Australian Open 2024 squash: Egypt’s Salma Hany, Youssef Soliman crowned champions

Egyptian squash players swept the Australian Open 2024 squash tournament with Salma Hany and Youssef Soliman winning the women’s and men’s singles titles, respectively, in Sydney on Sunday.

Both the finals of the Australian Open 2024, a PSA World Tour Bronze event, saw the top two seeds battle for the title.

The 27-year-old Hany, seeded first, defeated her 16-year-old compatriot Amina Orfi in straight games 3-0 (11-5, 11-8, 11-9) in 46 minutes for her first-ever squash title on the PSA World Tour.

Hany, who had been a runner-up on four occasions previously, came into the final without dropping a single game in the tournament.

The senior Egyptian squash player used her experience to engage Orfi in long rallies and closed the opening game with timely winners. Orfi, the 2023 junior world champion, made Hany work hard in the next two games but eventually had to settle for a runners-up finish.

The men’s final saw the second-seeded Youssef Soliman overcome No. 1 seed Victor Crouin of France 3-1 (11-8, 11-4, 4-11, 11-6) in 61 minutes.

Soliman had also won the Squash on Fire Open last month in Washington.

The first game saw both players engage in intense rallies but Soliman committed fewer errors than Crouin to go one game up.

Soliman’s consistency was rewarded in the second game as well. However, Crouin finally found a response in the third game to make it 2-1.

The errors resurfaced for Crouin in the fourth game while Soliman regained control to win the Australian Open 2024 squash title.

Among Australian squash players, Sarah Cardwell and Jessica Turnbull were the only two to feature in the second round (pre-quarterfinals).

Dylan Molinaro, Alex Haydon, Rachael Grinham, Rhys Dowling, Erin Classen and Joseph White and Madison Lyon crashed out in the first round.

Australian Open 2024 squash winners

• Women’s singles: Salma Hany
• Men’s singles: Youssef Soliman