Heikal Clinches All-Egyptian Thriller In Houston Opener

World No.46 Nour Heikal came through a thrilling all-Egyptian battle on day one of the 2026 Texas Open, fighting back from two match balls down to defeat Nour Aboulmakarim at Houston Squash Club.

The 22-year-old showed impressive mental resolve to battle back from 1/0 and 2/1 down against Aboulmakarim, ranked six places higher, to set up a second-round tie with world No.3 Olivia Weaver at the Gold-level event.

At 10-8 down in the fifth game, Heikal looked set for an early exit from the event, but the Egyptian responded with a flurry of attacking winners to clinch the hard-hitting 53-minute encounter by a 6-11, 11-6, 8-11, 11-8, 12-10 scoreline.

After the match, Heikal said: "I'm really relieved. I was two match balls down and I don't know how I did that, but I'm really glad that I managed to get my mental side as solid as I could.

"I was just thinking to try to stay on court as long as I could. I just wanted to fight for every point and make her really work for it. So I am happy like I dug deep."

Heikal will be joined in the second round by compatriot Nadien Elhammamy, who upset world No.34 Lucy Beecroft to record her first Gold-level win on the PSA Squash Tour.

The 18-year-old, who finished runner-up to Amina Orfi at the 2025 World Junior Championships, once again showed herself to be one of the emerging talents in Egyptian squash following a composed 13-11, 8-11, 11-5, 11-3 win over her higher-ranked English opponent.

Elsewhere, Houston Squash Club crowd favourite Muhammad Ashab Irfan got his campaign up and running with an impressive three-game victory over Yannick Wilhelmi, defeating the Swiss 25-year-old 11-8, 11-6, 11-9.

Other notable winners in the men's event included world No.51 Nick Wall, who overcame world No.22 Kareem El Torkey in straight games, and Gregoire Marche, who continued his recent fine form with victory over Sam Todd.