Elaraby Produces Epic Comeback to Make Swedish Open Quarters

Egypt's Rowan Elaraby produced a sensational comeback from 2/0 down to overcome Hollie Naughton at the Champion Fiberglass Swedish Open 2026 presented by Boka Bord to reach the quarter finals of the Silver-level event in Stockholm.

Elaraby lost the first two games 11-9, 11-8 to the Canadian No.1 and appeared to be exiting the tournament, but strong performances in the third and fourth games helped the Egyptian draw level.

The former world No.7, who has been on the comeback trail in 2026 after sustaining a serious leg injury at the PSA World Championships in 2025, kept her composure in the fifth to complete the epic resurgence with an 11-8 win.

"I think the only feeling I have right now is just relief," said Elaraby.

"I'm just so proud of myself for getting out of the match with the win. Hollie was playing amazing, I couldn't find my length game in the beginning and I kept losing focus throughout the first two games so I'm just happy that I found a way in the end and got the win.

"I was just trying to find a way to stay in the match. I didn't want to lose that way, to be honest. I felt like I wasn't trying enough and even if I lost in the end, I would have loved to lose trying.

"I kept losing my focus and I didn't stick to the game plan throughout the entire match. I kept losing focus in patches so I was just trying to do what I had to do throughout the entire game starting from the third."

Elaraby will take on the No.2 seed Gina Kennedy in the last eight after the English No.1 downed her compatriot Saran Nghiem 3/0, while No.1 seed Fayrouz Aboelkheir kicked off her Swedish Open campaign by defeating Lauren Baltayan by the same scoreline.

In the men's event, Declan James produced an excellent comeback of his own, recovering from 2/1 down to overcome No.8 seed Kareem El Torkey.

James was 2/1 down and trailing 9-3 in the fourth game before mounting a sublime fightback to restore parity, posting seven points without reply to send the clash into a fifth game.

In a closely fought decider where both players saved match balls, it was James who converted at the second attempt in the tiebreak to advance to the last eight, claiming a 5-11, 11-7, 7-11, 11-9, 13-11 victory after 74 pulsating minutes.

"It was a very scrappy match. It was really a match of two halves," said the Jamaican post-match.

"He won the first very easily and then I came back really well in the second, and then he won the third very easily. I think 9-4, 9-5 or something in the fourth game, I was kind of on the way out and I was saying to myself, 'Come on, this isn't really enough of a fight that you're putting up. If you're going to lose, make it harder than it is now.'

"The points were going by too quickly, so I managed to reel a few points off in that fourth game, and that just gave me a lot of confidence physically. I was still in pretty good order, I came out at the start of the fifth with really good energy, and it just got so scrappy towards the end."

James's quarter-final opponent will be top seed Mohamad Zakaria, who defeated Simon Herbert for a last eight berth, however the Englishman was forced to retire due to injury towards the end of the second game.

Elsewhere, Mohamed Abouelghar fought back from 1/0 down to beat Patrick Rooney, while No.2 Joel Makin dispatched Nicolas Mueller with a 3/0 triumph.