It was a day of firsts for Egypt’s latest rising teenager as 17-year-old Mohamad Zakaria became the youngest male player to reach a Platinum quarter final in the modern era and with it a place in the world’s top 20 for the first time.
The World Junior Champion downed No.6 seed Tarek Momen in round one before beating India’s Ramit Tandon in straight games on Monday at the El Gouna Squash Complex to book his spot in the last eight.
The win will also take Zakaria inside the top 20, becoming the second youngest player ever to reach that milestone in the men’s game.
The Egyptian kept the pace high and forced Tandon into many tough movements in the opening two games, tidying up loose balls from the Indian to win games one and two both 11-7.
Despite a brief break at the start of the third game due to a power cut, Zakaria motored on in his pursuit of a last eight spot. Tandon had no answers to the Zakaria barrage as he took the game 11-3 to set up a meeting with either World No.4 Paul Coll.
“It feels amazing. To do it here in El Gouna is extra special because this was the first major event that I ever played. I got the wildcard when I was 15 so to make the quarters here is very nice.” said Zakaria.
“I think this win takes me into the top 20 for the first time and that’s huge for me. You know, when you have something in your mind all season and then you get closer and closer, it just gives you so much confidence and such a boost and I want more of that.
“Ramit has such good hands, I tried to play as tight as possible, if anything is left loose off the sidewalls you know he’s going to take it in. I was surprised today because he didn’t take it in as much as I thought and he hit a lot less errors than I thought too, so I had to win a lot of the points and I’m very glad to be through.
Zakaria’s compatriot Youssef Ibrahim scored the only seeding upset of the day as he beat former World Champion Karim Gawad in four games. Top four seeds Mostafa Asal and Paul Coll has no trouble securing their quarter final spots, beating Gregoire Marche and Greg Lobban, respectively.
In the women’s draw, all seeds progressed through to the final eight with Tinne Gilis surviving the biggest scare as she battled past good friend and former World No.3 Joelle King in five games. Two-time champion Nour ElSherbini, World No.5 Amina Orfi and USA No.1 Olivia Weaver were the other winners on day three.
Results: El Gouna International Squash Open 2025 – women’s RD2 (bottom half)
[4] Olivia Weaver (USA) bt Rachel Arnold (MAS) 3-0: 11-7, 11-4, 11-4 (24m)
[5] Tinne Gilis (BEL) bt Joelle King (NZL) 3-2: 11-3, 5-11, 11-9, 10-12, 11-8 (56m)
[8] Amina Orfi (EGY) bt Lucy Turmel (ENG) 3-1: 11-6, 7-11, 11-7, 11-4 (50m)
[2] Nour ElSherbini (EGY) bt Satomi Watanabe (JPN) 3-1: 11-7, 7-11, 11-8, 11-5 (43m)
Results: El Gouna International Squash Open 2025 – men’s RD2 (bottom half)
[3] Paul Coll (NZL) bt Greg Lobban (SCO) 3-0: 11-7, 11-5, 12-10 (60m)
Mohamad Zakaria (EGY) bt Ramit Tandon (IND) 3-0: 11-7, 11-7, 11-3 (57m)
Youssef Ibrahim (EGY) bt [7] Karim Gawad (EGY) 3-1: 11-8, 4-11, 12-10, 11-6 (60m)
[2] Mostafa Asal (EGY) bt Gregoire Marche (FRA) 3-0: 11-3, 11-6, 11-4 (38m)
Draw: El Gouna International Squash Open 2025 – women’s QF (top half) – to be played 15th April
[1] Nouran Gohar (EGY) v [6] Georgina Kennedy (ENG)
Salma Hany (EGY) v [3] Hania El Hammamy (EGY)
Draw: El Gouna International Squash Open 2025 – men’s QF (top half)- to be played 15th April
[1] Ali Farag (EGY) v [8] Youssef Soliman (EGY)
[6] Mohamed Elshorbagy (ENG) v [4] Joel Makin (WAL)
Draw: El Gouna International Squash Open 2025 – women’s QF (bottom half)- to be played 16th April
[4] Olivia Weaver (USA) v [5] Tinne Gilis (BEL)
[8] Amina Orfi (EGY) v [2] Nour ElSherbini (EGY)
Draw: El Gouna International Squash Open 2025 – men’s QF (bottom half)- to be played 16th April
[3] Paul Coll (NZL) v Mohamad Zakaria (EGY)
Youssef Ibrahim (EGY) v [2] Mostafa Asal (EGY)