For a perennial record-breaker, Nour El Sherbini is, surprisingly, not all about breaking records.
The Egyptian squash star has been pulling off unprecedented feats ever since she became the youngest winner in World Junior Championships history at just 13 years of age, back in 2009.
Earlier this month, the second-ranked El Sherbini equalled Nicol David’s record of most World Championships won by clinching her eighth crown with a hard-fought 11-5, 11-9, 4-11, 11-7 victory over fellow Egyptian Hania El Hammamy in Chicago.
When David set that record by claiming an eighth world title in 2014, it was hard to imagine anyone would be able to match the Malaysian legend’s tally. El Sherbini certainly didn’t.
But the Egyptian, famously nicknamed the Warrior Princess, went on to reach the next 10 consecutive World Championship finals, and has remarkably won eight of them.
“It never crossed my mind to think that I would do this or I would be in 10 finals or win eight World Championships. It was never in my mind, to be honest,” El Sherbini told The National in a Zoom interview after her triumph in Chicago.
The thought of tying David’s record only started creeping in El Sherbini’s mind after she secured her seventh world title in 2023, with everyone anticipating it would happen the following year.
But in 2024, El Sherbini fell in the final to her arch-rival Nouran Gohar, who snapped a three-match losing streak to El Sherbini in World Championship deciders to finally clinch her maiden crown.
“It was very, very, very tough. For the first time in a long, long time, I felt this pressure. I felt the pressure of, ‘I need to win this tournament’,” El Sherbini said, reflecting on her near-miss last year.
The 2024 World Championship was held in Cairo and all El Sherbini could hear was people talking about the possibility of her matching David’s mark. It ultimately got to her.
When she lost, it was actually David who gave her a pep talk and consoled her.
“She was super nice,” said El Sherbini of the retired Malaysian.
“She was like, ‘It's fine. You always drop one and you will get back there. You will win next year. And it always happened like this’.
“And we kept talking about how she dealt with this pressure. And she let me feel that it's fine. It's normal. And she gave me the belief a little bit that you're going to do it next year. So yeah, it was really nice to see her straight after Worlds because it meant so much.”
David, of course, texted El Sherbini after she equalled her record.
“She was like, ‘I was sure you're going to do it. You always set targets for yourself and you always reach them. So I was 100 per cent sure you're going to win it. So enjoy and good luck’,” El Sherbini revealed.
This season has been a difficult one for El Sherbini and the 29-year-old entered the World Championship trying to focus on the thing she loves the most – playing squash and competing.
The squash season runs from September to June and right before the start of this campaign, El Sherbini lost her fitness coach of 14 years, Waleed El Mosalamy, who passed away eight months ago.
“He's always been like a father figure to me and we were very close. We're very attached to each other and it was a shock for me,” said El Sherbini.
“He was one of the people who really loved me unconditionally. You know, the love that you don't want anything back.
“He always wanted to see me win an eighth World Championship. And he always believed I can do it. And he always believed I can do more than this. So, I was really motivated this time to win this title for him.”
Another big change for El Sherbini this season was the departure of one the squash coaches she worked with in Alexandria, who moved to the United States after being part of her team for the past decade.
“I was struggling when I step on court not to think of all the things happening. When I was inside the match, I felt a bit lost,” she explained.
“I wasn't able to think properly, or even think like the way I want to be thinking in a very crucial time. And when you lose a match, it still hits you hard. So, it's hard to move on after and to keep going and being positive when there's not a lot of people around you to have the support, when they're already struggling, the same struggle you are having.
“I think it played a big part of my results this season. It was a bit tough on me.”
Throughout her career, El Sherbini had relied on her father to talk things out and never really felt the need to hire a sports psychologist. But before the World Championship, she decided to reach out to mental coach Farida Amin and the move paid dividends immediately.
“I started talking with her just before the tournament, like two weeks before the tournament. And I think I was much better mentally, which has helped me a lot to be better on court,” she said.
A key moment for El Sherbini came in the semi-finals in Chicago, where she found herself just three points away from defeat, trailing home favourite Olivia Weaver 3-8 in the fourth game.
The former world No 1 swept eight points in a row to force a deciding fifth game and punched her ticket to the final shortly after.
“To be honest, I felt I was going to lose this match. I didn't feel like I'm coming back,” El Sherbini confessed.
But she never hit the panic button and decided if she was going down, she would go down swinging.
“It's one of the matches that I'm really proud to win and it really played a huge part for the final match because I had a lot of confidence after that,” she added.
At 29, El Sherbini has achieved everything there is to achieve in squash. She has spent 277 weeks at the summit of the rankings, owns 44 PSA titles, and is widely regarded as one of the greatest squash players of all time.
So what is still driving her to keep grinding on the squash tour?
“Not the records,” she quickly responds.
“Because if I think of the records, they won't come. I just want to play and try to win tournaments. I love squash. It's my life. It's everything I do. And I really love myself when I'm on court. This is the best thing I could do or this is the best place I could be at.
“I try always to put targets for myself. Not huge targets, but targets to try to always find, I need to win this, I need to win this, I want to do this. Not to break the record, not to be the best player or not, but just for me to win it and I'll be happy if I won this one.
“I believe when I did this, the records came by themselves.
“I try always to motivate myself as much as I can. You definitely lose it sometimes, but I try to have targets. I have to try to always put them in front of me. The challenge is high as well. You see the others, and they keep motivating you. Because you want to challenge them.”
One thing El Sherbini hopes to experience for the first time is the Olympic Games. After a lengthy campaign and multiple failed bids to be added to the programme, squash will finally make its Olympic debut at LA 2028 and the world No 2 is hoping she will be there.
El Sherbini will be 32 at the time and she laughs when she recalls her reaction to when the news broke of squash’s inclusion in the upcoming Games.
“I was like, oh my God, what's happening now? What will I do?” she said.
“It's good, but is it bad or good for me? It's a new target that I definitely added to the list straight away. I kept telling myself, ‘It's not far away, it's doable to do it’.
“At the same time, it's three years, you never know where you're going to be or what you're doing, but definitely, definitely, it has to be in the plan. I'm trying to work on my body to stay good, to stay fit, nothing wrong until this time. I would definitely do anything to qualify to play in the Olympics.
“You don't have a better chance than this to end your career in the Olympics.”
While she may not be chasing records – as she said, they come on their own – El Sherbini beams at the idea that when all is said and done, she may one day be dubbed the greatest women’s squash player of all time.
“It would be a pleasure, of course. Why not?” she says.
“Of course it's something I would wish for and I hope I deserve it or I hope I really deserve this sentence that people would say about me and they always remember me in a good way and that I'm a good person, not only the greatest of all time.
“It really matters to me that people always say good things about me off the court and of course being the greatest of all time, this is everything for me.”
