Malaysia’s Rachel Arnold defeated eight-time world champion Nour ElSherbini at the 2026 Qatar Classic in Doha, losing the first game 9-11 before winning the next three, 11-7, 11-8, 12-10, in 43 minutes at the Khalifa International Tennis and Squash Complex.
ElSherbini is the tournament’s third seed and had won the Qatar Classic in 2024, making her the defending champion going into this match. This was Arnold’s first win over a top-10 player, and it puts her into her first Platinum-level quarter-final on the PSA Squash Tour. Arnold said after the match that she had never beaten a top-10 player before and called the win an important moment in her career.
The loss ends a long streak for ElSherbini: she had reached at least the quarter-finals in 105 consecutive PSA Tour events, a run going back to the 2015 Cleveland Classic and lasting almost 12 years.
Arnold, 30, will play England’s Jasmine Hutton in the quarter-finals on September 16. Hutton reached the quarter-finals by beating seventh seed Georgina Kennedy 3-0. Arnold has had a strong year overall, reaching the quarter-finals of the Optasia Championship and winning the Asian Doubles Championship in June.
The Qatar Classic runs from September 12 to 18 at the Khalifa International Tennis and Squash Complex in Doha, with a total prize purse of $484,000.
