World No.1 Elshorbagy set for Dubai season finale

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  • World No.1 Mohamed Elshorbagy has played squash at some of the most iconic landmarks across the globe, from Grand Central Station to the Hong Kong harbour, and the Egyptian will get to cross Burj Khalifa off his list when he headlines the field at next month’s PSA Dubai World Series Finals.

    The grand finale of the squash season will come to the Middle East for the first time and organisers revealed – in the presence of Elshorbagy and Malaysian world No.5 Nicol David – the competition will be held on a purpose-built glass court at Burj Park at the foot of the world’s tallest building in Downtown Dubai.

    Elshorbagy has already qualified to the top-eight season-closer as he leads the World Series standings by an incredible 270-point margin over second-placed Gregory Gaultier and he’ll be hoping to capture the title that has eluded him so far in his career.

    “It’s an exciting place for us, playing at the park by Burj Khalifa,” Elshorbagy told Sport360 on Sunday at the Palace Downtown Dubai.

    “The World Series Finals is always like a reward for all the top players after a hard tough season. We all worked really hard to get here and I’m just happy to be one of the eight players who will be competing and trying to get the title.

    “I’ve never won this title before. I got to the final once. So it will be an amazing moment for me if I get my first World Series Finals title here in Dubai and I’ll do my best to try and do that.”

    Last season, Elshorbagy rose to No1 in the world for the first time and grabbed four World Series titles including his first British Open. This season, he has gone one better, triumphing in five World Series events and breaking the record for the highest ever points average in the process.

    “When I won four World Series titles last year, I told my brother ‘winning four out of seven, I don’t know if I can do that again’. And then when I won my fifth one at the British Open (last month) I just couldn’t believe it, it was like a dream. I’m just feeling really lucky and I have such a great team behind me that can make me back up every tournament the way I’m doing,” said the 25-year-old Alexandrian of his exploits this season.

    But things haven’t been completely rosy for Elshorbagy in this 2015-2016 campaign. His 13-month reign at the top of the rankings was briefly interrupted early in the season after suffering a third round exit at the World Championship, where he fell to James Willstrop last November.

    It prompted a change in perspective and he quickly recovered, regaining the No1 spot a month later, but he admits dealing with the pressure of being squash’s main man has not been easy.

    “Since I got to world No1 the pressure is completely different. It’s way tougher than I imagined,” he confessed.

    “It’s not easy to just finish one tournament, go to the next tournament, finish one match, go to the next match, knowing that you’re playing the most number of matches on tour than anyone else. But if that’s what it takes to be world No1, I’m going to do anything I can to stay there.

    “When I finished the season last year and went into the summer break I just didn’t feel like I wanted to train. Things were too tough for me mentally and when I started the season this year, I messed up a little bit until I lost the World Championship and then I had a 12-hour plane ride on the way back home (from Seattle to England) and I just had to think of what’s going wrong.

    “I felt that I needed to relax, I needed to enjoy being world No1. Not many people had the chance in their life to be there and I feel lucky to be here and to be one of the few people in the whole world to be chosen to be there. It’s not going to last forever so I have to enjoy it.”

    That change in mentality made all the difference for Elshorbagy, who hasn’t blinked since.

    Capturing a second British Open title in Hull last month proved an emotional affair for him as he avenged his World Championship loss to Willstrop in the second round before overcoming his nemesis, Ramy Ashour, in the final, ending a four-match losing streak he had against the Egyptian ex-world No1.

    “Beating James took so much out of me, that my body would shake every night before I sleep. But it’s fine, I’d rather play with that kind of pain then see someone else lift my trophy, that would be more painful to me,” says Elshorbagy.

    “I’m just glad I was able to lift my second British Open. Jonah Barrington (my coach) has always been tough on me, he has won it six times, so he’s always telling me don’t be too happy, you still have four more left. And I’m like ‘just relax, just let me enjoy this moment for a while and then tell me this a few days later’.”

    He won’t have much time to enjoy it as he already has his eyes on the final World Series event of the season, in El Gouna, Egypt in two weeks’ time.

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