Egyptian women’s squash supremacy gets ink ahead of Olympics debut

“When you go to a tournament and see the Egyptian flag, there is an added layer of respect and, to be honest, fear,” the world’s fourth-best-ranked squash player Olivia Weaver told the New York Times for its deep dive on Egyptian women’s growing domination over the sport. Trying to figure out the country’s prominence in the sport, Penn University Squash Director Jack Wyant pointed to the mental toughness of Egyptian players having grown up “in a cauldron of competition.”

If the Pharaoh’s performances on the international football stage are getting you down, squash may be for you. Egyptian women now make up the world’s top-three ranked players, with Nouran Gohar currently at the top, fresh off her British Open victory last month, followed by Nour El Sherbini at number two and Hania El Hammamy at number three. It’s a similar story in the men's global squash circuit, with faceoffs often between the Egyptian team and Egypt-born players now representing other countries.