no, not the vegetable
Egyptians Have Cornered the Squash Racket
By DAN ACKMAN
October 3, 2007; Page D10
New York
Squash, at least in the U.S., is a game associated with men's clubs and prep schools, so the idea that the world's best squash players hail from Egypt, an impecunious country where sports isn't the first thing that'll come to one's mind, seems remarkable. But it's true. As the U.S. Open Squash Championship is under way in New York, the top-ranked player in the world is Amr Shabana of Giza, Egypt. His countryman Ramy Ashour, who just turned 20, is ranked second. All told, five Egyptians are in the top 20 of the Professional Squash Association's world rankings.
[squash]
* Egypt tops All-Africa Games medical count
* Egypt wins African Cup of Nations
* Egypt wins volleyball African Cup of Nations
That Egyptians place among the world's top squash players is not new. But in the past few years, they have come to dominate. At the U.S. Open being played this week on a glass court constructed inside the Roseland Ballroom in New York's Theater District, seven Egyptians made the 32-man draw. All but one advanced to the round of 16, including 19-year-old qualifier Omar Mosaad, who beat ninth-ranked John White of Scotland.
Mr. Mosaad's victory over Mr. White is emblematic. The Egyptian honed his skills at the El-Borolossy Squash Academy, a facility open to all in the Cairo suburb of Maadi. The academy was founded by Omar El-Borolossy, 31, who was once ranked 14th in the world. There are 230 junior players enrolled and they have access to 12 full-time coaches, plus a staff of fitness trainers, videographers and sports psychologists.
Like most Egyptians, Mr. Mosaad employs an attacking style that emphasizes shotmaking and quickness as opposed to power. Mr. White, meanwhile, is known as the hardest hitter in the game; his shots have been clocked at 165 miles per hour.
While the El-Borolossy Squash Academy is just three years old and unusual in that it is not a private club, squash in Egypt has long been available to the working and middle classes, the Egyptian players say, and scores of kids at various clubs play the game seriously. Now with Egyptians atop the world rankings, the players say it is the first or second most popular individual sport in Egypt, along with tennis. Like European and Asian players, Egyptians join the professional ranks as early as age 15 or 16.
[Amr Shabana]
Amr Shabana, the No. 1-ranked squash player in the world, and one of five Egyptians in the top 20.
American juniors, by contrast, tend to see the game as a way into the Ivy League; none are in the top 50. The best college player in recent years is Yasser El Halaby, a native of Cairo, who won four straight collegiate titles for Princeton. He and the top U.S. player, Julian Illingworth, a Yale graduate from Portland, Ore., lost in the U.S. Open qualifying rounds.
At this point, young players in Egypt have Mr. Ashour and Mr. Shabana's lead to follow. When Mr. Shabana, now 28, himself was a boy, he was following in the footsteps of his good friend Ahmed Faizy, six months his senior. (Mr. Shabana's mother also had been Egyptian national champion.) As a junior, Mr. Shabana was always second to Mr. Faizy. "I wanted to be like him," Mr. Shabana says. Though he joined the professional tour as a teen in 1996, Mr. Shabana didn't crack the top 20 until 2002 and the top 10 until 2004, when he finally became the top Egyptian, ahead of Mr. El-Borolossy.
Mr. Shabana says his breakthrough came from gaining the self-assurance to play closer to the front wall, enabling him to hit shots earlier and continually pressure his opponent. "You have the confidence you can attack because you've been there before," he says.
DETAILS
[Details]
U.S. OPEN SQUASH CHAMPIONSHIP
Roseland Ballroom
Semifinals tonight, finals tomorrow
All top squash players seem to have the ability to swat a fly in midair -- not killing it, but rehabilitating it instead. Mr. Shabana can direct that fly into particularly gainful employment, such as tax accounting or radiology. His deft racket work was on display in a second-round match against 15th-ranked Peter Barker from Britain. On game point, at the end of a long rally, Mr. Shabana delivered a drop shot, followed by an overhead smash, both of which Mr. Barker lunged to return. Then Mr. Shabana calmly delivered another drop shot that died in the corner of the court. Mr. Shabana had the game, 11-9, and ultimately the match.
If Mr. Shabana's rise was methodical, Mr. Ashour's was meteoric. The youngest-ever junior world champion, Mr. Ashour joined the PSA tour in 2005. Two years later he is ranked No. 2. In April, he defeated Mr. Shabana in the finals of the Kuwait Open, one of the sport's most important events.
The Egyptian players train together even as professionals. This internecine competition along with a new emphasis on fitness has pushed the current crop of players to the forefront, says Hisham Ashour, Ramy's older brother, who is ranked 22nd. Competition among an eager and disciplined group of juniors should keep Egypt on top. "We have 10 to 15 more years of good squash at least," Mr. El-Borolossy says. Perhaps a bit more. Mr. El-Borolossy is married to Mr. Shabana's sister. Their five-year-old son, Marwan, is just taking up the game.
Egyptians Have Cornered the Squash Racket
By DAN ACKMAN
October 3, 2007; Page D10
New York
Squash, at least in the U.S., is a game associated with men's clubs and prep schools, so the idea that the world's best squash players hail from Egypt, an impecunious country where sports isn't the first thing that'll come to one's mind, seems remarkable. But it's true. As the U.S. Open Squash Championship is under way in New York, the top-ranked player in the world is Amr Shabana of Giza, Egypt. His countryman Ramy Ashour, who just turned 20, is ranked second. All told, five Egyptians are in the top 20 of the Professional Squash Association's world rankings.
[squash]
* Egypt tops All-Africa Games medical count
* Egypt wins African Cup of Nations
* Egypt wins volleyball African Cup of Nations
That Egyptians place among the world's top squash players is not new. But in the past few years, they have come to dominate. At the U.S. Open being played this week on a glass court constructed inside the Roseland Ballroom in New York's Theater District, seven Egyptians made the 32-man draw. All but one advanced to the round of 16, including 19-year-old qualifier Omar Mosaad, who beat ninth-ranked John White of Scotland.
Mr. Mosaad's victory over Mr. White is emblematic. The Egyptian honed his skills at the El-Borolossy Squash Academy, a facility open to all in the Cairo suburb of Maadi. The academy was founded by Omar El-Borolossy, 31, who was once ranked 14th in the world. There are 230 junior players enrolled and they have access to 12 full-time coaches, plus a staff of fitness trainers, videographers and sports psychologists.
Like most Egyptians, Mr. Mosaad employs an attacking style that emphasizes shotmaking and quickness as opposed to power. Mr. White, meanwhile, is known as the hardest hitter in the game; his shots have been clocked at 165 miles per hour.
While the El-Borolossy Squash Academy is just three years old and unusual in that it is not a private club, squash in Egypt has long been available to the working and middle classes, the Egyptian players say, and scores of kids at various clubs play the game seriously. Now with Egyptians atop the world rankings, the players say it is the first or second most popular individual sport in Egypt, along with tennis. Like European and Asian players, Egyptians join the professional ranks as early as age 15 or 16.
[Amr Shabana]
Amr Shabana, the No. 1-ranked squash player in the world, and one of five Egyptians in the top 20.
American juniors, by contrast, tend to see the game as a way into the Ivy League; none are in the top 50. The best college player in recent years is Yasser El Halaby, a native of Cairo, who won four straight collegiate titles for Princeton. He and the top U.S. player, Julian Illingworth, a Yale graduate from Portland, Ore., lost in the U.S. Open qualifying rounds.
At this point, young players in Egypt have Mr. Ashour and Mr. Shabana's lead to follow. When Mr. Shabana, now 28, himself was a boy, he was following in the footsteps of his good friend Ahmed Faizy, six months his senior. (Mr. Shabana's mother also had been Egyptian national champion.) As a junior, Mr. Shabana was always second to Mr. Faizy. "I wanted to be like him," Mr. Shabana says. Though he joined the professional tour as a teen in 1996, Mr. Shabana didn't crack the top 20 until 2002 and the top 10 until 2004, when he finally became the top Egyptian, ahead of Mr. El-Borolossy.
Mr. Shabana says his breakthrough came from gaining the self-assurance to play closer to the front wall, enabling him to hit shots earlier and continually pressure his opponent. "You have the confidence you can attack because you've been there before," he says.
DETAILS
[Details]
U.S. OPEN SQUASH CHAMPIONSHIP
Roseland Ballroom
Semifinals tonight, finals tomorrow
All top squash players seem to have the ability to swat a fly in midair -- not killing it, but rehabilitating it instead. Mr. Shabana can direct that fly into particularly gainful employment, such as tax accounting or radiology. His deft racket work was on display in a second-round match against 15th-ranked Peter Barker from Britain. On game point, at the end of a long rally, Mr. Shabana delivered a drop shot, followed by an overhead smash, both of which Mr. Barker lunged to return. Then Mr. Shabana calmly delivered another drop shot that died in the corner of the court. Mr. Shabana had the game, 11-9, and ultimately the match.
If Mr. Shabana's rise was methodical, Mr. Ashour's was meteoric. The youngest-ever junior world champion, Mr. Ashour joined the PSA tour in 2005. Two years later he is ranked No. 2. In April, he defeated Mr. Shabana in the finals of the Kuwait Open, one of the sport's most important events.
The Egyptian players train together even as professionals. This internecine competition along with a new emphasis on fitness has pushed the current crop of players to the forefront, says Hisham Ashour, Ramy's older brother, who is ranked 22nd. Competition among an eager and disciplined group of juniors should keep Egypt on top. "We have 10 to 15 more years of good squash at least," Mr. El-Borolossy says. Perhaps a bit more. Mr. El-Borolossy is married to Mr. Shabana's sister. Their five-year-old son, Marwan, is just taking up the game.
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