Wales’ Joel Makin claimed the 2025 Pittsburgh Open title after beating Egypt’s Youssef Ibrahim in a 75-minute thriller at Steel City Squash in Pennsylvania.
The match started with a brutal 27-minute first game that saw long, punishing rallies for the two players as both looked to play balls to the back of the court. The two players were inseparable to 9-9, but a well-placed forehand drop from Ibrahim and an uncharacteristic error from the Welshman gave the Egyptian a 1-0 lead in the match.
Despite losing the game, the tiring nature of it played into Makin’s hands, and the World No.5 continued with the tempo that he set, while Ibrahim looked to finish rallies quicker, leading to a succession of errors and strokes in the middle of the game that ultimately proved to be the difference as the Welshman levelled the match at 1-1.
Ibrahim stormed to an 8-4 lead in the third game, finding his targets well across the court to stretch Makin, but the Welshman rallied, finding winners of his own as well as neutralising Ibrahim’s shot-making with some incredible gets.
The No.2 seed pushed on to level the game at 9-9 before winning 11-9 to take the lead for the first time in the match.
From there, Makin was in command of the match, and while Ibrahim continued to find some unbelievable winners, the Welshman pushed on from an early 5-1 lead to win 11-7 and claim the 2025 Pittsburgh Open title.
Speaking after the match, Makin said, “It was a tough week. Youssef [Ibrahim] was playing some great stuff there. Same as yesterday. If he’s beating [World Champion Diego Elias] 3-0 then that’s a very very high level so I was well aware of that today.
“I was happy with my lines, happy with my quality and you know it was 1-1 and it being 45 minutes I just thought that this has been a good quality match. Nothing needed to change, just a few things tidied up and I was happy to pull away in the end.”
On the lengthy first game, Makin remarked, “I wasn’t deliberately elongating, I just thought it was high quality, good exchanges. I would’ve liked to have nicked it but when he’s playing that well and snatches a few points quickly at the end, you’ve got to accept that and go in with a couple of minor adjustments and go again.
“You can win from those positions, you can lose from those positions so it’s just about playing really good quality and being able to repeat that and play better in the big points.
Looking ahead to the Gold-level Texas Open, the Welshman said, “It’s been a good week, it hasn’t been too many miles on the legs. I’ll try and recover over the next day or two and then go again.”
Result: Pittsburgh Open Final
[2] Joel Makin (WAL) bt. [5] Youssef Ibrahim (EGY) 3-1: 9-11, 11-8, 11-9, 11-7 (75m