Abouelghar & Orfi Share Shanghai Success At China Open

Mohamed Abouelghar ended an agonising six-year wait for a PSA Squash Tour title and teen star Amina Orfi fought back to win her third title of the season on a thrilling finals day at the China Open.

Egyptian world No.25 Abouelghar came into the men's final of the PSA Squash Tour Gold event with fellow mercurial talent Youssef Ibrahim at the Shanghai Xian Xia Tennis Center looking to win a first title since the 2019 Motor City Open, which came just five months after he first won the China Open.

Abouelghar and Ibrahim are two of the most accomplished shotmakers on the PSA Squash Tour and were meeting in just their third PSA match, with Ibrahim prevailing last time out at the Black Ball Open two years ago.

Abouelghar rolled back the years in Shanghai though to display the kind of form that took him as high as world No.7 six years ago, putting in some crafty flicks in the front of the court to take a one-game lead.

The pair traded errors at the start of the second game before Ibrahim settled and drew level.

It was neck and neck for much of the third game, with Abouelghar's superior accuracy seeing him edge it to pull back ahead.

Ibrahim wasn't done though and built on a strong start in the fourth - in which he took the first six points on offer before fending off a late fightback from his opponent - to send the match into a nail-biting decider.

The first four points went on Abouelghar's side of the scoreboard, but Ibrahim fought his way back into the encounter to set up a grandstand finish. The crowd was treated to some high-octane rallies, with Ibrahim left slumped on the floor as the match moved into a tie-break after a huge dive for the ball.

Abouelghar was in the ascendancy once again and held his nerve, sealing his 11th PSA title on his second match ball after Ibrahim struck the tin.

"There is a mix of emotions, I feel proud, so happy, and so relieved after all the work I put in mentally and physically," said Abouelghar.

"I've believed in myself and I couldn't be prouder, I'm so grateful.

"I didn't think about whether I would do it or not, I was thinking about giving it my all. If it went my way then great, if it didn't, then I would walk out of the court proud of the effort that I put in."

18-year-old Orfi has enjoyed a spectacular start to her 2025/26 season, rising to World No.3 and capturing the London Classic and Canadian Open.

Watanabe, meanwhile, had endured a challenging start to the season before re-discovering her best squash in Shanghai in an incredible run to the final that included the prize semi-final scalp of Hania El Hammamy - who will rise to world No.1 in the PSA World Rankings tomorrow.

No.4 seed Watanabe continued tonight's final as she'd finished the semis, attacking with superb accuracy to take the opening game via tie-break 12-10.

Despite her young age, Orfi has already forged a reputation as one of squash's toughest competitors, and that reputation was only reinforced by what followed, with Orfi upping the tempo to level via an 11-8 win and than crushing Watanabe 11-2 in game three.

Watanabe battled hard in game four, but was simply outclassed by Orfi, who fired her shots in relentlessly to storm to the title with a comfortable 11-5 victory.

Afterwards, Orfi said: "I feel so happy, I think I played very well throughout the whole tournament.

"I've been building up at each tournament and I'm happy to win my first title in here in China. It's my first time here, my first title, so it's lucky for me here. I'm looking forward to coming back next year.

"It means everything to me, I came into this tournament to play whoever in the final and hopefully win. Satomi played well in this tournament and she is finally herself again. I think I played really well, to win the third title is amazing in half a season.

"It's my dream [to go to world No.1] but I'm not worried about it, I'm taking it step by step and I feel when I'm ready then I'm going to be world No.1."

For both Abouelghar and Ibrahim, attention turns to the Silver-level HKFC Open, which is taking place at Hong Kong Football Club from 25-29 November.

For Orfi and Watanabe, meanwhile, their next event will be the Platinum-level Milwaukee Hong Kong Open 2025, which is taking place 01-07 December.