France’s Gregoire Marche and USA’s Amanda Sobhy claimed highlight wins on day one of the J.P. Morgan Tournament of Champions 2025 in New York, edging past World No.8 Karim Abdel Gawad and World No.10 Sivasangari Subramaniam in thrilling five-game battles.
World No.29 Marche ended a 13-year wait for a win over former World Champion Gawad, treating those within the Grand Central Terminal to a dramatic 8-11, 11-4, 15-13, 5-11, 11-8 victory in the very first match of the PSA Squash Tour Platinum-level event.
Marche had only beaten Gawad once in their previous nine encounters, all the way back in 2012, but delivered an aggressive and accurate performance to stun the No.6 seed and book his spot in the second round.
“It’s a huge win for me,” Marche said after victory.
“I had a tough week last week. I was sick and I didn’t know how I was going to be physically. I’m just happy with the way I fought physically in the fifth game.
“I know Karim, he doesn’t lose a lot of fifth games, so I just told myself, ‘ok at least one more time in my life, I want to show him that I can beat him in the fifth’, so it’s a super good performance for me today and I’m really happy to be through.”
Meanwhile, USA No.2 Sobhy kickstarted her Tournament of Champions campaign in thrilling style, prevailing 11-4, 4-11, 11-6, 8-11, 11-9 against Malaysian No.1 Sivasangari.
.@MiguelSquash is conducting the crowd here inside Grand Central Terminal 😎 🪄
And then there's the cheeky football skills to follow… 💯#TOCSquash pic.twitter.com/7vnxg4InMd
— SQUASHTV (@SquashTV) January 23, 2025
In a match that saw multiple swings in momentum, it was World No.17 Sobhy who delivered two superbly executed points from 9-9 in the fifth game to seal victory in front of her home crowd.
Elsewhere on day one, World No.9s Nele Gilis-Coll and Mohamed ElShorbagy survived scares as they both battled from behind to claim five-game wins over Malaysia’s Rachel Arnold and Germany’s Raphael Kandra.
Results: Men’s First Round (Top Half) – J.P. Morgan Tournament of Champions 2025
[1] Ali Farag (EGY) bt Youssef Soliman (EGY) 3-1: 5-11, 11-9, 11-5, 11-5 (51m)
Abdulla Al-Tamimi (QAT) bt Iker Pajares (ESP) 3-2: 9-11, 8-11, 11-3, 11-8, 11-0 (47m)
Mohamed ElSherbini (EGY) bt [WC] Christian Capella (USA) 3-0: W/O
[8] Mohamed ElShorbagy (ENG) bt Raphael Kandra (GER) 3-2: 10-12, 11-9, 13-15, 11-4, 11-2 (67m)
Gregoire Marche (FRA) bt [6] Karim Abdel Gawad (EGY) 3-2: 8-11, 11-4, 15-13, 5-11, 11-8 (76m)
Baptiste Masotti (FRA) bt Sebastien Bonmalais (FRA) 3-1: 5-11, 11-8, 12-10, 11-3 (58m)
Victor Crouin (FRA) bt Miguel Rodriguez (COL) 3-2: 11-8, 7-11, 5-11, 12-10, 11-2 (71m)
[4] Paul Coll (NZL) bt Auguste Dussourd (FRA) 3-1: 11-3, 10-12, 11-6, 11-3 (60m)
Results: Women’s First Round (Top Half) – J.P. Morgan Tournament of Champions 2025
[1] Nouran Gohar (EGY) bt Satomi Watanabe (JPN) 3-1: 13-15, 11-8, 11-7, 11-6 (46m)
Amanda Sobhy (USA) bt Sivasangari Subramaniam (MAS) 3-2: 11-4, 4-11, 11-6, 8-11, 11-9 (51m)
Nele Gilis-Coll (BEL) bt Rachel Arnold (MAS) 3-2: 10-12, 5-11, 11-9, 11-6, 11-6 (60m)
[8] Amina Orfi (EGY) bt Fayrouz Aboelkheir (EGY) 3-0: 11-5, 11-8, 11-3 (41m)
[5] Tinne Gilis (BEL) bt Hana Ramadan (EGY) 3-1: 11-4, 7-11, 11-6, 11-4 (38m)
Tesni Murphy (WAL) bt Sarah-Jane Perry (ENG) 3-0: 11-6, 11-9, 11-7 (33m)
Sana Ibrahim (EGY) bt Aira Azman (MAS) 3-0: 11-9, 11-7, 11-6 (30m)
[4] Olivia Weaver (USA) bt Katie Malliff (ENG) 3-0: 11-9, 11-2, 11-2 (29m)
Draw: Men’s First Round (Bottom Half: To Be Played January 24)
[3] Diego Elias (PER) v Mohamad Zakaria (EGY)
Mohamed Abouelghar (EGY) v Ramit Tandon (IND)
Youssef Ibrahim (EGY) v Dimitri Steinmann (SUI)
Leonel Cardenas (MEX) v [5] Joel Makin (WAL)
[7] Tarek Momen (EGY) v Nicolas Mueller (SUI)
Declan James (ENG) v Fares Dessouky (EGY)
Timothy Brownell (USA) v [WC] Dillon Huang (USA)
Aly Abou Eleinen (EGY) v [2] Mostafa Asal (EGY)
Draw: Women’s First Round (Bottom Half: To Be Played January 24)
[3] Hania El Hammamy (EGY) v Lisa Aitken (SCO)
Nada Abbas (EGY) v [WC] Laila Salah (USA)
Jasmine Hutton (ENG) v Melissa Alves (FRA)
Lucy Turmel (ENG) v [6] Georgina Kennedy (ENG)
[7] Rowan Elaraby (EGY) v Farida Mohamed (EGY)
Malak Khafagy (EGY) v [WC] Charlotte Pastel (USA)
Georgia Adderley (SCO) v Tomato Ho (HKG)
Hollie Naughton (CAN) v [2] Nour El Sherbini (EGY)