Just four players remain in with a shot of securing their spots in the main draw of the prestigious 2025/26 PSA World Championships after semi-finals day at the African qualifying event at the Palm Hills Club in Cairo.
Egyptian quartet Farida Walid, Ruqayya Salem, Adam Hawal and Yassin Shohdy will be the four players in action live on SQUASHTV from 15:00 (GMT+3) today after all claiming wins in their respective semi-finals.
Women’s No.4 seed Farida Walid claimed a hard-fought win to keep her hopes of a ticket to the flagship PSA Squash Tour event alive after she held off a determined Malak Fathy in five games.
Walid twice saw No.6 seed Fafth come from behind to send the match to a dramatic deciding game, but ultimately had too much quality in the closing stages, clinching an 11-9, 10-12, 11-3, 8-11, 11-6 win to set up a final with No.2 seed Ruqayya Salem.
Salem, meanwhile, delivered a quality performance to overcome No.3 seed Nour Khafagy in straight games. Despite the 3-0 scoreline, the match was ultimately decided by fine margins, with Salem clinching crucial first and third game tie-breaks which set her on route to victory.
In the men’s draw, No.5 seed Adam Hawal and No.2 seed Yassin Shohdy will meet in today’s final after the pair defeated No.6 seed Mohamed Gohar and No.4 seed Yassin Elshafei, respectively.
Arriving on the back of a tough five-game quarter-final win over Mohamed Nasser, 17-year-old Hawal showed few signs of fatigue as he delivered a commanding performance to defeat Gohar by an 11-2, 11-7, 11-5 scoreline.
Shohdy, meanwhile, overcame a slow start to down Elshafei in four games. After levelling the match in a tight 11-9 second game, World No.70 Shohdy only moved from strength to strength, dropping just seven points across the subsequent two games as he moved through to the 3-1 win.
The finals of the African Qualifying event will be available to watch live on SQUASHTV from 15:00 (GMT+3)
