Control the 'T' Sports sponsor a number of high-quality squash players (who we like to refer to as 'Team CT' or 'Team Control the T').
We love to stay as up-to-date as possible with their tournament schedule and latest results and it's always amazing to see their improvement over time.
Anyway, 17-year-old Canadian, Iman Shaheen, is the newest addition to Team CT and, for this article, I spoke to Iman about her squash story so far, her favourite gear, and some of her future aspirations in the sport...
A short introduction:
Hi, my name is Iman, I’m 17 years old, and I’m a squash player from Ottawa, Ontario.
Tell me a bit about your squash journey
I started playing squash when I was 8 or 9 years old. I actually did a ton of sports before that, including Soccer, basketball, gymnastics, wrestling, etc. I thought I finally settled on competitive swimming, and I was pretty solid at it too, but then I unfortunately developed eczema.
My dad was playing squash at the time and wanted me to still be active, so he was like “here’s a ball, here’s a racquet, now play.”, so that’s how that happened. I’ve been playing competitively for about 8 years now?! I can’t believe it’s been so long!
What is your current racquet of choice?
Dunlop Hyperfibre XT (Nour El Tayeb’s racquet). One of my favourite racquets my hands have ever used, I only hit with it once and I decided it was right for me.
Do you have any other 'go-to' pieces of kit?
Salming shoes hands down, they’re the only shoes that have enough heel support to not immediately start bruising my heels, they last me about 3-6 months, which is way great considering how often I play and is far longer than the other shoes I’ve used.
Who are some of your squash idols?
Nicol David and Nick Matthew. Watching them play before they both retired was my favourite thing, their play style is amazing and something I wish I could be able to incorporate into my own game eventually.
What’s your favourite shot?
Hmmm, I'd say backhand volley drop or backhand cross-court volley nick. I can feel those shots on my racquet really nicely, it just falls into place and I know how exactly it will hit almost every time. Extremely satisfying.
What would you say is your favourite (or most important) personal squash moment so far?
Probably winning the CJO for this 2022/23 season. Last year wasn’t my greatest year in terms of squash, and I was disappointed in myself and my play. I felt like I was able to prove myself this year and show some real improvement.
What are some of your future goals and aspirations?
I definitely want to be able to play on the PSA World Tour and become one of the world’s best squash players, that’s a big one for me. There are a few tournaments I would really like to play in, but I'm less concerned about my finishing position, I just wanna play really good squash. To make world team would also be phenomenal.
Outside of squash, I would like to get a degree, perhaps in psychology. But that’s way down the line!
Iman's absolute love for the sport is incredibly admirable and I'm almost certain she has an amazing squash career ahead of her.
Iman currently sits at No.162 in the PSA World Rankings and I can't wait to see her start climbing higher and higher in the future!
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