Mohammad Ashab posts win: Mohammad Huzifa and Noor pack bags
Houston, United States (Sports Report): World No.46 Nour Heikal came through a thrilling all-Egyptian battle on day one of the Texas Open 2026, fighting back from two match balls down to defeat Nour Aboulmakarim at the Houston Squash Club.
The 22-year-old showed impressive mental resolve to battle back from 1-0 and 2-1 down against World No.40 Aboulmakarim to set up a second-round tie with World No.3 Olivia Weaver at the Gold-level event.
At 10-8 down in the fifth game, Heikal looked set for an early exit from the event, but the Egyptian responded with a flurry of attacking winners to clinch the hard-hitting 53-minute encounter by a 6-11, 11-6, 8-11, 11-8, 12-10 scoreline.
After the match, Heikal said: "I'm really relieved. I was two match balls down and I don't know how I did that, but I'm really glad that I managed to get my mental side as solid as I could.
"[At two match balls down], I was just thinking to try to stay on court as long as I could. I just wanted to fight for every point and make her really work for it. So I am happy like I dug deep."
Heikal will be joined in the second round by compatriot Nadien Elhammamy, who upset World No.34 Lucy Beecroft to record her first Gold-level win on the PSA Squash Tour.
The 18-year-old, who finished runner-up to Amina Orfi at the 2025 World Junior Championships, once again showed herself to be one of the emerging talents in Egyptian squash following a composed 13-11, 8-11, 11-5, 11-3 win over England's Beecroft.
Elsewhere, Houston Squash Club crowd favourite Mohammad Ashab Irfan got his campaign up and running with an impressive three-game victory over Yannick Wilhelmi, defeating the Swiss 25-year-old 11-8, 11-6, 11-9.
Other notable winners in the men's event included World No.51 Nick Wall, who overcame World No.22 Kareem El Torkey in straight games, and Gregoire Marche, who continued his recent fine form with victory over Sam Todd.
Men’s (Round One):
Timothy Brownell (USA) bt Balazs Farkas (HUN) 3-0: 11-8, 11-2, 11-5 (35m)
Mohammad Ashab Irfan (PAK) bt Yannick Wilhelmi (SUI) 3-0: 11-8, 11-6, 11-9 (46m)
Dimitri Steinmann (SUI) bt [WC] Mohammad Huzaifa Ibrahim (PAK) 3-0: 11-5, 11-7, 11-6 (33m)
Gregoire Marche (FRA) bt Sam Todd (ENG) 3-1: 8-11, 11-1, 11-4, 11-8 (47m)
Nathan Lake (ENG) bt Ramit Tandon (IND) 3-0: 11-8, 4-3 ret. (16m)
Moustafa Elsirty (EGY) bt Bernat Jaume (ESP) 3-1: 8-11, 11-7, 12-10, 13-11 (71m)
Melvil Scianimanico (FRA) bt Noor Zaman (PAK) 3-1: 8-11, 11-3, 11-9, 11-4 (45m)
Nick Wall (ENG) bt Kareem El Torkey (EGY) 3-0: 11-2, 11-6, 11-3 (26m)
Women’s (Round One):
Mariam Metwally (EGY) bt [WC] Isabella Tang (USA) 3-0: 12-10, 13-11, 11-7 (33m)
Torrie Malik (ENG) bt Nicole Bunyan (CAN) 3-0: 11-5, 11-6, 11-5 (28m)
Grace Gear (ENG) bt Nadine Shahin (EGY) 3-0: 11-4, 11-3, 11-7 (21m)
Hana Ramadan (EGY) bt Tsz-Wing Tong (HKG) 3-0: 11-5, 11-7, 11-8 (27m)
Ka Yi Lee (HKG) bt Menna Hamed (EGY) 3-0: 11-8, 11-5, 11-3 (25m)
Nadien Elhammamy (EGY) bt Lucy Beecroft (ENG) 3-1: 13-11, 8-11, 11-5, 11-3 (39m)
Lucy Turmel (ENG) bt Alina Bushma (UKR) 3-0: 13-11, 11-9, 11-8 (40m)
Nour Heikal (EGY) bt Nour Aboulmakarim (EGY) 3-2: 6-11, 11-6, 8-11, 11-8, 12-10 (53m)
