Ramy Ashour Announces Retirement from Professional Squash from PSA Media
photo PSA
April 22, 2019
- Egypt’s three-time World Champion Ramy Ashour has announced his
immediate retirement from professional squash.
Known on tour as ‘The Artist’, Cairo-born Ashour, 31, is regarded as
one of the most talented squash players of all time and spent 21 months
at World No.1 between 2010-2013.
He won PSA World Championship titles in 2008, 2012 and 2014. The last
of those saw Ashour return after a six-month injury absence to claim
the sport’s biggest title in stunning style, beating long-term rival
Mohamed ElShorbagy in the final – a match which has gone down in
history as gone of the greatest squash matches ever.
Ashour also became the first Egyptian for 47 years to win the sport’s
oldest tournament – the British Open – in 2013, which came in the midst
of a 49-match unbeaten run as he won nine successive PSA Tour titles.
Since making his PSA debut in 2004, Ashour has lifted 40 PSA Tour
titles, reaching 59 finals, while he won 358 of his 435 matches on the
PSA Tour. Ashour’s final tournament win came at the Grasshopper Cup in
March 2018 as he tore through the draw without dropping a game, again
beating ElShorbagy in the final.
Ashour was also voted as the second greatest male player of all time in
the summer of 2018, with thousands of squash fans taking part in a poll
conducted by the Professional Squash Association (PSA).
Despite his undoubted skills with a racket, Ashour has been ravaged by
injury over the past decade and has suffered a range of hamstring and
knee issues. The latter has kept him out of action since last May, with
his final ever PSA appearance coming at the 2018 British Open.
“I’m not the biggest fan of beginnings and endings,” said Ashour.
“During my 25 years on the squash court, I won a combined eight World
Championships (including senior, junior and team), and I never loved
anything more than I have loved the game of squash. Squash has given me
so much but also took a lot from me physically and mentally.
‘While I look towards the next stage of my journey, I have to thank the
people who have been with me every step of the way. First of all, my
parents and my brother, who have always been there, have always been my
biggest supporters and motivators, and who shared with me my best and
worst times.
“I also want to thank my close friends, who have stood by me. Thank you
to all my coaches, who helped me get to the next level. Thank you to
all my sponsors, Prince rackets, Pharco Pharmaceuticals, CIB Bank and
Salming Sports. Last but not least, I want to say that I am grateful
for all of you [the fans], the people I don’t know personally, who have
always believed in me, you guys are the biggest reason I was always
pushing to win.”
