Karachi, Pakistan (Sports News): World No.11 Mohamad Zakaria and World No.14 Aly Abou Eleinen advanced to their maiden Gold-level finals on the PSA Squash Tour after overcoming former World Champions Karim Gawad and Mohamed ElShorbagy, respectively, on semi-finals day at the Rich Venus Karachi Open 2026.
Zakaria came into his meeting with top seed Gawad on the back of three straight defeats against the World No.4, the last of which was a well-contested five-game loss in the quarter-finals of the U.S. Open.
However, the two-time World Junior Champion reversed the form book with a near-faultless performance which limited the attacking prowess of Gawad.
After powering through a first-game win, the crucial moments in the match came late on in the second when locked in at 9-9, with 18-year-old Zakaria seeing consecutive no-let and yes-let decisions upgraded to strokes upon review.
From there, Zakaria showed no let-up, continually pressurising Gawad with some immaculate line hitting down the backhand wall and moving through to an 11-3, 11-9, 11-4 victory after 52 minutes of play.
After the match, Zakaria said: “I lost to Gawad the last three times I played him. I watched back some of those matches today and something clicked. I knew what I was going to do and I’m so happy with how it turned out.
“The last four times, he was pinning me down the backhand wall. He was always taking a further step down the ‘T’ and I was having to take the big line around him. Today I tried to hit it tight and move beside him, so if he was going to do that, I would be right next to him. Today, my counter game was so good.
“It’s so difficult to play against Karim. He has so many gears to shift to. I’m still a bit in disbelief at how well my plan turned out.”
No.6 seed Eleinen, meanwhile, defeated former World No.1 ElShorbagy in commanding style, overcoming 'The Beast' by an 11-4, 11-8, 11-6 scoreline.
The 26-year-old Alexandrian picked up where he left off from his superb three-game win over Mohamed’s brother, Marwan, in the previous round, delivering an intelligent performance which neutralised the threats of the attack-minded ElShorbagy.
In the women's draw, No.2 seed Sivasangari Subramaniam and top seed Amina Orfi set up a title-deciding showdown after defeating Aifa Azman and Nada Abbas, respectively.
World No.7 Sivasangari was given a stern examination by compatriot Azman throughout their 58 minutes on court, with the pair trading games to reach a decider.
After seeing a match ball slip through her grasp at the backend of the fourth, Sivasangari regained her composure impressively to eventually prevail past the No.8 seed by an 11-8, 6-11, 11-9, 12-14, 11-5 scoreline.
After the match, Sivasangari said: “I knew Aifa was going to come in strong today, especially after beating Fayrouz in three yesterday. She did the same thing today and put me under a lot of pressure.
“I couldn’t quite find my game, but I just tried to stick in and play it point by point and not overthink it. I just tried to stay as composed as I could, and I’m glad that I did – it worked out in the end. It was a bit more comfortable at the backend of the fifth game because I managed to get a bit more of a lead on the scoreboard.”
In the first match of the day, World No.3 Amina Orfi eased past an under-the-weather Nada Abbas to reach her sixth final of the 2025/26 PSA Squash Tour season.
As was the case in her opening two matches of the event against Mariam Metwally and Farida Mohamed, No.4 seed Abbas' struggles with illness continued in the one-sided semi-final match, with Orfi rarely having to hit top gear during her comfortable 11-4, 11-6, 11-5 victory inside DA Creek Club.
Results – Men’s Semi-Finals: Rich Venus Karachi Open 2026
[5] Mohamad Zakaria (EGY) bt [1] Karim Gawad (EGY) 3-0: 11-3, 11-9, 11-4 (52m)
[6] Aly Abou Eleinen (EGY) bt [4] Mohamed ElShorbagy (ENG) 3-0: 11-4, 11-8, 11-6 (31m)
Results – Women’s Semi-Finals: Rich Venus Karachi Open 2026
[1] Amina Orfi (EGY) bt [4] Nada Abbas (EGY) 3-0: 11-4, 11-6, 11-5 (26m)
[2] Sivasangari Subramaniam (MAS) bt [8] Aifa Azman (MAS) 3-2: 11-8, 6-11, 11-9, 12-14, 11-5 (58m)
Draw – Men's Final: To Be Played January 11
[5] Mohamad Zakaria (EGY) v [6] Aly Abou Eleinen (EGY)
Draw – Women's Final: To Be Played January 11
[1] Amina Orfi (EGY) v [2] Sivasangari Subramaniam (MAS)
