US No.1 Brownell Holds Off Local Club Pro To Reach Silicon Valley L16

Timothy Brownell was one of three home players to claim victory on day one of the Silicon Valley Open 2025 presented by Oracle NetSuite after the US No.1 held off an inspired showing from local club pro Bransten Ming at Squash Zone in Redwood City, USA.

World No.32 Brownell, who arrived at the Gold-level event on the back of a career-best title win at the Charlottesville Open, was forced to battle back from a game behind to defeat Ming, ranked over 200 places lower, by a 9-11, 11-3, 11-5, 11-6 scoreline.

Ming started the match in superb style, stunning the three-time US National Champion with some accurate attacking squash, but Brownell managed to move through the gears after the early barrage to claim victory after 49 minutes of play.

"We have a lot of history," Brownell said after the match. "We played together in Juniors, and he always had the better of me. I thought that the physical side would be his weakness, so I tried to keep the ball in play, and I thought he would drop off, and he really didn't.

"I had to switch up the game plan, so I was impressed with him, to say the least, on the physical side.

"It's a busy part of the season, and it's where I wanted to prove myself, I want to show that I belong in the top group, and I'm starting to do that right now."

Fellow US hopefuls Sabrina Sobhy and Marina Stefanoni also treated the home crowd to victories after the pair eased past their respective opponents, Egyptian duo Menna Hamed and Mariam Metwally, in straight games.

Sobhy's reward is a second-round date with defending champion and US No.1 Olivia Weaver, a player she has enjoyed previous success against on the PSA Tour, having won four of their six meetings to date.

Elsewhere, Balazs Farkas, Sana Ibrahim and Curtis Malik all claimed hard-fought five-game wins to secure their spots in the last 16.

World No.47 Farkas delivered the perfect antidote to his recent quarter-final defeat at his home event, the Budapest Open, as he fought back from 2/1 down to defeat India's Ramit Tandon.

Despite losing six consecutive points in the mid-stages of a tight fifth game, the Hungarian No.1 held strong in the pressure moments to prevail by a 12-10, 5-11, 5-11, 11-9, 11-8 scoreline.

After the match, Farkas said: "I was just trying to play aggressively throughout the match. I think I made too many mistakes though in periods. I still tried to stay active and aggressive in that fifth game through, and it worked out in the end."

Egypt's Ibrahim and England's Malik, meanwhile, got the better of Grace Gear and Shahjahan Khan in deciding games, while tournament Wildcard Amina El Rihany rounded out the day's play with a three-game win over late injury replacement Cindy Merlo.