Aboelkheir Stuns Kennedy To Reach Paris Quarters

Egyptian teenager Fayrouz Aboelkheir delivered a stunning performance beyond her years to upset world No.6 Georgina Kennedy in five games and advance to the Paris Squash quarter-finals.

In a match in the PSA Squash Tour Platinum event that thrilled the Parisian crowd in the Cirque d'Hiver Bouglione from the first rally until the last, it was Aboelkheir who eventually sealed victory by a 15-13, 12-10, 12-14, 10-12, 11-6 scoreline.

The world No.16 moved into a two-game lead with some exceptional squash, troubling Kennedy with her deception and impressive racket skills in the front two corners. However, after the 18-year-old saw two match=balls come and go in a tense third game tie-break, the match swung back in Kennedy's favour, with the England No.1 battling back to force a deciding game.

A quick start for Aboelkheir in the fifth would prove decisive. The 2024 World Junior runner-up never let Kennedy get a foothold and claimed victory after 66 minutes of action.

After the match, she said: "I think I'm just out of words right now. It's my second win against a top-ten player and I'm really happy about it, although I'm just still hungry for more.

"After being 10-5 and match ball up [in the fifth game], she got two points back and I was just trying to take it easy and not force the win, and I think I did that really well."

Aboelkheir will play compatriot Hania El Hammamy in the Paris Squash quarter-finals after the No.3 seed survived a scare from England's unseeded Jasmine Hutton to progress in four games. The Egyptian saw six match balls slip through her grasp in a see-saw fourth game but managed to eventually clinch victory at the seventh time of asking.

Elsewhere in the women's draw, there were wins for current World Champion Nouran Gohar and USA's Amanda Sobhy, who will now square off against one another for a spot in the semi-finals.

In the men's event, all four seeded players progressed without fail. World No.3 Paul Coll and world No.7 Tarek Momen set up a quarter-final meeting with one another after defeating Dimitri Steinmann and Baptiste Masotti in straight games, respectively. Meanwhile, CIB Egyptian Open champion Mostafa Asal and No.5 seed Mazen Hesham were the other two men's victors on day three.