Egyptians Abroad: Pittsburgh, Montreal

Pittsburgh Open

PHOTO ALBUM

Final

[2] Joel Makin (WAL) 3-1 [5] Youssef Ibrahim  9-11, 11-8, 11-9, 11-7 (75m)

Semis

[5] Youssef Ibrahim 3-0 [1] Diego Elias (PER) 12-10, 11-4, 11-4 (35m)
[2] Joel Makin (WAL) 3-0 [3] Youssef Soliman   11-5, 12-10, 11-7 (56m)

In a major shock result in the 2025 Pittsburgh Open semi-finals, No.5 seed Youssef Ibrahim defeated World Champion and top seed Diego Elias, while No.2 seed Joel Makin takes the other final spot after a straight-game victory over No.3 seed Youssef Soliman.

The first match of the day saw No.1 seed Elias take on the ‘Gunslinger’ Ibrahim, a match-up in which the Egyptian had never before come out on top.

Elias looked strong in his early rounds, with straight-game wins over Ramit Tandon and Sebastien Bonmalais, while Ibrahim has won both his matches in four games, against Moustafa ElSirty and No.4 seed Victor Crouin.

The match started with both players evenly-matched, although the Peruvian held a slim lead. Elias earned himself three game balls, but Ibrahim reacted well, finding his targets and scoring five successive points to claim the first game on his first opportunity after 19 minutes.

Ibrahim dominated the match from there against his Peruvian opponent, taking a resounding 9-1 lead in the second game and a 9-3 advantage in the third game, converting both comfortably to claim a place in his second World-Event final.

Ibrahim said:

I’m very happy, very very happy. The first game was very tough physically. The environment is incredibly hot here tonight. It was tough physically for both of us.

“I felt like the beginning of the second game was very important and the ball had softened up a little bit so I tried to use my attacking into the front a bit more often.

“I’m just gonna enjoy today and recover well. Today wasn’t very tough physically, but yesterday we moved a lot on court so I’m just going to have to recover and eat some good food and sleep”.

Quarters

[5] Youssef Ibrahim 3-1 [4] Victor Crouin (FRA)  15-13, 5-11, 12-10, 11-5 (55m)
[3] Youssef Soliman 3-2 [6] Dimitri Steinmann (SUI)  11-4, 3-11, 11-5, 6-11, 13-11 (76m)

Amongst an action-packed set of Pittsburgh Open quarter-finals played at the Rivers Club in Pennsylvania, Egypt’s Youssef Soliman came out on top after saving three match balls in a testing 74-minute five-setter with Switzerland’s Dimitri Steinmann, while No.5 seed Youssef Ibrahim defeated No.4 seed Victor Crouin after an exciting clash.

In the first match of the day, Egypt’s Ibrahim overcame No.4 seed Crouin in after a thrilling four games.

A brutal 20-minute first game saw both players keeping a fast tempo as play kept shifting to either side of the court. The Egyptian and the Frenchman traded points into a tie-break, where Ibrahim had the chance to draw first blood at 11-10.

Crouin rallied and after saving a game ball had his own opportunity to go ahead in the match, but it was the ‘Gunslinger’ who claimed the first-game win 15-13 with a front-court boast. The World No.14 responded well, controlling the rallies from the start of the second game to win 11-5 and level the match at 1-1.

Game three saw shorter rallies between the pair, but the score stayed just as close as in game one. Crouin and Ibrahim were again inseparable to 10-10, but the World No.15 again edged the tie-break to retake the advantage.

The No.5 seed carried that momentum into the fourth game, quickly taking a 6-2 lead and converting the game 11-5 to claim the first semi-final place.

SOLIMAN VERY CLOSE TO FLYING HOME…

In the final and longest match of the night, No.3 seed Soliman defeated No.6 seed Dimitri Steinmann after a dramatic encounter.

Soliman dominated the early phases of play, with Steinmann hitting the tin and struggling to keep up with the pace of play. After a brief injury break for the Swiss player at 9-1, he looked refreshed, but the damage had already been dealt as Soliman claimed the first game 11-4.

In a complete reversal of momentum, the ‘Jet’ came alive in game two, hitting winners and covering the court like his usual self. Steinmann raced to a resounding 8-1 lead, finishing the game 11-3.

Soliman reacted well, lengthening the rallies, and though more decisions crept into the match, the 2024 Pittsburgh Open semi-finalist retook his lead, winning the third game 11-5.

Another momentum shift saw Steinmann pull away at 5-5 in the fourth with five consecutive points before taking the game 11-6 to restore parity in the match.

The final game was the only closely-contested game of the match, and while even more traffic lead to even more decision, it was Steinmann who looked poised to reach the semi-finals with two match balls. Determination from Soliman saw the Egyptian level the game, and after saving yet another match ball at 11-10, it was the World No.11 who came out on top after a stroke was awarded on his first match ball.

Speaking after the match, Soliman said:

“Tough one, tough one. Dimi got his tactics spot on. The whole match I was really digging in, trying to find a way through that one.

“I saved three match balls. I don’t know how I remained that calm but I think I played the crucial points really well, and I’m very proud of the whole performance and the way I thought.

“He played really well. I didn’t feel like I was settled, I didn’t feel like I was able to dictate the pace of the game, but it sometimes happens and you need to fight and fight and fight and that’s what I proud of today.”

 

Round Two

[5] Youssef Ibrahim 3-1 Moustafa Elsirty  5-11, 11-4, 11-5, 11-6 (37m)
[8] Sebastien Bonmalais (FRA) 3-1 Karim El Hammamy 13-11, 11-6, 7-11, 11-9 (66m)
[3] Youssef Soliman 3-1 [9/16] Baptiste Masotti (FRA) 11-3, 11-6, 11-13, 11-7 (46m)
[6] Dimitri Steinmann (SUI) 3-0 Mohamed Abouelghar  11-4, 11-5, 11-7 (28m)

 

Round One

Moustafa El Sirty 3-2 [9/16] Omar Mosaad 10-12, 9-11, 11-8, 11-9, 12-10 (80m)
[9/16] Mohamed Abouelghar 3-1 Simon Herbert (ENG)  11-4, 9-11, 11-7, 11-1 (31m)
Karim El Hammamy 3-0 Yannik Omlor (GER)  11-7, 11-4, 11-4 (32m)

World No.64 Moustafa Elsirty claimed an entertaining five-game win on the opening day of the 2025 Pittsburgh Open, as the PSA Squash Tour Silver-level event got underway in Pennsylvania.

In an exciting opening match on Court 3, Elsirty came back from two games behind to beat former World No.3 Omar Mosaad. The ‘Hammer of Thor’ dominated the early phases of the match, making shots in both front corners and claiming both game one and two to be just a game away from the second round.

Elsirty rallied, and despite the matches being plagued with decisions, the younger Egyptian was more lively around the court, looking strong to win two close games 11-8, 11-9 and level the match at 2-2.

The final game was close-fought, as Mosaad brought the game to a tie-break after an early disadvantage, but Elsirty managed to edge the game 12-10 to claim his spot in Round Two.

Speaking after the match, Elsirty said:

“I’m feeling happy. I haven’t been playing those big tournament in a while so I’m very grateful to be back and very grateful to win the first round here. Omar is an amazing player. I went into the first game and I wasn’t quite sure what to do with him and was testing things and he showed me that I needed to take everything serious from the beginning so glad to be back from 2-0 down and to fight back in that last game 12-10. It was a very very intense match.”

 

Montreal Open

Semis

[3] David Baillargeon (CAN) 3-1 [8] Kareem El Torkey  11-9, 8-11, 12-10, 11-5 (56m)

Open de Montreal 2025

Related News