this rivalry is a big honour for me, she brings the best out of me and I miss these big matches. I wanted to give everything today."

In the men's final, former world No.1 Elias ended his long wait for the British Open title with a convincing win over defending champion and reigning PSA World Champion Asal.

The pair have formed a simmering rivalry atop the PSA World Rankings in recent seasons, brought into sharp focus by the shock retirement of former world No.1 Ali Farag on the eve of the British Open.

Today's match was an intense battle, but lacked the acrimonious nature of some of their previous encounters.

Elias charged out in game one, taking the opener 11-4 before edging through game two 11-9.

Asal struck back in game three 11-3 to pull a game back.

At the beginning of game four, Asal slipped and fell heavily, requiring physio treatment to his knee.

After being applauded back to court, the Egyptian played some excellent rallies with Elias, who looked to test his movement where possible.

Asal's movement looked laboured at times, but he was still able to exert pressure on Elias from the front of the court, forcing the Peruvian into desperate lunges towards the back.

Elias, however, was able to deal with the attacks and began racking up scoreboard pressure, pushing on to secure his first major title of the season since October's Qatar Classic with an 11-4 victory.

"I don't know what to say! This is crazy," said an emotional Elias afterwards.

"The plans don't always work but I'm happy I could win today. Here with my dad, just the two of us, winning a big tournament is amazing.

"Everything with South American squash started with Miguel [Rodriguez] - he won the British Open, he was the highest ranked South American and it showed us that we can do it. I'm just happy I could win today!"