London Squash Classic: Story of 2024
With the first major stop of the 2025/26 PSA Squash Tour season, the Gold-level London Squash Classic presented by Bassim Haidar, just around the corner, we’ve taken a look back at the last holding of the event, which saw Malaysia’s Sivasangari Subramaniam and Paul Coll crowned as champions.
Read below to take a look back at the very best moments, biggest shocks, and winning moments from the 2024 edition of the London Squash Classic.
This year’s London Squash Classic gets underway on Tuesday, 2nd September, with every second of action available to watch live on SQUASHTV.
For more information from the London Squash Classic 2025, visit the PSA website or follow the PSA on X, Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, TikTok, Threads, WhatsApp and LinkedIn.
Round One
English wildcard Declan James celebrated his return to the PSA Squash Tour after over a year out injured with a sublime performance which saw him defeat Egyptian World No.19 Mohamed El Sherbini.
The Englishman, playing in his first World Tour event since the 2022 Egyptian Open after suffering a ruptured Achilles tendon, played the court conditions perfectly, defending well and taking advantage of every opportunity presented by the Egyptian to secure an 11-9, 11-7 win.
James was far from the only player to record an upset, with Timothy Brownell shocking Fares Dessouky, George Parker beating Auguste Dussourd and Nick Wall getting the better of Abdulla Al-Tamimi.
In the women’s event, Alicia Mead’s first-ever Gold-level event got off to the perfect start as the World No.49 set up an all-England showdown with No.6 seed Sarah-Jane Perry by securing a convincing win over Egyptian World No.35 Mariam Metwally.
Elsewhere in the women’s event, Japan’s Satomi Watanabe, who earlier this month won the Gold-level Optasia Championships, survived an early scare to get the better of France’s Enora Villard.
Round Two
Recording his second successive upset at the Gold-level event, English wildcard Declan James downed French No.6 seed Baptiste Masotti in a thriller to reach the quarter-finals.
The 2022 Commonwealth Games doubles gold medalist went a game down to Masotti but launched a spectacular fightback, taking the second game 11-7 and dominating the third in an 11-5 win to the delight of the home crowd.
Also through into the quarters were Egyptian duo Mostafa Asal and Aly Abou Eleinen, after Asal beat England’s Nick Wall 11-6, 11-9 and Eleinen beat England’s Nathan Lake 11-6, 11-5.
In the women’s event, No.6 seed Sarah-Jane Perry overcame England compatriot Alicia Mead to set up a quarter-final with former world No.1 and No.3 seed Nouran Gohar, with Gohar getting the better of Canada’s Hollie Naughton 2-0.
Quarter-Finals
The quarter-finals of the London Classic certainly lived up to expectations, with Malaysia’s Sivasangari Subramaniam and England’s home favourite Declan James delivering two huge shocks on the Ally Pally stage.
Sivasangari, who prior to that match had never even taken a game off seven-time World Champion Nour El Sherbini, let alone beaten her, set alarm bells ringing in El Sherbini’s camp when she outfought the top seed on the way to an 11-9 win in game one. In an incredible repeat in game two, the Malaysian sent shockwaves through the squash world by finishing the match with another 11-9 win to secure the biggest win of her career to date.
That win for Sivasangari represented the first time a player outside the top 10 in the PSA World Rankings had beaten El Sherbini since Annie Au in 2015.
In the men’s event, James continued to astound with a stunning win over World No.5 Gawad.
The Englishman, who that week was playing his first World Tour event in over a year due to a serious Achilles injury, had been in incredible form, previously recording wins over World No.19 Mohamed ElSherbini in round one and World No.14 Baptiste Masotti in round two.
Elsewhere, then-former World No.1 Mostafa Asal defeated compatriot Aly Abou Eleinen, and Joel Makin fought back to defeat Marwan ElShorbagy in a thrilling clash.
The Welshman recovered from being match ball down to beat the No.5 seed 8-11, 12-10, 12-10 in 64 minutes.
Meanwhile, No.2 seed Hania El Hammamy and her fierce rival and No.3 seed Nouran Gohar set up a blockbuster semi-final after El Hammamy came from behind to beat Fayrouz Aboelkheir 2-1 and Gohar overcame England’s Sarah-Jane Perry 2-0.
Semi-Finals
World No.16 Sivasangari continued her spectacular run after coming from behind to upset Belgian World No.4 Nele Gilis and reach the final at the Alexandra Palace.
The No.7 seed lost the first game to the No.4 seed but responded brilliantly, with her ultra-attacking gameplan giving her two match balls when leading 10-8 with the score in games at 2-1.
In an exciting fightback, though, Gilis saved both before going on to win the game 12-10 to force a fifth game.
This time around, though, the Malaysian made no mistake, with the 25-year-old, who returned to the Tour the year prior after recovering from a life-threatening car crash in 2022, clinching a pulsating final game 11-9 to bring the 94-minute epic to a close.
Sivasangari confirmed her spot in the final next to Hania El Hammamy, after the World No.2 beat long-term rival Nouran Gohar in a fiery all-Egyptian clash.
Meanwhile, in the men’s event top seeds Paul Coll and Mostafa Asal advanced without fail.
Despite admitting to not playing at his best, former World No.1 Coll was able to recover from twice falling behind to World No.11 Joel Makin, with the World No.2 fighting back to record a 5-11, 11-7, 8-11, 11-7, 11-7 win.
Former World No.1 Asal, meanwhile, ended home hopes with a 3-0 win over English wildcard and the tournament’s surprise package Declan James.
Finals
Malaysia’s Sivasangari Subramaniam and New Zealand’s Paul Coll captured the inaugural London Classic titles after Sivasangari upset World No.2 Hania El Hammamy and Coll overcame Mostafa Asal.
Sivasangari’s dream run at Ally Pally ended in thrilling fashion as she defeated El Hammamy in a dramatic five-game clash.
Despite seeing multiple championship balls slip through her grasp in the fourth game, Sivasangari bounced back in stunning style to become the first Malaysian to win a Gold-level or higher event since Nicol David in the 2015 Hong Kong Open with an 11-9, 5-11, 13-11, 12-14, 11-8 win in 81 minutes.
In an injury-curtailed men’s final, Coll overcame fellow former World No.1 Asal in a stop-start encounter.
The Kiwi dominated the first game, which he took 11-8 before Asal hit back with a 13-11 game two victory. Coll regained his lead with an 11-7 win in game three and made a rapid start to game four.
Unfortunately, it soon became clear that Asal was struggling with an injury, and the Egyptian retired hurt with the score at 8-1 to Coll in game four.
