Farag calls time on a stellar career

2025, NEWS, PLAYERS

Four-time World Champion Ali Farag has called time on his stellar professional playing career.

Egypt’s four-time World Champion and former World No.1 Ali Farag has announced his immediate retirement from professional squash.

Tributes as they come in … (PSA report ana Ali’s photos below)

Tabs Singh, Qamar Zaman

"The current state of squash is messy. Leave the protruding leg, the hip check, the hand grab, the “minimal interference” call, where they belong…in your rear-view mirror"…. […]

Karim Ibrahim

"This is truly a sad day for our sport. Often you are being compared or called the "The Roger Federer of Squash", but for me you are the "Ali Farag of Squash and humanity" […]

Here’s the PSA report and a few photos and stats … much more to follow …

Ali’s Farewell Message

PSA Report

Farag – who was ranked at No.2 in the PSA World Rankings upon his retirement – is one of the sport’s greatest ever players. He is one of just two Egyptian men to win the PSA World Championships on four occasions, together with fellow legend Amr Shabana.

His retirement comes less than two weeks after he reached an incredible fifth World Championship final, eventually losing out to World No.1 Mostafa Asal in Chicago.

Harvard-graduate Farag spent 238 weeks at World No.1 between March 2019 – March 2025 and won 46 PSA Squash Tour titles throughout his illustrious career, which puts him sixth on the all-time men’s winners list.

Farag’s first major title came at the 2017 U.S. Open final, which he memorably won the same night that his wife, Nour El Tayeb, captured the women’s title as they became the first married couple to win the same major sports title on the same day.

They would repeat that trick at the 2023 Manchester Open, this time accompanied at the trophy ceremony by their daughter, Farida, who was born less than a fortnight before Farag’s second World Championship triumph.

That U.S. Open win was just the beginning for Farag, who has since gone on to win the PSA Squash Tour Finals (2024) British Open (2023), the CIB Egyptian Open three times (2020, 2021, 2022), the J.P. Morgan Tournament of Champions four times (2019, 2022, 2024, 2025), the Qatar Classic three times (2018, 2020, 2023), the El Gouna International three times (2019, 2023, 2024), the Windy City Open twice (2020 and 2024) and the Paris Squash (2023) in addition to two further U.S. Open titles.

Since making his PSA debut in 2005, Farag played in 81 PSA finals, with a 57 per cent win rate, while he won 445 of his 553 matches on the PSA Squash Tour. He is the fifth longest-serving men’s World No.1 after Jahangir Khan, Jansher Khan, Peter Nicol and Geoff Hunt.

Farag was also popular amongst his fellow players, who voted for him to win the PSA Spirit of Squash Award seven times over the past eight years.

Away from the PSA Squash Tour, Farag also represented Egypt at four editions of the World Squash Team Championships between 2017 and 2024, helping his country to the title on each occasion.

“I always knew this day would come and I knew it would be very emotional. And it is, but in a good way,” Farag said. “It’s been a long time coming. Ever since Covid, really. When I’d achieved all my goals, I always thought ‘What’s next for me?’

“Squash been my passion, my identity and my purpose for as long as I can remember, but there was always another part of me, a family man. Now, I’m a husband and a father to two beautiful young girls, one about to turn four and the other born three months ago. I’ve missed so many of the milestones that I wanted to be there for: the school pickups, the late-night cuddles, the bedtime stories. All of those things that pass too quickly when you’re always chasing the next flight, the next match, the next tournament.

“I’ve always believed in balance, and I feel like the balance has shifted now. This is what I want the next chapter to be. I’m walking away at the perfect time. Squash is in a place it has never been and the level is higher than ever in the men’s and women’s game. Even if I’m not playing, you can count on me always being there as a fan, a supporter and someone who will always love this game.”

The Egyptian concluded by thanking his family and all who had supported him throughout his career.

PSA Chief Executive Alex Gough paid tribute to Farag’s glittering career, saying: “Ali has been a true ambassador for the sport throughout his remarkable career. He combined his incredible athleticism and talent with humility and sportsmanship and his presence on the PSA Squash Tour will be missed.

“Ali has spent more time at World No.1 than any Egyptian man before him and very few people can match his accolades in the sport. He also served with distinction as the PSA Men’s President for four years, where he acted as a voice for players and helped us drive the tour forward together with his fellow board members.

“On behalf of the PSA, I want to thank Ali for everything he has given to the tour and the sport as a whole. We wish him and his family all the very best for the next chapter.”

Ali Farag : Career Stats

PSA Matches: 553 PSA Match Wins: 445
PSA Titles: 46 PSA Finals: 81 PSA Tournaments Played: 155
Weeks at No.1: 238

World Teams : 

College Squash : 2 Individual CAS titles

Juniors : U19 British Junior Open

Ali’s Photos

Ali Farag Photos – 2007 to 2025

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