It would be a lot easier to list out the few accomplishments Penn men’s squash sophomore Salman Khalil did not receive than the ones he did this year. That is how dominant Khalil was this past season en route to Penn’s second consecutive Potter Cup national team championship.
This past season, Khalil was named the Ivy League Player of the Year and received First-team Collegiate Squash Association All-American honors. He also became the first Quaker since 1979 to win the CSA individual title.
Khalil came into this year off the back of an already impressive freshman campaign, where he was named the Ivy League Rookie of the Year and a First Team CSA All-American. This was not enough for the Cairo native.
At the 2025 CSA individual national championships at the end of January, Khalil defeated Penn teammate junior Omar Hafez in an 11-4, 13-11, 11-2 victory to win the Pool Trophy. Neither player received coaching during the bout as both players were representing the Red and Blue.
"Having two Penn players in the final took a lot of stress off my shoulders because we have secured the title which was the only objective we had going into the championship," Khalil told The Daily Pennsylvanian after the match in January.
A few short months later on March 9, Khalil and Penn found themselves back at the Arlen Specter U.S. Squash Center in Philadelphia for the national team championship. Khalil, who was actively fasting for Ramadan alongside two other teammates, clinched the championship against Yale junior Tad Carney.
After Khalil overcame Carney in a 11-4, 11-13, 11-9, 11-3 victory, he fell to his knees to thunderous applause– a warranted reaction after lifting Penn to two championships in the same season. Overall, Khalil finished undefeated in both individual and team play.
