Maliks Optimise Optasia Opportunities On Home Soil

Day one of the 2026 Optasia Championships in London saw brother and sister duo Curtis Malik and Torrie Malik fully capitalise on home advantage in the seventh Gold level event of the 25/26 PSA Squash Tour season on the all-glass court at the Wimbledon Club.

Torrie was first to book her place in the second round as she came through a highly competitive five-game clash with compatriot Lucy Turmel. The pair exchanged intense and sometimes arduous rallies throughout the 63-minute contest, with Malik storming through the fifth game, winning 11-2 to set up a meeting with top seed and world No.1 Hania El Hammamy in round two.

"I'm very, very happy," said Malik after her win.

"There were too many strokes I was giving away, sometimes it doesn't feel like a stroke when it is, but I had to keep it out of the middle, and I played more drops to sort this. I'm happy I could pull through in that last game.

"I had to stay strong mentally and get a strong start in that fifth, and once I did that, I managed to pull through. I didn't think I was hitting as accurately as I normally do, hence the amount of decisions, but I think I did well to stay focused.

Torrie's older brother Curtis was the last player to earn a spot in the second round after he also moved past a fellow English player, in the form of Patrick Rooney. Malik had lost to Rooney a few weeks ago at the New Zealand Open but managed to recover from a game down today to inflict his revenge.

The other home winners on day one were Declan James and Jonah Bryant as they beat Karim El Hammamy and Raphael Kandra, whilst Sam Todd and Sam Osborne-Wylde came up short in their respective matches against Juan Vargas and Gregoire Marche.

Elsewhere on day one, India's Ramit Tandon bounced back in style after his Indian Open disappointment to beat former world No.4 Miguel Rodriguez in four games. He's set up a meeting with former world No.1 and former World Champion Mohamed ElShorbagy in the next round as all the top eight seeds enter the draw.