Mohamed ElShorbagy ( ar, محمد الشوربجي, born 12 January 1991 in

Alexandria Alexandria ( or ; ar, ٱلْإِسْكَنْدَرِيَّةُ ; grc-gre, Αλεξάνδρεια, Alexándria) is the second largest city in Egypt, and the largest city on the Mediterranean coast. Founded in by Alexander the Great, Alexandri ...

) is an Egyptian-English professional

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. He represented

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 Medit ...

from a young age until June 2022, and is currently representing

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

. He reached a career-high world ranking of World No. 1 in November 2014, March 2018, February 2020, and again in July 2021. He won the Manchester open on 22 September 2020 after 192 days of recess due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...

, for his 42nd PSA title, and winning the El Gouna Classic on 28 May 2021 for his 43rd PSA title, moving him to fifth on the all-time squash win list. ElShorbagy’s victory in New Zealand in November 2022, for his 47th PSA title, also sees him become the youngest man ever to reach 500 PSA wins at the age of 31 years and 10 months. While he is only the third man to achieve that milestone after his coach Gregory Gaultier (587) and Nick Matthew (518), he backed up his New Zealand win with a win over Diego Elias at the MARIGOLD Singapore open on the 20th of November, 2022, to mark his 505th PSA win, and his 48th title in 75 finals.

Early life

El Shorbagy attended

Millfield School Millfield is a public school (English independent day and boarding school for pupils aged 13–18) located in Street, Somerset, England. It was founded in 1935. Millfield is a registered charity and is the largest co-educational boarding s ...

(2006–2009).

Career overview

One of the most talented players on the PSA World Tour, Mohamed ElShorbagy has flown up the world rankings since joining the PSA in 2006 as a 15-year old schoolboy under the tutelage of the legendary Jonah Barrington. The Alexandria-born star rose to prominence in 2007 after he became the first player in history to secure a maiden PSA World Tour title at a five star event. He then entered the record books again soon after, becoming only the second man after

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 ...

to win the World Junior Championship twice when he triumphed in 2008 and 2009. The Egyptian came close to winning the senior World Championship in 2012 after beating

James Willstrop James Willstrop (born 15 August 1983) is an English professional squash player living in Yorkshire, England. He was born in North Walsham, Norfolk, England. Career Willstrop has a large build for a squash player, being and . He trains at P ...

in a five-game semi-final thriller but lost out to compatriot

in the final. In 2013 he claimed his first World Series win in the

Qatar Classic The Qatar Classic is an annual international squash tournament that takes place in Doha, Qatar in October or November. The event was re-established in 2001. Between 1992 and 1997, the tournament was formerly known as the Qatar International. The ...

and exhibited some supreme form throughout the 2014 campaign, winning five events including

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 ...

tournaments at the

Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delta i ...

and US Opens. ElShorbagy entered the record books behind only Pakistani legends Jahangir and

Jansher Khan Jansher Khan PP SI HI ( ur, جان شیر خان; born 15 June 1969, in Peshawar, Pakistan) is a former World No. 1 professional Pakistani squash player. During his career, he won the World Open a record eight times, and the British Open s ...

, who both topped the charts aged 18, and compatriot

, who became number one aged 22, courtesy of his victory over

Grégory Gaultier Grégory Gaultier (born 23 December 1982, in Épinal, France) is a former professional squash player from France. He has won the 2015 World Open Squash Championship, the British Open three times, in 2007, 2014 and 2017, the Qatar Classic in 2 ...

in the semi-finals of the 2014 Delaware Investments US Open and

Nick Matthew Nicholas Matthew (born 25 July 1980 in Sheffield) is a former English professional squash player who has won the two most prestigious tournaments in the professional game, the British Open and the World Open, three times each. He reached a ...

's defeat to four-time World Champion Amr Shabana in the other last four encounter. "It feels unbelievable right now," said ElShorbagy. "It's been a dream to get to that spot and I can't believe I'm there right now. I came into this tournament knowing there was a big chance to get that World No.1 ranking for the first time in my life." In 2013, Mohamed made it to the semifinals at the

Kuwait PSA Cup The Kuwait PSA Cup (previously called the Kuwait Open) is an annual men's squash (sport), squash tournament held in Kuwait City, Kuwait in November. It is part of the PSA World Series, the highest level of men's professional squash competition. Th ...

, a now defunct World Series Platinum event. In 2014, ElShorbagy opened his year by making the semifinals of Tournament of Champions; he lost to

in four games. In the

PSA World Series Finals The PSA World Tour Finals is the end of season championship of the PSA World Tour of male and female professional squash players. The top eight players in the current PSA World Tour is qualified for the event. The eight players compete in two ...

, ElShorbagy recorded his first win over

, beating Ashour 11–5, 11–5 in the round-robin stage. ElShorbagy lost a heartbreaking match against

Tarek Momen Tarek Momen (born 23 February 1988 in Cairo) is a professional squash player representing Egypt. He is a former World Champion, and reached a career-high world ranking of World No. 3 in February 2019. Career overview A PSA member since 2005, Ta ...

after having match points. ElShorbagy then beat

11–9, 11–7, recording his second win in the round-robin stage and also qualifying him for the semifinals. In the semifinals ElShorbagy beat

in five games to reach the final. ElShorbagy was playing

, whom he beat earlier that week; Ashour recorded two wins after their match to qualify to the semis, and then Ashour beat Gaultier to set up a rematch. Ashour this time was the victor, winning in a tough 4 games. ElShorbagy made the semifinals of the

Windy City Open The Windy City Open is an annual men's and women's squash tournament held each February in Chicago, United States. It is part of the PSA World Series, the highest level of professional squash competition. The event was first held in 2001. Resul ...

, again losing to Gaultier in four games. ElShorbagy continued good form by making the final of the 2014 El Gouna International. He got revenge on Gaultier, beating him in four games, but lost in the final to countryman Ramy Ashour in four games. He lost a second

World Championship A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game, ...

final, against compatriot Ashour, during the 2014 tournament in Qatar in what was dubbed one of the greatest squash matches ever. The Egyptian recovered from his World Championship heartbreak to lift the Tournament of Champions title in January 2015 and, after finishing runner-up at both the

and the

El Gouna International The El Gouna International is an annual men's and women's squash tournament held in El Gouna, Egypt in April. It is part of the PSA World Series The PSA World Series (formerly known as the PSA Super Series) was a series of men's and women's sq ...

, he won the

British Open The Open Championship, often referred to as The Open or the British Open, is the oldest golf tournament in the world, and one of the most prestigious. Founded in 1860, it was originally held annually at Prestwick Golf Club in Scotland. Later th ...

for the first time in his career, beating Gaultier in the final. ElShorbagy lifted the

British Grand Prix The British Grand Prix is a Grand Prix motor race organised in the United Kingdom by the Royal Automobile Club. First held in 1926, the British Grand Prix has been held annually since 1948 and has been a round of the FIA Formula One World Ch ...

title in September 2015 before celebrating 12 months at the summit of the World Rankings the following month. After claiming another PSA World Series triumph at the

in November, he dropped out of the

at third round stage after a shock exit to James Willstrop as his search for the sport's biggest prize continued. However, a spell-binding run of form from December 2015 to April 2016 saw ElShorbagy dominate the PSA World Tour, bringing him up to six successive World Series title wins, including defending his crown at the

after ending a four-match winless run against

. During that period, ElShorbagy also broke Ashour's record for the highest ever World Rankings points average in April, a record he then shattered again a month later. A superb season was rounded off in style when he was crowned the 2016 PSA Men's Player of the Year. ElShorbagy started the 2016/17 season fairly strongly with another victory at the U.S. Open, but he missed out on becoming the first player to win the

on three successive occasions after a final defeat to compatriot

Karim Abdel Gawad Karim Abdel Gawad (born July 30, 1991, in Alexandria) is a professional squash player who has represented Egypt. He reached a career-high world ranking of World No. 1 in May 2017. In November 2016, he won the 2016 World Open Squash Championshi ...

- just a month after Gawad had beaten him in the World Championship semi-final. However, the following month saw ElShorbagy become only the third Egyptian player to spend a whole year at the summit of the World Rankings after he topped the December 2016 World Rankings. ElShorbagy suffered a slump in form during the 2016/17 season with the former World No.1 suffering from his longest title drought in three years. The Egyptian lost in the semi-final of the

to England's

and then exited at the quarter final stage of the El Gouna International Squash Open after defeat by young brother, Marwan ElShorbagy. However, ElShorbagy's fortunes changed at the season-ending PSA Dubai World Series Finals as he downed England's

3–0 in the final to finish the season with a title. ElShorbagy dominated the early part of the 2017/2018 season, winning seven of his first nine tournaments including the Netsuite Open, the Channel VAS Championships, the Qatar Classic, the Hong Kong Open, the Canary Wharf Classic, and the Windy City Open. On 6 June 2022, ElShorbagy decided to change allegiance to represent England. On 8 June 2022, he won his first game since allegiance change at the Mauritius Open defeating compatriot James Willstrop.

World Open final appearances

1 title & 4 runner-up

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

British Open The Open Championship, often referred to as The Open or the British Open, is the oldest golf tournament in the world, and one of the most prestigious. Founded in 1860, it was originally held annually at Prestwick Golf Club in Scotland. Later th ...
: 4 finals (3 titles, 1 runner-up)

Hong Kong Open: 3 finals (3 titles, 0 runner-up)

Tournament of Champions: 4 finals (3 titles, 1 runner-up)

Qatar Classic The Qatar Classic is an annual international squash tournament that takes place in Doha, Qatar in October or November. The event was re-established in 2001. Between 1992 and 1997, the tournament was formerly known as the Qatar International. The ...
: 4 finals (3 titles, 1 runner-up)

US Open: 5 finals (3 titles, 2 runner-ups)

Windy City Open The Windy City Open is an annual men's and women's squash tournament held each February in Chicago, United States. It is part of the PSA World Series, the highest level of professional squash competition. The event was first held in 2001. Resul ...
: 3 finals (2 titles, 1 runner-up)

El Gouna International The El Gouna International is an annual men's and women's squash tournament held in El Gouna, Egypt in April. It is part of the PSA World Series The PSA World Series (formerly known as the PSA Super Series) was a series of men's and women's sq ...
: 3 finals (1 title, 2 runner-up)

Notes

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Shorbagy, Mohamed 1991 births Living people Egyptian male squash players Sportspeople from Alexandria Naturalised citizens of the United Kingdom People educated at Millfield