Senior and team captain Omar Hafez continued making history for Penn men’s squash, winning the College Squash Association Individual Championships. His win, following teammate junior Salman Khalil’s win last year, marks the first time two Quakers won the individual championship in consecutive years and adds to their national championships as a team in 2024 and 2025.
The Quakers traveled to New York to compete in the tournament, which featured a 64-man bracket beginning play at Open Squash’s FiDi Club on Jan. 23. The semifinal and championship games took place at Grand Central Terminal.
The Quakers entered the tournament with a team record of 7-2 and as the No. 3-ranked school in the nation, falling two spots from their usual No. 1 ranking. This change came after losing two consecutive team matches to Trinity and Yale, putting an end to the program’s 30-match win streak that spanned all the way back to 2024. Five players entered the tournament determined to redeem the Red and Blue.
“We wanted to send a message that the season is still long and that we’re capable of competing for every trophy ahead,” Hafez said.
Freshman Alex Dartnell opened day one of the tournament for the Quakers, facing Dartmouth’s Arihant Kalamangalan Sunil. Dartnell dropped the first game 11-3 but came back to win the next two and advance to the second round. Sophomore Marwan Abdelsalam added to Penn’s win tally by taking down Nachiket Desai of Tufts in three straight games, while sophomore Rustin Wiser fell to Columbia’s Arhan Chandra. Junior Salman Khalil and senior Omar Hafez both received a first-round bye, the former entering the tournament as the No. 5 seed, and the latter as the No. 2 seed.
In the second half of day one, Khalil and Dartnell faced each other in the round of 32. The Quaker-on-Quaker clash began with a nail-biting first game, which Dartnell clinched 12-10. Khalil answered right back, winning the next three games over Dartnell in a more convincing fashion. Abdelsalam also advanced, winning five games over Rohan Gondi of Yale. Hafez closed out day one with a dominant sweep against Philadelphia rival Nicolas Serna of Drexel.
The following day, Khalil faced off against Yusuf Sheikh of Columbia in a five-game thriller. Khalil took the first game 11-8, but Sheikh fought hard to win game two 11-9. Khalil then won the third game and, Sheikh evened the match again by taking game four. Although the match went the distance, Khalil showed no sign of exhaustion, dominating game five with a 11-2 win to clinch the match. Abdelsalam had a much better experience in the quarterfinals, sweeping Princeton’s Hollis Robertson in three games. Hafez added to the Quakers’ victory run against John Paul Tew of Virginia, only dropping game one and proceeding to win three games straight after that.
The third day of the tournament put a halt to the Red and Blue’s run, as Khalil and Abdelsalam both fell in straight games, the former to No. 4 seed Muhammad Irfan and the latter to No. 3 seed Joachim Chuah, both of Trinity. Hafez redeemed his team with a convincing victory against Benedek Takacs of Trinity, punching his ticket to the semifinals at Grand Central Terminal.
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The next day of the tournament opened with an air of déjà vu for Hafez, as he faced Joachim Chuah of Trinity for the second time in a week. The first iteration of this match in Hartford, Conn., was a clean sweep for Hafez, and this time around, the story barely changed. Hafez took down Chuah in four games, dropping only the third game and claiming his spot in the championship match.
All eyes were on Hafez as the commuters at Grand Central Terminal passed by the glass cage, the stage for the title match. They had a chance to witness Quaker history on the final day of the tournament as Hafez faced yet another Trinity foe in Irfan. With bragging rights on the line and the chance to be a part of collegiate squash history, the two players put each other to the test. Hafez managed to put away two games quickly, before Irfan halted his momentum in game three. The small setback was not enough to throw Hafez off, and he closed out game four in a dominating fashion, lifting the trophy.
Hafez was proud to claim the national title in the final individual match of his collegiate career.
“Being able to achieve this win and being a part of Penn history is honestly one of the most special moments I’ve had on the team,” Hafez said.
After this much-needed morale boost, the Quakers won at Cornell and Columbia this past weekend and are looking to continue their momentum in the Ivy League at Princeton on Feb. 7.
