Egyptians have been dominating the world of squash for some time, and the whole world is wondering what's the secret formula behind this phenomenon.
In today's rankings, 10 out of the 20 top players in the world are Egyptians.
In the men&rsquo;s rankings, Egypt has six players in the top 10, with four of them securing the top spots, including brothers Mohamed and Marwan El-Shorbagy.&nbsp;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en">
Rankings <a href="https://twitter.com/MoElshorbagy?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@MoElshorbagy</a> stays at No to record his 33rd month overall atop the World Rankings. That takes him level with Amr Shabana as Egypt's longest serving No.1 ever!! <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/BeastMode?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#BeastMode</a> <a href="https://t.co/JgnpX5NvtH">pic.twitter.com/JgnpX5NvtH</a>
&mdash; PSA World Tour (@PSAWorldTour) <a href="https://twitter.com/PSAWorldTour/status/1013482715654520833?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 1, 2018</a></blockquote>
The ladies are also doing just as good, with four overall players and three residing on top.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en">
Rankings The rest of the women's top 20 stays unchanged <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/squash?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#squash</a> <a href="https://t.co/hzn1fnX4Kq">pic.twitter.com/hzn1fnX4Kq</a>
&mdash; PSA World Tour (@PSAWorldTour) <a href="https://twitter.com/PSAWorldTour/status/1013483666138427393?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 1, 2018</a></blockquote>
The BBC attempted to figure out why Egyptians are so good at squash. In their report, they mentioned the 1990s as our kick start to squash stardom, however Egyptians have been at the forefront of the sport since the 1930s, with Abdel-Fattah Amr Bey, who won the British Open men's title six consecutive times (1933&ndash;38).
Mubarak's Factor:
It is also worth noting that one of the main reasons behind the sport&rsquo;s popularity in the country is attributed to then-President Mohamed Hosni Mubarak, who popularized it throughout the 1990s. Because he was a keen squash player himself, Mubarak increased government funding to the sport and founded Al-Ahram International in 1996, a men's squash tournament held in the Giza Plateau just in front of the pyramids.[article id=1455]Ever since Ahmed Barada&rsquo;s win back in 1998, a lot of eyes started focusing on the sport, and with that a slew of players started to follow in his footsteps, like Rami Ashour and Amr Shabana, to name a few.
<figure class="image"><img src="https://storage.googleapis.com/nrpassets/uploads/embeds/1531138907-Anglo-Egyptian_negotiations_1952.jpg" width="350" height="270" />
<figcaption>Abdel-Fattah Amr Bey (Far Right)</figcaption>
</figure>
BBC attributed this Egyptian dominance in Squash to 4 main reasons:
1-Squash Community in Egypt: Cairo&rsquo;s geography also plays a significant role. In the US, for instance,&nbsp;the major squash hubs are scattered between Boston, New York and Philadelphia, In Cairo, however, the proximity of clubs within the city has facilitated the formation of&nbsp;a tight squash community.
<figure class="image"><img src="https://storage.googleapis.com/nrpassets/uploads/embeds/1531215014-ramy_ashour.jpg" alt="" width="620" height="413" />
<figcaption>Ramy Ashour</figcaption>
</figure>
2-Rules of Egyptian squash tournaments: The rules of Egyptian squash tournaments also allows players to play more matches than those in England and the US. From a young age, Egyptian players get to play five times more matches than their foreign counterparts, therefore garnering more experience and talent in the game.
<figure class="image"><img src="https://storage.googleapis.com/nrpassets/uploads/embeds/1531214937-mubarak_squash.jpg" width="620" height="747" />
<figcaption>Mubarak playing squash</figcaption>
</figure>
3-Attack Style: Egyptians tend to have a strong, unrelenting attack stance that keeps opponents on their toes unable to keep up with them, as our players seems to be constantly in front, making other players tire faster. Their unique style of playing revolves around them attacking no-stop throughout any match, unlike their foreign counterparts who only attack in high percentage areas.
<figure class="image"><img src="https://storage.googleapis.com/nrpassets/uploads/embeds/1531214966-mohamed_marawan.jpg" alt="" width="620" height="310" />
<figcaption>Brothers Mohamed and Marwan Elshorbagy</figcaption>
</figure>
4-Role Models &amp; Squash Family: Seeing Egyptians top world ranking also inspires the younger generations. In 2003, Shabana became the first Egyptian to win the world open, which made the game even more popular among the youth and inspired youngsters across the country.
<figure class="image"><img src="https://storage.googleapis.com/nrpassets/uploads/embeds/1531215076-nour_el_tayeb_ali_farag.jpg" alt="" width="620" height="328" />
<figcaption>Husband and wife Ali Farag and Nour El Tayeb won major titles on the same day</figcaption>
</figure>
When you put all those factors together, it's no surprise that the game is pretty popular across the country, and has been expanding beyond Cairo throughout the years.&nbsp;
Check out the BBC video.
<iframe src="//www.youtube.com/embed/FEywB1V2gVQ" width="560" height="314" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe>We&rsquo;re proud of all our players and wish them the best of luck in all future games!

Why Are Egyptians The Best Squash Players In The World? The BBC Answers

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