Daijiworld Media Network - Doha
Doha, Sep 29: India’s Abhay Singh put up a gritty fight against Egypt’s World No. 15 Fares Dessouky, but ultimately bowed out in a five-game thriller in the Round of 16 at the Qatar Classic 2025, a $231,500 PSA Platinum squash tournament held in Doha.
Ranked World No. 35, the 27-year-old Indian stunned the squash world by upsetting former world champion Karim Abdel Gawad (World No. 5) in the previous round. Against Dessouky, Abhay led twice but couldn’t close it out, losing 11-13, 11-5, 9-11, 11-3, 11-3 in a high-intensity 66-minute battle.
He is set to compete next at a PSA Bronze event in New York starting October 5.
Elsewhere, fellow Indian Ramit Tandon was knocked out in the opening round by top seed Mostafa Asal of Egypt, going down in straight games: 4-11, 5-11, 4-11.
In the women’s draw, Malaysia’s Sivasangari Subramaniam, seeded 7th, cruised into the quarterfinals with a straight-game win over Belgium’s Nele Gilis — 11-8, 11-6, 11-5.
The tournament has already seen major upsets. Egypt’s 14-year-old Mohamed Zakaria delivered the shock of the event by eliminating World No. 4 Joel Makin in straight games — a career-best win for the young star.
In other surprises, Malaysia’s Aira Azman came back from two games down to beat World No. 6 Satomi Watanabe, while France’s Melissa Alves knocked out No. 8 seed Georgina Kennedy of England.
With multiple top seeds crashing out early, the Qatar Classic is shaping up to be one of the most unpredictable PSA Platinum events of the season.