Nour El Sherbini
Quick Facts
Biography
Nour El Sherbini, (Arabic: نور الشربيني; born 1 November 1995) is an Egyptian professional squash player. She won the British Junior Open Under-13 category in 2009. On August 2, 2009, at 13, Sherbini became the youngest world champion in the history of the sport when she won the women's title at the World Junior squash Championships (U-19). On 28 November 2009, Sherbini was awarded the 2009 Young WISPA Squash Player of the Year. On 30 April 2016, she became the youngest women to win the Women's World Championship which was held in Malaysia.
Early life
Nour was born and has been raised in Alexandria, Egypt. She started playing squash when she was 6 and was already participating in tournaments before she was 8.
Her brother Omar el Sherbini kept her interested in squash as she would spend time watching him and learning from his sessions. She confirmed that sports runs in her family: "My father used to be a football player and a good swimmer. Also my mum was a good athlete".
Sherbini plays no other sports.
World champion at 13 and professional start in 2009
As she explains: "By time I gained more confidence and become more steady that made me able to win most of the titles of the local tournaments in Egypt, till reaching the British open and my first international titles. My first BJO title was such a push for more titles starting from under 13 years old till under 15, titles in a row".
A few months after her 13th birthday, she joined WISPA in early 2009, and in April she announced her arrival by losing to world top liner Engy Kheirallah in a tight 3/1 at the Heliopolis Open. After having reached the final of the ATCO Miro event in June, also in Cairo, Sherbini was stopped by Kheirallah in her bid for her first WISPA Tour title.
In the World Junior Squash Championships Individual in Chennai, India, she became world under-19 champion at the age of 13.
As she explained: "Reaching the most important moment of my life, I was chosen to represent Egypt in the world open junior championship taking place in Chennai, India. To win the title was a dream, but to take it and feel the taste of victory was a dream came true. Adding the World Team title made it looks extraordinary".
2012: Entering the top 10
In four years on the WSA World Tour, Nour El Sherbini rose 208 places in the women’s rankings to occupy the world No. 7 spot at the age of 16.
Her first professional competition came in the Heliopolis Open as a qualifier, and she made it to the first round. The following January she won the British Junior Under-19 Open at the age of 14, at which point she had already broken into the world’s top 50. She returned to Heliopolis in 2010 to claim her first WSA title. The following year, still climbing the rankings and sitting at No. 36, she won the Alexandria International Open as 5th seed and finished the year by reaching round two of the World Open as a qualifier.
In 2012 Sherbini made semi-final appearances in the Tournament of Champions in New York, as well as in the KL Open in Malaysia. These results tipped Sherbini into the world top 20, and she reached the final of the WSA World Series Platinum Allam British Open event at the O2 Arena, where she lost to Nicol David.
On 19 May 2012, Sherbini defeated Raneem El Weleily to become the youngest-ever British Open women’s finalist. She reached a career-high world ranking of No. 1 in April 2016.
World Open
Finals: 2 (1 title, 1 runner-up)
Outcome | Year | Location | Opponent in the final | Score in the final |
Runner-up | 2013 | Penang, Malaysia | Laura Massaro | 11–7, 6–11, 11–9, 5–11, 11–9 |
Winner | 2015 | Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia | Laura Massaro | 6–11, 4–11, 11–3, 11–5, 11–8 |
Major World Series final appearances
British Open: 2 finals (1 title, 1 runner-up)
Outcome | Year | Opponent in the final | Score in the final |
Runner-up | 2012 | Nicol David | 11–6, 11–6, 11–6 |
Winner | 2016 | Nouran Gohar | 11–7, 9–11, 7–11, 11–6, 11–8 |
Qatar Classic: 1 final (0 title, 1 runner-up)
Outcome | Year | Opponent in the final | Score in the final |
Runner-up | 2015 | Laura Massaro | 11–8, 12–14, 11–9, 8–11, 11–9 |
Awards and achievements
- British Junior Open Champion GU13 2007
- British Junior Open Champion GU13 2008
- British Junior Open Champion GU15 2009
- Atco Miro No.1 WISPA Runner-up 2009
- World Junior Champion 2009
- Young WISPA Player of the Year 2009
- Young Female Player of the Year 2009
- British Junior Open Champion GU19 2010
- Heliopolis Open WISPA Champion 2010
- High WISPA Ranking of 25 October 2010
- World Junior Runner-up 2011
- Alexandria International Open WISPA Champion 2011
- British Junior Open Champion GU19 2012
- High WSA Ranking of 7 June 2012
- Youngest ever to reach the final of the British open in 2012
- The first Egyptian to reach the final of the British Open in 2012
- Youngest ever to be in the top ten on the world reaching No. 7 in June 2012
- World Junior Champion 2012
- The first Egyptian to win the British Open (in 2016)
- Finals 2007. Squashsite.co.uk. Retrieved on 17 June 2016.
- Finals 2008. Squashsite.co.uk. Retrieved on 17 June 2016.
- Today. Squashsite.co.uk. Retrieved on 17 June 2016.
- "ATCO Junior Open Squash Championships, Cairo". atcosquash.com.
- FINALS. Squashsite.co.uk. Retrieved on 17 June 2016.
- WSA 2009. Squashsite.co.uk. Retrieved on 17 June 2016.
- Today 2010. Squashsite.co.uk. Retrieved on 17 June 2016.
- Heliopolis2010. Squashsite.co.uk. Retrieved on 17 June 2016.
- WISPA World Rankings. March 2013. wispa.net
- "Individual Final: El Tayeb takes the Title – World Junior Squash Championships 2011". worldsquash.org.
- "Alexandria WISPA Sept 2011". sitesquash.com.
- British Junior Open Squash – Today. Squashsite.co.uk. Retrieved on 17 June 2016.
- Players. wsaworldtour.com
- ^ "Allam British Open Semi-Finals". Allam British Open Squash Championships – Official Site.
- June 2012 World Rankings. Squashsite.co.uk. Retrieved on 17 June 2016.
- "Today: Day Six, the FINALS". worldsquash.org.