He went 15 months and 49 matches without getting beaten, in the process winning nine consecutive titles. However, a series of injuries limited his international appearances in tournaments from the end of onward.
That he managed to pull it off after returning from a six month injury lay off further adds to the enigma that is Ramy Ashour. Considered as the first of the many great Egyptian players to dominate squash, Shabana has a number of firsts to his credit. The year marked him out for greatness when he beat a star studded line up to win the World Open in Pakistan. He also became the first Egyptian player to reach the World No.
With successive World Champion title wins in and , Nick stamped his authority on the sport. When Mohamed Elshorbagy won the Manchester Open on 22nd Sep , he moved to fifth position on the list of championship winners. Coached by Jonah Barrington, ElShorbagy rose to prominence in by becoming the first player in history to secure a maiden PSA World Tour title at a five star event.
He first achieved the World No. He followed that up by shattering the record again a month later. Widely known for his deception and superior shot making ability, Jonathan Power is the first North American to be ranked world No. In , Power returned to the World No. Having won 36 PSA world tour events and reached the finals of 58 such events, Power is a certified legend of the game.
The Canadian had a fierce rivalry with Peter Nicol often leading to him having emotional outbursts during intense matches. In addition to the multitude of PSA tour events, Power ended his career with one World series tournament win and one British Open victory. The temperamental player has come a long way from his initial inconsistent days. His longevity has made him the first player from the modern era to have played over matches. Gaultier came into prominence when he won the US Open Crown in the year Skip to content.
Jahangir Khan. Nicol David. Capra Baerum Open: Tournament Preview. Web poll. Do remember - it's only a bit of fun The World of Squash at Your Fingertips. About SP. Squash on TV. I will look at six all-time greats, and try to put them in the historical context that they deserve. For the greater part of two decades many of those objectives were being realised. A functional world rankings system was established and published, the squash player pool had grown and so too the sports following.
For all of the advances that had been made in the game, it was still struggling to resonate with women outside of Europe and North America. For a considerable period, most of the key administrators were European and most of the top players were European. As is often the case, there is only so much administrators can do to raise the profile of a sport.
Sometimes — we would venture to say often — all it really takes to change the face of a sport is one individual, a competitor…. In squash, that individual is Nicol Ann David. She is without doubt the greatest woman to ever set foot on a squash court.
She is among the few individuals whose achievements have actually transcended the sport in almost every way imaginable. Her long list of Honours in Malaysia is evidence that her contribution to squash, sport, Malaysia and the advancement of women in sport Asia was not lost on anybody. Since David turned professional in , her country of birth has hosted three World Squash Championships.
It is also worth noting that Championships have been hosted by Hong Kong twice and Qatar during that period. Perhaps that is just a coincidence and perhaps the evolution of the sport was inevitable. We are giving credit to David for what she has clearly done for the sport…. Throughout her glittering career, David has competed in World Tour Finals. You would think that is totally outrageous until you read that she won 80 of those Finals.
It gets more ridiculous than that though, when you then read that David competed in 71 World Series Finals — and that she won 61 of them. It is true that there is a new stream of Egyptian talent emerging on the professional circuit — talent that might match the accomplishments of David. Who are we to rule that out?
They call Nicol David the Duracell Bunny. There is an element to that which rings true, as she possessed fitness levels that were virtually unprecedented when she was competing at her peak. However, what is often taken for granted is that she was also a cerebral player in almost every respect. A player who always understood how to emerge from a dark hole in the face of adversity, a player who knew how to win the big points and when to win them.
Fitness can only take you so far. It takes a certain level of technical and mental ability to sustain that level of competitiveness for as long as David did. Eight World Championships is not a dance, especially when five of those titles were consecutive. Equally impressive is months in the top ten of the world rankings — of those months were at number one. As far as we are concerned, this is not a debate.
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