2026 Semis : Hutton downs top seed Hany

England’s Jasmine Hutton downed top seed Salma Hany to reach her biggest career final, joining Nele Gilis, Youssef Soliman and Aly Abou Eleinen in the Hamburg finals.

The Englishwoman, who won a Copper-level event at the Calgary Squash Week Open in 2025, has an opportunity to go one better tomorrow evening with a shot at a Bronze-level title after comprehensively defeating the Egyptian.

Hutton dominated proceedings for large parts of her 31-minute battle with Hany, nulliyfing the Egyptian’s attacks to claim an impressive 11-4, 11-4, 11-7 victory over the tournament’s top seed and reach her biggest final yet.

“The court is quite quick and I think it suits my fast paced style of play. Obviously because it is a bit quicker, it adds a bit of pace onto the match. I actually thought it was a bit scrappy, but maybe that was because I was playing a bit quicker than usual,” she said post-match.

“I think that rushed her a lot – she has some amazing weapons from the back of the court and I don’t think she played one of them once today, so I’m quite relieved at that. I’m very excited. It’s just another day, another match. That’s how you’ve got to look at it otherwise these things get the better of you. I’ll do the same thing I’ve been doing every day and stick with the routine.”

Hutton’s opponent will be 2024 runner-up Nele Gilis, who’s into her third final this season following a dominant win over Melissa Alves.

Gilis, who lost out to Georgina Kennedy two years ago in Hamburg, will be hoping to make it third time lucky in finals this season having lost the London Classic and New Zealand Open title deciders. The Belgian notched an impressive 11-9, 11-8, 11-4 victory against Alves for her place in the final.

“We’ve played since juniors, so I feel we know each other’s game inside and out. We’ve played some battles over the years, so I knew it was going to be very tough today. I knew what I wanted to do and I think I was very focused today. I’m very glad with my performance,” she said.

“In hindsight, it is always better to get through the event as quickly as possible, but in the moment you don’t think about that. It’s just one match at a time. We will see tomorrow what happens. It’s going to be a tough battle. She’s been playing very well and I’m really looking forward to it.”

In the men’s draw top seed Youssef Soliman fought back from 2-1 down to overcome Baptiste Masotti in a monumental 107-minute thrilller. The Egyptian looked to be exiting the event when trailing to Masotti, with the Frenchman backed by the home crowd.

Soliman surged back in the fourth to restore parity and the lengthy opening two games had taken a huge physical toll on Masotti, as the top seed capitalised to seal a 13-11, 14-16, 1-11, 11-7, 11-6 win after 107 minutes of pulsating action.

“In the second game I was very surprised how stubborn he was. All credit to him, he just kept fighting and fighting. I think in the second game in particular he showed his character – how he was moving, how he was fighting,” he said.

“Maybe I got lucky that he was cramping at the end, I was tired, but when you see he’s tired, you just keep pushing all the way. I’m happy to get these kind of matches into my body, and to get the win in the end.

“I’m very happy to be in the final. Aly won’t be coaching me though! I can’t thank him enough though. He gave me so many pushes tonight, when I was tired, when I needed a mental push, he was there for me.”

It will be an all-Egyptian battle in the men’s final, as Soliman will face compatriot Aly Abou Eleinen, who also recovered from 2-1 down to win 3-2 against third seed Fares Dessouky.

Eleinen, who lost to Dessouky the last time they squared off on Tour, earned an appearance in a final for the second time this season after overturning the deficit to triumph 11-7, 9-11, 9-11, 11-5, 11-2 in 76 minutes.

“Fares is such a top class player. If you want to teach your kid how to play squash, just watch Fares. I’m very pleased to get the win today. It wasn’t easy by any means and I had to dig deep,” he said. “I just stuck in until the end – I tried to be aggressive at times, but I was a little edgy. That’s what Fares does to you. I’m super proud to get through.

“I played on this court last year so I’m pretty familiar with it. It’s a pleasure to play at all these venues.
“Coming back from injury this year, this is what I needed, just getting some matches in a row. Trying to get back into form and hopefully build on it more. Tomorrow is going to be a big test for me.”