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ALI FARAG

ALI FARAG, Paris Squash Alpine, French International Squash

Titles

• 3x World Champion (2018-2019, 2020-2021, 2022),

• 3x Egyptian Open (2020-2022),

• 2x Oracle NetSuite Open (2018, 2021),

• 2x Qatar Classic (2018, 2020),

• 2x Tournament of Champions (2019, 2022),

• 2x US Open (2017, 2019), DPD Open (2019),

• El Gouna International (2019), Houston Open (2022),

• Motor City Open (2016), Optasia Championships (2022),

• Swedish Open (2018), Windy City Open (2020)

• 2x Men's World Team Champion (EGY - 2017, 2019),

• 4x Egyptian National Champion (2018-2020, 2022)

 

Biography

Since graduating in mechanical engineering from Harvard University in 2014, Egypt's Ali Farag has become a three-time world champion and has spent more than 140 weeks atop the world rankings.

 

He won his first Open Du Gard title in 2011 and quickly followed that up with a crown at the Meersquashheroes Open a week later. Only one title came in 2012 before the Egyptian had to wait over two years for his next piece of silverware at the PSA International Championship which was his first PSA M25 title.

 

Farag had a tremendous 2015 and made four PSA World Tour finals, winning three of them. His last title, at the Irish Open, was the most prestigious of the lot. He also had a superb run at the World Championship in November 2015 with fine wins over Max Lee and Simon Rösner as particular highlights. He finally lost in the quarter-finals to eventual winner Gregory Gaultier.

 

Farag broke ground at the Motor City Open in January 2016, defeating world number one Mohamed ElShorbagy and three-time world champion Nick Matthew en route to a maiden PSA M70 title. A semi-final at the Grasshopper Cup and a place in the round of 16 at the El Gouna International on home soil capped Farag's 2015/16 season, which was rewarded with a break into the world top 10 in May, before the end. The PSA Awards of the Season saw him honored with both Fan's Player of the Season and Spirit of Squash awards.

 

Farag built on his 2015/16 season by claiming one of the biggest wins of his career against Mohamed ElShorbagy to reach the final of the Al Ahram Open - played in front of the magnificent Great Pyramid of Giza - but lost to fellow Egyptian Karim Abdel Gawad in the final. He qualified for the final of the Al Ahram Squash Open Newgiza 2016 but lost 3-0 to then world No. 1 Karim Abdel Gawad.

 

Farag next played in Ryan Cuskelly's Suburban Collection Motor City Open final. Farag was also eliminated in the semi-finals of the Windy City Open against former world number one Mohamed ElShorbagy. The Egyptian also had two second places ahead of Frenchman Gregory Gaultier at both the Grasshopper Cup and the Bellevue Classic.

 

He started his 2017/18 campaign with a second-place finish at the China Open, before winning the US Open, where he beat Mohamed ElShorbagy in the final. His next three tournaments ended at the hands of the world No. 1, losing in the final to ElShorbagy at the Channel VAS Championships and the Hong Kong Open. The Egyptian went on to win the Swedish Open, before finishing second at the El Gouna International, again losing to Elshorbagy, but this time it was Marwan.

 

Farag failed to reach the final in just one of their first seven tournaments of the 2018/19 campaign. It was a semi-final exit at the US Open. He finished second in the Channel VAS, Hong Kong Open and Black Ball Open, but won the Oracle NetSuite, Qatar Classic and Tournament of Champions, placing him No. 1 in the world for the first time in his career. career. in March 2019. Despite an early quarter-final exit at the Grasshopper Cup, Farag was able to continue his good form. The Egyptian went on to win the DPD Open and the El Gouna International, before finishing second in the British Open.

 

The 2019-20 season may have seen Farag fall from the world No. 1 spot, but his form was fantastic, reaching the final in five of the six tournaments he appeared in, all while earning his country's success on the front global. The Egyptian won the FS Investments USA Open Squash Championships in Philadelphia, with victory sandwiched by runners-up at both the JP Morgan China Squash Open and the CIB Egyptian Squash Open. Farag was then part of the Egyptian squad that retained the WSF Men's World Tag Team Championships title in Washington, D.C.

 

After reaching the semi-finals of the JP Morgan Tournament of Champions, Farag went on to win in Chicago for the second consecutive year. 12 months after winning the World Championship crown, he won the Windy City Open presented by the Walter family. He ended the campaign with another final appearance, this time at the St. James's Place Canary Wharf Classic in London.

 

Farag reached the quarter-finals of the Manchester Open, the first comeback event after the PSA World Tour resumed after its six-month suspension due to COVID-19. He then lost to Marwan ElShorbagy for the second consecutive event in Cairo, after reaching the last four of the CIB PSA World Tour final.

 

The 2018-19 world champion found his form at the CIB Egypt Open, however, as he clinched the title after losing just three matches throughout the tournament, and with victory at the Platinum event, he reclaimed the November 2020 world No. 1 spot.

 

He then qualified for the final of the CIB Black Ball Squash Open, but lost to Fares Dessouky in the last match of 2020. Farag also had good news off the court, as his wife Nour El Tayeb announced that she was expecting a child.

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