Amanda Sobhy (born June 29, 1993;

Sea Cliff, New York Sea Cliff is a village located within the Town of Oyster Bay in Nassau County, on Long Island, in New York, United States. As of the 2010 United States census, the village population was 4,995. Geography According to the United States Census B ...

) is an American

squash Squash may refer to: Sports * Squash (sport), the high-speed racquet sport also known as squash racquets * Squash (professional wrestling), an extremely one-sided match in professional wrestling * Squash tennis, a game similar to squash but pla ...

player. A five-time national champion, she was the first U.S.-born player to reach the top five in the

Professional Squash Association The Professional Squash Association (PSA) is the governing body for the men's and women's professional squash circuit. The body operates in a similar fashion to the ATP and the WTA for tennis. The PSA's highest professional level, the PSA W ...

(PSA) world rankings. She reached a career-high world ranking of No. 3 in October 2021 after reaching the semi-finals of the 2021 British Open and the 2021 CIB Egyptian Open, and winning the 2021 Oracle Netsuite Open.

Early life

Amanda Sobhy was born in

, to an

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediter ...

ian father, Khaled Sobhy, and an American mother, Jodie Larson. Both of her parents played squash. Sobhy is a graduate of North Shore High School where she played volleyball, softball and as left halfback of the school's varsity soccer team during her freshman year. In eighth grade she broke her right ankle and shattered her tibia while playing softball. In May 2015 she graduated from

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...

, having majored in Social Anthropology and minored in Global Health and Health Policy.

Career

Pre-college career

During the 2009 world juniors in Chennai, India, Sobhy defeated the third seed

Laura Gemmel Laura may refer to: People * Laura (given name) * Laura, the British code name for the World War I Belgian spy Marthe Cnockaert Places Australia * Laura, Queensland, a town on the Cape York Peninsula * Laura, South Australia * Laura Bay, a bay on ...

and following it, lost to Kanzy El Defrawy. During the semifinals, which happened few days later, she participated in a team competition with which she defeated

Nour El Sherbini Nour El Sherbini ( ar, نور الشربيني; born 1 November 1995) is an Egyptian professional squash player. She is a six time World champion and became the youngest woman to win the Women's World Championship (2015). In 2016, she retained h ...

of Egypt who was just crowned junior world champion. On April 24, 2010, she won the Racquet Club International in St. Louis, Missouri, making her the only player in women's professional squash, at the time, to have won three tournaments before the age of 17. On June 29, 2010, on her 17th birthday, Sobhy won the

World Junior Squash Championships The World Junior Squash championships are the official junior tournament in the game of squash conducted by the World Squash Federation (WSF). Entry is open to individuals aged 19 and below. Since its inception the world juniors has been held bie ...

, thus becoming the first, and only, American winner of the prestigious event. In the final she defeated Egyptian

Nour El Tayeb Nour El Tayeb ( ar, نور الطيب; born March 8, 1993, in Cairo) is a professional squash player who represents Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast ...

with a score of 3–11, 11–7, 11–6, 11–7 in 37 minutes.

College career

After serving a short suspension for issues related to accepting tournament prize money, Sobhy joined the Harvard team as a freshman in January 2012, and two months into the team won her first national title. She won the individual championship, and her Harvard team won the team championship. In 2013, Sobhy finished the 2012-2013 college season undefeated, having lost her first game to Trinity's number 1,

Kanzy Emad El Defrawy Kanzy Emad El Defrawy ( ar, كنزي عماد أل دفرو; born May 5, 1994) is an Egyptian squash player and Guinness World Record adjuncator, who formerly played the sport professionally. El Defrawy won her first Women's Squash Association ...

. The same year, Sobhy won the 2013 World Doubles Championship with

Natalie Grainger Natalie Grainger (born 8 July 1977), also known for a period by her former married name Natalie Pohrer, is a professional female squash player. Grainger was born in Manchester, United Kingdom but raised in South Africa, which she represented i ...

. She won her second consecutive individual championship and her Harvard team won the team championship. In March 2014, Sobhy won the Granite Open and finished the 2013-2014 college season undefeated with a perfect 17–0 record. She won the individual championship for a third consecutive year. Sobhy finished the 2014-2015 college season with a perfect record and won her fourth individual intercollegiate title, defeating Kanzy El Defrawy 3-1. Sobhy finished her intercollegiate career undefeated in 62 matches, having dropped only two games in her four seasons of college competition.

Professional career

In December 2014, Sobhy led the US Women's Team to its best-ever finish in the World Team Championships, when she defeated world no. 6

Camille Serme Camille Serme (born 4 April 1989 in Créteil) is a former professional squash player from France. She reached a career-high world ranking of World No. 2 in February 2017. Career As a junior player, Camille Serme won three European Junior Champi ...

in the deciding match to clinch fifth place over France. In March 2015, Sobhy won her second US National Title, defeating

Olivia Blatchford Olivia Clyne, (née Blatchford; born January 23, 1993 in New York City) is a professional squash player who represents the United States. Career Blatchford's junior accomplishments included winning the British Junior Open Girls under-15 event i ...

11–7, 11–2, 11–9 in the final. In April, Sobhy won her first paycheck on the PSA tour at the Texas Open. In July 2015 in Toronto, Sobhy became the first squash athlete to win three gold medals in a single

Pan American Games The Pan American Games (also known colloquially as the Pan Am Games) is a continental multi-sport event in the Americas featuring summer sports, in which thousands of athletes participate in a variety of competitions. The competition is held ...

, winning Women's Singles, Women's Doubles with partner

, and the Women's Team event with Grainger and

. In the final of the Singles event, she beat American, Olivia Blatchford with a score of 11–8, 11–3, 11–3. She claimed her 14th tour title when she won the NetSuite Open in San Francisco in September 2015, sharing her reward with

Ramy Ashour Ramy Mohamed Ashour (born September 30, 1987, in Cairo, Egypt), known as Ramy Ashour (), is a retired professional squash player from Egypt, widely regarded as one of the best squash players in the history of the sport. He became the youngest pla ...

. In 2015, Sobhy won the Richey Award. In January 2016, Sobhy became the first American to ever reach the finals of the J.P. Morgan Tournament of Champions, which she lost facing Egypt's

. In August 2016, Sobhy reached the finals of the Hong Kong Open, finishing runner-up to Nouran Gohar. Sobhy tore her Achilles tendon in March 2017 during the semifinals of a tournament in

Colombia Colombia (, ; ), officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country in South America with insular regions in North America—near Nicaragua's Caribbean coast—as well as in the Pacific Ocean. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Car ...

. She returned to play after 10 months at the J.P. Morgan Tournament of Champions in January 2018. In 2018, Sobhy won her fourth US National Title at the Philadelphia Cricket Club, defeating

Reeham Sedky Reeham Sedky (born 24 April 1997 in Seattle, United States) is an American professional squash player. As of August 2019, she was ranked number 58 in the world. In 2016 she was named player of the year by the United States Olympic Committee. She ...

11–6, 11–8, 11–4. Sobhy won the J Warren Young Memorial Texas Open in 2019, beating England's

Victoria Lust Victoria Lust (born 2 May 1989 in Luton) is an English former professional squash player. She reached a career-high world ranking of World No. 12 in June 2019. Career In 2016, she was part of the English team that won the silver medal at the 20 ...

in the final. In September the same year, she reached the final of the Open de France - Nantes, but lost against

of France. In 2020, Sobhy won the Cincinnati Cup, beating England's

Sarah-Jane Perry Sarah-Jane Perry (born 15 May 1990 in Birmingham) is a professional squash player who represents England and Great Britain. She reached a career-high world ranking of World No. 5 in July 2020. Education Perry was educated at Kenilworth School ...

in the final. In 2022, she was part of the United States team that reached the final of the 2022 Women's World Team Squash Championships. It was the first time that the United States had reached the final.

Personal life

Sobhy serves on the board of the Squash Education Alliance, and is heavily involved in various urban squash programs. On January 21, 2019, after many years playing for Harrow Sports, Sobhy signed a long-term contract with HEAD, the global sporting brand with a focus on delivering high-performance products across a variety of athletic disciplines. She lives in Philadelphia. Sobhy's family, including her brother, Omar and sister

Sabrina Sabrina may refer to: * Sabrina (given name), a feminine given name, including a list of persons and fictional characters with the name People * Sabrina (actress), stage name of Norma Ann Sykes (1936–2016), a British glamour model and actres ...

, are all squash players. Before picking up squash, Sobhy played tennis, admiring

Venus Venus is the second planet from the Sun. It is sometimes called Earth's "sister" or "twin" planet as it is almost as large and has a similar composition. As an interior planet to Earth, Venus (like Mercury) appears in Earth's sky never fa ...

and

Serena Williams Serena Jameka Williams (born September 26, 1981) is an American inactive professional tennis player. Considered among the greatest tennis players of all time, she was ranked world No. 1 in singles by the Women's Tennis Association (WTA) for ...

. She began playing squash at the age of eleven, winning the first tournament she ever entered.

Major
World Series The World Series is the annual championship series of Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, contested since 1903 between the champion teams of the American League (AL) and the National League (NL). The winner of the World ...
final appearances

Tournament of Champions: 2 finals (0 title, 2 runner-ups)

Hong Kong Open: 1 final (0 title, 1 runner-up)

CIB Black Ball Open: 1 final (0 title, 1 runner-up)

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Sobhy, Amanda 1993 births Living people American female squash players American people of Egyptian descent People from Sea Cliff, New York Harvard Crimson women's squash players Squash players at the 2015 Pan American Games Pan American Games medalists in squash Pan American Games gold medalists for the United States American sportswomen Squash players at the 2019 Pan American Games Medalists at the 2015 Pan American Games Medalists at the 2019 Pan American Games Harvard University alumni