I recently mentioned the GOAT debate in a previous newsletter (GOAT referring to the greatest player of all time), and, I was chatting about this with a few friends.
However, this led to a slightly different topic as we began combining different attributes of different professional squash players.
As soon as we started talking about it, I knew this would be a great topic for a blog post. In fact, I can't believe I haven't written about this before!
So, in this article, I'll be trying to create the ultimate squash player. I'm going to combine the strongest attributes of the strongest players all together to create an imaginary unstoppable squash player.
Since this is an entirely fictional scenario based on an imaginary person, I feel like there aren't too many rules when it comes to creating this player.
For that reason, I've allowed myself to take characteristics from current and retired professionals as some of the most renowned players in the game are unfortunately no longer full-time professionals.
You can probably predict many of the players whose attributes I'm going to take, however, you may also disagree with some.
This is exactly how my conversion went with my friends. There was much debate and much agreement, which made it a lot more fun to talk about.
Also, when I say attributes, I do so quite broadly. I won't just be taking someone's forehand and someone else's backhand, I'll be incorporating things like creativity, consistency, flare, etc too!
Anyway, let's dive in...
Ali Farag's Consistency
This seemed like the logical place to start.
Ali Farag, from Egypt, is the current World No.1 and he's held that spot for a heck of a long time. I'm not sure what the total months are, but I think he's been at the top for the entire 23/24 season. He first reached the spot back in 2018 and has only dropped below 2 for one brief period since then.
I think one of the main reasons that he's stayed there is his consistency. If you've ever watched Farag play, you'll know just how few errors he makes during a match.
He very rarely goes for anything risky, he just hits length after length with unbelievable accuracy over and over again.
He can generally do this for as long as he needs and he rarely slips up. His consistency is incredible.
The fact he's able to beat pretty much any other player in the world nearly every single time does say a lot about his style of play too.
He's incredibly conservative and patient, and the constant accuracy of his lengths and volleys makes him unbelievably difficult to play.
I can't remember the exact percentage, but, I was watching one of his matches a while back in which he went 1-0 down and the commentators said that he had an X% win rate when he lost the first game and it was something very very high.
So yeah, Ali Farag wins on consistency for me and I think that's a vital skill for my ultimate imaginary player to have!
Diego Elias' Movement
Of course, movement is another pillar of what makes a great squash player. If you can't move well, you'll struggle to reach balls, you'll use a lot more energy, and you'll fatigue a lot earlier in matches.
I was a little bit torn when trying to pick someone's movement since there are so many great movers on the PSA World Tour.
I did think about Ali Farag at first and I also thought about Nele Gilis as they both have great movement techniques in my opinion, however, Peru's Diego Elias has a style of moving that always blows me away.
Elias certainly has the long legs advantage due to his height of almost 6ft 2in and he does a great job of using this to his advantage. He takes fewer steps to get to the ball, keeping his body very relaxed and doing a great split step off of the T.
He never does an unnecessarily big lunge unless he has to and he gives himself all the time he needs on the ball.
All of this conserves energy and allows him to make bigger physical pushes in the crucial later stages of matches.
It's a common comment on players who move like Elias that they make it look easy, and that comes from hours upon hours of practice. Diego's movement is so fluid and relaxed that it looks like he's not even trying, and that's just a sign of how good it is.
Hania El Hammamy's Fight
This is another attribute for which there were several contenders.
Every single professional squash player has fight in them (to varying degrees of course), however, if there's one thing I love about watching Egypt's Hania El Hammamy play, it's when she's perhaps down a game in a tight match, following a huge rally, she'll let out a ferocious scream.
When she does this, you just know the next few points are going to be electric.
Hania does a superb job of making a big mental push when she's on the losing end in a game. She will put everything she's got into every single point to fight for the match.
That fight can be a huge game changer for any professional to be able to unleash, so, I think it's an important characteristic for my ultimate squash player to have.
If you've got as strong a fight as Hania El Hammamy, you can turn the tide of any match.
Ramy Ashour's Deception & Creativity
I imagine that this will have been one that many people will have guessed.
I could have gone with Ramy's shots or Ramy's style, but, I decided to go with his deception and creativity because I think it goes hand in hand with his shot-making.
Ramy is the favourite player of many many squash fans (myself included), he's an absolute legend of the game.
The Egyptian legend lived up to his nickname of 'The Artist'. You never knew what shot he was going to play, but, you always knew it was going to be a good one!
He had a unique, unorthodox style of play and his shot selection was wild. This 'not knowing' element to playing against Ramy was partly due to his creativity on the ball.
His unorthodox swing style (especially on the backhand) made it incredibly difficult to read his game.
Ashour's style was to not let his opponent get into any kind of rhythm and force them to have to cover every corner of the court at all times because they never knew when and from where he was going to take the ball in short.
He would mix in crazy trick shots, flicks, holds and used intriguing shot progressions to twist and turn his opponents in all sorts of uncomfortable ways.
On paper, he doesn't compare to players such as Jahangir Khan or Heather McKay in terms of wins and longevity, however, he reached the World No.1 spot in 2010 at the age of 22 and still had an unbelievable career. Ramy was pretty much invincible for a period!
So, I think most squash fans would agree with me that the ultimate imaginary squash player would have the creativity and deception of 'The Artist'.
Nour El Sherbini's Attacking Style
Next up is the Warrior Princess AKA Nour El Sherbini and her attacking style of play!
The women's top 3 has pretty much been dominated recently by three Egyptians, Nouran Gohar, Hania El Hammamy, and Nour El Sherbini.
However, I believe that El Sherbini has generally been at the top for the longest out of the three and I think that she has just that slight edge over the other two players.
There's a reason that her nickname is the Warrior Princess too...
She embraces the Egyptian style of play with open arms by consistently looking to attack and put pressure on her opponents by stepping forward on the T, taking early volleys, applying pace, and hitting low and hard.
El Sherbini can do this over and over again in all rallies, games, and matches, and, she does so while making minimal mistakes (which is very tricky to do when playing at that pace).
It doesn't necessarily mean that she goes for winners all the time, but, applies power to most of her lengths and hits low, hard, mid-court kills frequently too.
This style of play really takes its toll on opponents. By keeping them under a constant state of pressure, they struggle to get into any kind of rhythm or hold the T for very long against players like El Sherbini.
For this reason, I think my ultimate player needs Nour's attacking style!
Youssef Ibrahim's Power
Strength is a big factor in squash. You don't necessarily need to be strong to hit the ball hard if you've got good technique, however, if you're strong and have a good technique too, your power will be pretty tough to match.
This is the case for one of my favourite players (yes it's another Egyptian), and that's Youssef Ibrahim.
Youssef is a left-hander with a pretty large swing and, similar to players like Omar Mosaad and Simon Rosner, he can crack the ball unbelievably hard over and over again.
When combined with El Sherbini's proactive, attacking style, applying power on your shots takes a heck of a lot of time away from your opponent. This is why I wanted my imaginary ultimate player to be powerful as well as attacking.
It's no use hitting hard lengths if you're on the back foot, not on the T, and not taking balls early. It's most effective when you're in control of the rally, and this is something that Ibrahim does very well.
As soon as he's in control of that T, he begins volleying when possible and absolutely cracking the ball into a different corner each time, forcing his opponents to scramble to retrieve every shot.
He's also an expert at finally slotting in a tricky drop or powerful kill after this (but that's just a bonus)!
Photo credit: Steve Cubbins
Joel Makin's Fitness
Again, pretty much every professional squash player has a gruelling fitness regime and, as a result, is very fit!
But, few stand out like Joel Makin does.
The Welshman, nicknamed 'The Golden Tiger', often posts short clips of his workouts on social media and they're absurd. So absurd that an article from the PSA referred to Makin as the fittest man in squash (if you go to give it a read, make sure to come back to the newsletter)!
According to that article, a typical fitness session for the 29-year-old involves 10 sets of 1km intervals run at 20kph (12.5mph), combined with 4-5 reps of lunges carrying weights up to 180kg, together with pressure sessions on court.
Plus, on top of all his squash-specific strength and fitness training, Makin also does a lot of boxing. If you've ever seen how hard boxers train, you'll know just how fit Joel must be!
And this shows every single time he plays a match.
If Makin is playing a tough opponent and can make that match last as long as possible, he gives himself the edge in those latter stages of the games when opponents begin to fatigue.
It's a very important skill to have in squash!
Karim Abdel Gawad's Touch & Deception
Now onto my favourite player of all time, and, my favourite attribute that a squash player can have...
Egypt's Karim Abdel Gawad is always an absolute pleasure to watch, he plays a beautiful style of squash that's full of soft touches, quick flicks, and controlled deception.
Nicknamed 'The Baby-Faced Assassin', Gawad is an absolute expert when it comes to racquetwork. His holds, cuts, and kills are unrivalled in my opinion, and my ultimate player has to have those under their belt.
Of course, these skills are superb when it comes to finishing rallies, winning points, and moving an opponent deep into the front corners, but, on top of that, it makes for a great show from the audience's perspective.
I think this is something that needs to be taken into account when conceiving the ultimate squash player. I want them to be able to please a crowd and create more of an electric atmosphere.
Every time you go to watch Gawad, you know you're going to see something special, and that's what makes him great.
Nour El Tayeb's Retrieval & Flexibility
Nour El Tayeb is another of my favourite players to watch on the women's PSA World Tour, and, in some very sad news, she recently announced her retirement from professional squash (you can read more about that in our 'Around the Web' section at the bottom of the newsletter).
One of Nour's most incredible attributes is her ability to retrieve ridiculous balls.
Just when you think the rally is over, El Tayeb will execute an explosive dive or do the splits just to get to that ball before it bounces twice.
Despite being on the smaller side at just over 5ft 5in, Nour is one of the fastest and best retrievers on the circuit.
Being able to get to balls fast is essential for squash players and, the fact that El Tayeb can not only reach but recover from, ridiculous retrievals again and again makes me want this attribute for my ultimate player.
Nour can do a full split when lunging and then just get back up and keep running. That's just something you won't see from any other player.
Amr Shabana's Left Hand
This might be a controversial take, however, I want this ultimate imaginary squash player to be left-handed.
Depending on the player, lefties can often be very tricky, and, since there are far fewer of them, other players have far less experience playing against them.
Think about it, if you spend your squash career player against 90-95% right-handers (which I believe is the global average statistic), that means you've only had 5-10% of your matches against left-handers.
They can be very tricky, hit ridiculous angles, and, more often than not, their forehand is unbelievably strong.
When it comes to Egypt's Amr Shabana, who is a legend of the game, his holds, flicks, and wristy cross courts made him deadly to play against.
Although there are a good few options for left-handers such as Amanda Sobhy, Youssef Ibrahim, Peter Nicol, and Lisa Aitken, Shabana stands out as my absolute favourite.
His technique was flawless!
Amanda Sobhy's Spirit
The USA's Amanda Sobhy is one of my favourite personalities in the squash world.
She's always smiling, stays positive, and consistently shows her love for the sport, even when she's inflicted with injuries, which is unfortunately something she's had to deal with for a while now.
Sobhy had to previously take 10 months off squash to recover from rupturing her left Achilles in Colombia in 2017, then, 6 years later, she ruptured her right achilles in Hong Kong.
I can't even imagine how devastating this must have been for her. She will have known exactly what she'd done the moment it happened, and, she will have also known exactly how long and arduous the recovery process was going to be, yet again.
But, in true Sobhy spirit, she's remained incredibly positive (and open) throughout her recovery journey so far. She posts regular updates on social media and on her website to update fans on her progress and I admire her attitude so much.
In the period between her first injury and her second, Sobhy managed to shoot right back up the rankings and was playing some of the best squash I've ever seen her play to push those players right at the top of the rankings, so, that most recent rupture couldn't have come at a worse time.
I don't know if I'd have the strength to remain positive or optimistic when it comes to an injury like that, so, Sobhy's spirit should be seen as an inspiration to us all.
Nobody is invincible, even my ultimate player, so, they may have to deal with injury every now and again. If they have the spirit of Amanda, I know they'll bounce back stronger than ever.
Miguel Rodriguez's Passion & Love For The sport
You can't have an ultimate squash player who doesn't absolutely love the game, and, in my opinion, nobody loves squash in the same way as Colombian Cannonball, Miguel Rodriguez.
Now aged 38, Rodriguez is showing no signs of slowing down in his professional squash career. It's crystal clear every time he plays just how much he loves it.
You can see his happiness after a crazy rally when the crowd goes wild, he feeds off it and it boosts him for all of the rallies to come.
In every speech after he wins a match (while being very humble regarding his opponent), Miguel always notes just how much fun he had out on the court and how much he is loving his squash at the moment.
There isn't any other player in the world who is playing at the level that Rodriguez is at the age of 38. It's just ridiculous to be honest.
Most squash players retire in their early to mid-thirties, but, I really don't see Miguel leaving the tour anytime soon. I don't think he would still be playing now if it wasn't for his undying addiction to squash.
The fact that you can see it every single time he plays makes me think that this is another essential characteristic of my ultimate squash player.
This article was taken from our On The 'T' Newsletter, if you're interested in receiving more content like this, please feel free to sign up using the subscribe section located at the bottom left of this page (or underneath the article if you're on mobile), thanks!
