The Sportwerk Hamburg Open 2026 gets underway tomorrow, the final Bronze level event of the PSA Squash Tour season and third consecutive World Event to take place at Sportwerk.
The men’s event will see Egyptian duo Youssef Soliman and Aly Abou Eleinen top the draw after the withdrawals of both Elshorbagy brothers, Marwan and Mohamed. Soliman is looking to claim his first title since the Australian Open 2024, whilst Eleinen hasn’t scored an event win since November 2023. Eleinen reached his biggest event final in the first event of 2026, at the Karachi Open Gold event. Since then, the World No.14 has only won one match in four events, therefore, he’ll be looking to put together a strong week in Hamburg to gain momentum heading into the biggest events of the calendar.
Fares Dessouky and Baptiste Masotti occupy the 3/4 seeding positions. The often controversial figure of Dessouky has the capability to produce exceptional squash and is a player who has always given the world’s top players a hard time throughout his career. Dessouky is on the verge of dropping outside of the top 20 in the next few weeks, so he will need a positive event this week to extend his top 20 run to seven consecutive seasons. Masotti is the highest-seeded European in the draw and will be looking to emulate the success of compatriot Victor Crouin, who won the event last year. Like the top two seeds, both Dessouky and Masotti are also experiencing title droughts as they haven’t claimed titles since 2022 and 2023, respectively.
Egypt’s Salma Hany tops the women’s draw, featuring in her second event in Hamburg after losing out in the semi-finals in 2024. The last time that Hany featured in a Bronze event, she won it. Claiming the Manchester Open title in April last year. In what has been an up and down season for the Egyptian, she possesses a plethora of attacking weapons and is more than capable of wiping out the field this week in Hamburg.
The player who beat Hany in that 2024 semi-final is this year’s no.2 seed, Nele Gilis. The Belgian went on to lose the final 3-1 to Georgina Kennedt but is returning this year for another crack at claiming the title. Gilis’ athleticism, combined with confidence, makes her a force to be reckoned with. The athleticism is rarely an issue but the confidence can often be temperamental; signs are certainly there that the Nele Gilis of a few years ago is returning, however and a win this week in Germany could be just what she needs to make a run back towards the top 10 and major event latter stages.
European duo Jamsine Hutton and Melissa Alves are the closest challengers to the top seeds, both looking to upset the seedings and claim the biggest titles of their careers. Hutton has been knocking on the door of the world’s top 12 for the last season and half now and a win in a Bronze or above level tournament seems only a matter of time. The more experienced Alves has the know how to navigate her way to an event title like this but actaully getting over the line in back to back hard matches had proved a difficult task for the Frenchwoman.
Home interest is headed by German No.1 and 6x National champion Raphael Kandra, as he looks to entertain the always excitable crowd to keep a home player in the draw for as long as possible. Event wildcards Yannick Omlor, Katerina Tycova and Maya Weishar as well as Saskia Beinhard will all be hoping to draw on the energy of a home crowd to have a strong week.
Round one gets underway at 13:00 (GMT+2) live on SQUASHTV.
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Men’s Draw:
[2] Aly Abou Eleinen (EGY) ByeRory Stewart (SCO) v [9/16] Mazen Hesham (EGY)
[9/16] Balazs Farkas (HUN) v [WC] Yannik Omlor (GER)
[7] Ramit Tandon (IND) Bye
[5] Abhay Singh (IND) Bye
[9/16] Sam Todd (ENG) v Yassin Elshafei (EGY)
[9/16] Velavan Senthilkumar (IND) v Ryunosuke Tsukue (JPN)
[3] Fares Dessouky (EGY) Bye
[4] Baptiste Masotti (FRA) Bye
Emyr Evans (WAL) v [9/16] Toufik Mekhalfi (FRA)
[9/16] Veer Chotrani (IND) v Ivan Perez (ESP)
[8] Raphael Kandra (GER) Bye
[6] Melvil Scianimanico (FRA) Bye
[WC] Marek Panacek (CZE) v [9/16] Adrian Waller (ENG)
[9/16] Patrick Rooney (ENG) v David Bernet (SUI)
[1] Youssef Soliman (EGY) Bye
Women’s Draw:
[1] Salma Hany (EGY) ByeKiera Marshall (ENG) v [9/16] Marie Stephan (FRA)
[9/16] Saskia Beinhard (GER) v Joshna Chinappa (IND)
[8] Joelle King (NZL) Bye
[5] Malak Khafagy (EGY) Bye
Yasshmita Jadishkumar (MAS) v [9/16] Lauren Baltayan (FRA)
[9/16] Jessica van der Walt (AUS) v Emilia Soini (FIN)
[3] Jasmine Hutton (ENG) Bye
[4] Melissa Alves (FRA) Bye
[WC] Maya Weishar (GER) v [9/16] Hayley Ward (RSA)
[9/16] Millie Tomlinson (ENG) v [WC] Katerina Tycova (GER)
[7] Hollie Naughton (CAN) Bye
[6] Katie Malliff (ENG) Bye
Enora Villard (FRA) v [9/16] Marta Dominguez (ESP)
[9/16] Hannah Craig (IRL) v Tanvi Khanna (IND)
[2] Nele Gilis (BEL) Bye
