Hawal Stuns Declan James To Reach Canada Cup Quarters

Unseeded Adam Hawal produced another sensational comeback to reach the quarter finals of the Smart Centres Canada Cup 2026, recovering from 2/1 down to defeat world No.22 Declan James at the Silver-level event in Toronto.

Egyptian starlet Hawal, ranked 60 in the world, came from behind to overcome Nicolas Mueller 3/1 in round one and the 18-year-old pulled off another impressive fightback to continue his excellent run.

Hawal fought back from 6-9 in the fourth to reel off five consecutive points to force a fifth game. In a closely-fought decider, Hawal pulled clear from 6-6 to win 11-7 and secure his maiden appearance in the quarter finals of a Silver-level event.

His opponent in the last eight will be top seed Diego Elias, who kicked off his Canada Cup campaign with a 3/1 success against Ivan Perez.

Pakistan's Muhammad Ashab Irfan, who also gatecrashed the opening day of the Canada Cup by beating Juan Vargas, battled back from 1/0 down to beat former world No.4 Miguel Rodriguez 3/1.

Elsewhere, Switzerland's Dimitri Steinmann and France's Melvil Scianimanico came through bruising battles with their fellow countrymen, beating Yannick Wilhelmi and Gregoire Marche both by a 3/2 scoreline.

In the Canadian Women's Open, also a Silver-level event, hopes of a home star reaching the last eight were cut short when Nada Abbas ousted Canadian No.1 Hollie Naughton.

Backed by a partisan crowd at Brookfield Place, Naughton drew first blood by edging the tiebreak 12-10, but it was Abbas' quality which ultimately came to the fore in the ensuing games as the Egyptian won 11-7, 11-9, 11-7 to end Naughton's run on home soil.

"It's not easy playing Hollie in general, but playing Hollie here has been more difficult," she said.

"We just played at the Egyptian Open and we had the same result. Coming into this match, I knew what to expect and with the crowd, coming into this match I was a bit nervous.

"But after losing the first game, I knew it was the same scenario as it was in Egypt so this relaxed me and helped me get into the match. I'm glad I'm through."

Abbas meets her Egyptian compatriot Farida Mohamed in the quarter finals on Wednesday following her 3/1 victory against Alina Bushma.

Top seed Fayrouz Aboelkheir kickstarted her quest for another title this season after downing Nour Aboulmakarim in straight games. Her opponent in the last eight will be Anahat Singh, who held off Saran Nghiem 3/1.