Egypt’s Nour El-Sherbini Becomes Youngest Ever New York Squash Tournament Champion
Egyptian squash player Nour El-Sherbini has won the top title in the 2016 Tournament of Champions, an annual international squash championship held in New York City’s Grand Central Terminal.
In front of a sold out crowd at Grand Central Terminal’s Vanderbilt Hall, El-Sherbini, 20, defeated New-York raised 22-year-old Amanda Sobhy, the highest-ranking American ever in the Professional Squash Association (PSA) world rankings.
“Nour came out firing from the very start,” said Sobhy referring to her 20-year-old Egyptian opponent.
El-Sherbini, who was born in Alexandria, is the second Egyptian woman to win the Tournament of Champions. Last year, Raneem El-Weleily cinched the title after defeating the UK’s Alison Waters.
“I don’t know what to say. It’s weird and amazing and incredible,” said El-Sherbini, who became the youngest ever Tournament of Champions winner.
Arsenal’s Elneny out to make Egypt proud
Mohamed Elneny hopes his arrival at Arsenal will help boost the reputation of Egyptian football in England.
Elneny became Arsenal’s first Egyptian player when he joined the club from Basel last week, and follows in the footsteps of countrymen like former Chelsea winger Mohamed Salah and Hull’s Ahmed Elmohamady to play in the Premier League.
“I am very keen to work hard in the Premier League — that’s for my own reputation and Egypt’s reputation — and to show everyone that Egyptian players are capable of playing very well in the Premier League,” Elneny told the Arsenal website.
Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger said he bought Elneny because of his versatility, as the midfielder can play in both a purely defensive role and as a box-to-box player. He is known for his tireless running ability, a trait he puts down to the long hours he spent playing football in the streets back home in Egypt as a child.
“We would play in the hot weather for more than 10 hours sometimes. That is very normal in Egypt,” Elneny said. “I was the same as any Egyptian kid because we all have a very strong passion for football. We would head straight to the football grounds as soon as we left the classroom.”
Elneny’s father is a football coach in his hometown of Almahalah and taught his son to love football at an early age.
