By Passant Rabie
From Egypt Today

Quiet laughter, hushed chatter and the occasional ringing of a cell phone were the only sounds filling the VIP hall of Cairo International Airport on October 20, just after midnight. But just a few seconds later, Ramy Ashour stepped off his five-hour flight from the United Kingdom and turned the quiet terminal into a chaotic flurry of press, family and rowdy friends, all vying for a moment with the champion squash player.

Ashour patiently fields the reporters’ questions, maintaining his dynamic energy and heartfelt smile despite obvious exhaustion. After a grueling road to his win at the 2008 World Squash Championship in Manchester, England, Ashour is buoyed by his eagerness to share his victory with his friends, family and country.

After two months of rigorous training and a lifetime of unyielding dedication behind him, Ashour was feeling the pressure as he counted down the days to his chance to achieve a lifelong ambition. In the 10 nights leading up to the championship, Ashour hadn’t slept well, but on October 19, when he walked onto the court for his final match, he gripped his racket tightly, ready to play and defeat fellow countryman Karim Darwish.

“I’ve played my whole life and I’ve never felt this kind of pressure before,” says Ashour, as he walks through the airport. “It was just something exceptional.”

Ashour has always felt comfortable on the court, ever since his father introduced him to the game when he was five years old. Ashour tried playing other sports before, but none felt as familiar as squash, he says.

“I was just glued to the court, I didn’t want to leave it,” says Ashour, who as a child rushed to finish his school work early so that he could get in a game with his dad or older brother, Hisham Ashour, at El-Shams sports club in Heliopolis. Ashour played his first game at the age of 10, and by 16, had already become the youngest player to win the Men’s World Junior Squash Championship in 2004 in Islamabad, Pakistan.

In 2006, 18-year-old Ashour broke another record by winning the Men’s World Junior Squash Championship in New Zealand for the second time, becoming the only player in the history of the game to win the junior champion title twice. That same year, he led the Egyptian team to a 2-1 victory over Pakistan in the team final of the same tournament. Ashour and his teammates had a lot to celebrate that year, claiming the top three individual rankings in the tournament — making Egypt the first country to sweep both the individual and team competitions at a world junior squash championship.

Ashour’s latest win continues his record-breaking streak: He is only the second player to have a junior and senior world championship title. The first was Pakistani squash legend, Jansher Khan, who claimed the world junior title in 1986 and the senior title in 1987.

Ashour’s many successes on the court comes from both natural talent and an intense training routine. Each day he works on his fitness and strokes from 9am until 12:30pm and then plays matches with his coach for two hours at night. During the month of Ramadan, Ashour could not afford to rest, training each day from 2 pm until sundown, when he would break his fast.

His coach, Mohamed El Razik, certain that Ashour would bring home the title, helped him maintain his commitment to training. “I told him before he got on the plane that he would win the championship,” says El Razik, “He was scared and wasn’t sure, and even his mom was worried whether he would be able to complete the championship with no injuries.

“I’m impressed by how much he’s accomplished,” El Razik adds.

Adding to the anxiety of competing for a world title, Ashour was nervous about playing two of his countrymen, Amr Shabana, 29, and Karim Darwish, 27, in the semi-final and final matches.

“That could be the worst thing ever, to play with your country-mates in such a big tournament,” says Ashour. “It’s so much pressure, because you think about when you get back home and how many people are going to be talking about this. So I was just trying to keep that out of my mind as much as I could and keep myself calm.”

Ashour says he uses music to escape the pressures of being a professional athlete and is known to sing for his family and friends.

Shabana, who has held the number one ranking since 2006, had beaten Ashour at the Cathay Pacific Swiss Privilege Hong Kong Squash Open in 2006. But in a close match, Ashour beat Shabana 11-7 during the semi-finals of the World Championship and went on to face Darwish in the finals.

“Before the final match, I was hoping to win, and of course Ramy was hoping to win too, but I’m happy for him and happy for Egypt, because the three highest-ranking [players] in the world are Egyptians. So ultimately it’s a good thing,” says Darwish, gracious in his defeat.

After claiming the title, Ashour dedicated his win to his parents, who have supported his squash career since his first day on the court.

“The fact that he started at such a young age is one of the reasons for all of his achievements today,” says his father, Mohamed Mahmoud Ashour, who wards off the evil eye from his son by repeating the phrase, ‘mashaa Allah’ (may God protect him) whenever he talks about him.

The Ashour household is also raising another squash champion — Ashour’s older brother, Hisham, holds the number 24 spot in the world rankings. Their father explains that it takes constant support and nourishment from the family, from providing the proper diet to helping the men balance the sport with other aspects of their lives.

“The root of his success is that he’s so focused on the game,” says Mohamed Ashour of his younger son. “He sacrificed a lot to be able to achieve what he has, which is why he was able to achieve success at such a young age, mashaa Allah.”

Aside from his family, Ashour keeps a tight group of lifelong friends around him to help him stay grounded and lead the life of a normal 21-year-old.

“I always felt that he would end up where he is now, all his life he’s had ambitions and now he got to accomplish his dream,” says Sherif Ali, who was at the airport to greet his childhood friend.

“He’s loyal to the game. He’s had setbacks, such as injuries, but he comes through with the determination that he will achieve more,” says Ahmed El-Nokaly, also among the dozen or so friends waiting in the terminal to lift Ashour onto their shoulders in celebration.

When asked about their champion, Ashour’s friends all say that he puts the sport above everything else. “Ashour has had to sacrifice a number of things, such as free time and hanging out with friends, to get him to where he is today,” says El-Nokaly.

Ashour, who has been plagued by a recurring knee injury that he first sustained in 2002, does not take the game, or his victories, for granted.

“I’ve learned a lot, seriously a lot, from being injured. It was such a hard time,” says Ashour, who says he was crushed after seeing 17 doctors who all doubted that he would be able to continue to play. But after flying to Germany for an operation on his anterior cruciate ligament and going through six months of rehabilitation, he was able to play again.

Today, the World Championship cup that he carried proudly through the airport represents the determination that pushes him through his injury and marks his everyday life.

“I’ve never felt better, it feels great to be the world champion,” says Ashour. 

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