Egypt’s Nour El Sherbini calm and focused
on her path to becoming the greatest…

For a perennial record-breaker, Nour El Sherbini is, surprisingly, not all about breaking records.

The Egyptian squash star has been pulling off unprecedented feats ever since she became the youngest winner in World Junior Championships history at just 13 years of age, back in 2009.

Earlier this month, the second-ranked El Sherbini equalled Nicol David’s record of most World Championships won by clinching her eighth crown with a hard-fought 11-5, 11-9, 4-11, 11-7 victory over fellow Egyptian Hania El Hammamy in Chicago.

When David set that record by claiming an eighth world title in 2014, it was hard to imagine anyone would be able to match the Malaysian legend’s tally. El Sherbini certainly didn’t.

But the Egyptian, famously nicknamed the Warrior Princess, went on to reach the next 10 consecutive World Championship finals, and has remarkably won eight of them.

“It never crossed my mind to think that I would do this or I would be in 10 finals or win eight World Championships. It was never in my mind, to be honest,” El Sherbini told The National in a Zoom interview after her triumph in Chicago.

The thought of tying David’s record only started creeping in El Sherbini’s mind after she secured her seventh world title in 2023, with everyone anticipating it would happen the following year.

But in 2024, El Sherbini fell in the final to her arch-rival Nouran Gohar, who snapped a three-match losing streak to El Sherbini in World Championship deciders to finally clinch her maiden crown.

“It was very, very, very tough. For the first time in a long, long time, I felt this pressure. I felt the pressure of, ‘I need to win this tournament’,” El Sherbini said, reflecting on her near-miss last year.