How Egypt became a global squash superpower

By Rowaida Abdelaziz

Egypt once again made headlines last week, and this time, it isn’t about politics.

Egyptians Mohamed Shorbagy and Raneem El Weleily swept the New York-based Tournament of Champions (TOC) in their respective divisions on January 24, once again sealing Egypt’s reputation as a formidable force to be reckoned with on the squash court.

Held in New York City’s Grand Central Terminal, World No. 2 women’s squash player Raneem El Weleily, 26, made squash history by becoming the first Egyptian woman to win the TOC. Mohamed El Shorbagy, 24, defended his title as the world’s top squash player by claiming his fourth major PSA World Series title.

“When I saw Raneem win in the women’s final, it really inspired me because we both recently lost in World Championship finals even though we both had match balls,” said El Shorbagy. “She showed me that you can rebound and I’m really proud of how I played and that I proved I can come back stronger than before.”

Tournament Winners Mohamed Elshorbagy and Raneem El-Welily

These two champions, however, were not the only ones representing the land of the pyramids.

Egyptian squash players Nour el-Sherbini reached the semifinals at the TOC while Nour El-Tayeb made it to the quarterfinals. In the men’s division, Amr Shabana reached the semifinals and Tarek Momen made it to the quarterfinals. To say the least, there was no shortage of Egyptian representation in the tournament’s top brackets.

These impressive wins are also not new to Egypt.

Egypt has long been the world’s leading superpower in the world of squash, along with England, Australia and France, winning seven of the past 12 World Opens. According to the Professional Squash Association (PSA) three of their top five players are Egyptian, including el-Shorbagy and Shabana. Egyptian athletes Amr Momen and Ramy Ashour are also among the 5 Egyptians in PSA’s top 10 rankings. Moreover, three Egyptian men have won the last three U.S. Intercollegiate Individual Championships, a tournament for the best players attending universities in the United States.

According to Harvard Magazine, there are two major playing styles in elite squash – English and Egyptian. While the English style focuses on “steadiness, long points and superior fitness,” the Egyptian style is more creative, deceptive and mentally taxing. “The English game penetrates your legs first, and your head second,” said Ali Farag ’14, Harvard men’s varsity number-one player. “The Egyptian style reverses that, and gets into your head first. An Egyptian player will go for a trick shot and win a point out of nowhere.”

The birth of Egyptian squash

Dating back to early British colonialism, squash has been a popular sport in Egyptian history for centuries.

Squash, which began in England, was introduced to the Egypt by British colonial officers who built sports clubs for themselves around Cairo and Alexandria in the 19^th century Accessible only to the elite, Egyptian staff members and ball boys were only allowed to play during off hours.

Egyptian diplomat Abdelfattah Bey, better known as F.D. Amr Bey, became the first international squash champion, winning six consecutive British Open championships while stationed in England in the 1930s. This was a great source of inspiration for Egyptians, leading many young players to take on the sport as well.

Due to Egypt’s political turmoil between the 1950s and 1990s, many talented squash players, including Shabana, could afford to travel and play abroad. Instead, they opted for in-house training which allowed the sport to gain domestic popularity and recognition while allowing for exceptional talent to breed. It also allowed for the creation of exceptional competitive training grounds for Egyptians, by Egyptians.

As the sport’s popularity began to grow in the country, former President Hosni Mubarak, a squash player himself, started to promote squash at both national and international levels. In 1996, Mubarak coordinated the construction of a glass court in front of the pyramids and hosted the Al-Ahram International tournament – one of the first major international squash tournaments in Egypt – in which Egyptian player Ahmed Barada reached the finals. Two years later, Barada went on to become the world’s second best squash player, putting Egypt’s growing squash talent in the spotlight once again.

“He was the first of our generation to break through,” said Shabana. “That opened up doors to the game for the rest of us again. It made us all push.”

Egyptian youngsters rise to the occasion

The competitiveness of the game continued to rise with the introduction of the junior world championships. “Around 600 children tried to qualify for the Egyptian championships and that is just in the under-11s section,” said Egyptian national coach Amr Wagih in an interview with BBC.

Egyptians also continue to dominate the squash championships at a young age as well. In fact, eight of the last 10 junior men’s world champions have been Egyptian. In the women’s division, 13 of the last 15 winners of the under-15 title have been from Egypt.

Squash continues to be a sport of the upper class due to its vast expenses, including club memberships, equipments and facilities, making it difficult for the poor of Egypt to train.

However those who can afford doing so continue to dominate the game and defend Egypt’s title as a squash superpower. Despite the political turmoil Egypt currently faces since the 2011 ouster of Mubarak, its athletes continue to achieve and defend their titles as the cream of the squash crop, bringing home more than just trophies and medals – but pride, success and inspiration to their homeland.