Rising British squash star Jonah Bryant falls short in Canada

While another rising British racket sport talent, Jack Draper, was going through give-gamers at the Australian Open tennis, Jonah Bryant was doing the same in squash.

Bryant was involved in an epic five-game duel with Tarek Momen at the Squash in the Land 2025 quarter-finals, which saw the 19-year-old push both the Egyptian – and his own body – to the limits.

Bryant had needed all five games to win each of his first two matches in Cleveland this week, spending almost two-and-a-half hours on court in beating Bernat Jaume and Leonel Cardenas, last year’s two finalists in this event.

His win over Cardenas had seen him save two match balls at 10-8 down in the fifth, setting up a mouthwatering matchup with No.3 seed Momen on the all-glass court at Playhouse Square – Outcalt Theatre.

The 19-year-old is one of the most exciting prospects in the men’s game but through the first two games, it appeared as though this would be a step too far, as Momen established a two game lead, doing the basics well throughout and making the court big for his opponent.

What a rally 🤯

The Cleveland crowd are being teated to some special points in the final match of the day 🍿#SquashintheLand pic.twitter.com/ZFxSgykxIc

— PSA Squash Tour (@PSASquashTour) January 17, 2025

Those inside the theatre could have been forgiven for thinking Bryant was feeling the physical effects of his two previous encounters, but instead he appeared to get stronger as the match wore on, showing extraordinary athleticism on his way to levelling the score by winning games three and four.

By the time game five started, the crowd was cheering every point Bryant won, sitting in silence during the rallies, gripped by the action on court.

Almost every rally was long and punishing, with Bryant continuing to chase down Momen’s attacks, but he would ultimately fall short of completing a fairytale fightback.

Still, even at 10-7 down and cramping badly, Bryant left everything out on the court, ultimately collapsing to the floor in exhaustion as Momen closed out victory.

The total match time was 77 minutes, taking Bryant’s time on court this week towards the four-hour mark, and speaking on court after his win, Momen was full of praise for his young opponent.

“I can’t believe what he was doing, coming back the way he did after those two tough matches,” he said on court afterwards.

“I think this is the hardest match I’ve played physically in a long time. I either lose quicker than this or win quicker than this but I haven’t played for this long in a while.

“I’m very happy with the way I managed to re-group in the end. I thought I was playing super well in the first two games, and then my length dropped significantly and I was very disappointed with that.

“The length just wasn’t going back the way I wanted and he took full advantage coming back at me, but I still couldn’t believe the amount of effort he kept putting on court.”

Earlier in the day, Mohamed Elshorbagy impressed in a 3-0 win over Youssef Ibrahim, while Amina Orfi came from a game down to beat compatriot Farida Mohamed.

Meanwhile, Satomi Watanabe upset No.1 seed Georgina Kennedy to reach the Squash in the Land 2025 semi-finals, while Tarek Momen held off a stirring fightback from rising star Jonah Bryant in the men’s competition.

Despite the two players being separated by just six spots in the world rankings, Watanabe had never even taken a game off Kennedy in their three previous Tour meetings, but she ended that streak at the first time of asking here, taking the opening game 11-9.

Results: Men’s Quarter-Finals (top half)

[1] Mohamed Elshorbagy (ENG) bt. [5] Youssef Ibrahim (EGY) 3-0: 11-7, 11-3, 11-8 (36m)

[3] Tarek Momen (EGY) bt. Jonah Bryant (ENG) 3-2: 11-8, 11-5, 6-11, 11-13, 11-7 (77m)

Results: Women’s Quarter-Finals (top half)

[3] Amina Orfi (EGY) bt. [6] Farida Mohamed (EGY) 3-1: 10-12, 11-9, 11-8, 11-7 (48m)

[5] Satomi Watanabe (JPN) bt. [1] Georgina Kennedy (ENG) 3-0: 11-9, 12-10, 11-9 (35m)

Fixtures: Men’s Quarter-Finals (bottom half)

George Parker (ENG) v [2] Karim Abdel Gawad (EGY)

[4] Marwan ElShorbagy (ENG) v [7] Abdulla Mohd Al-Tamimi (QAT)

Fixtures: Women’s Quarter-Finals (bottom half)

[8] Tesni Murphy (WAL) v [2] Rowan Elaraby (EGY)

[4] Amanda Sobhy (USA) v [7] Nada Abbas (EGY)