Ali Farag, Mostafa Asal and the Rise of Egyptian Squash

At present, Egypt rules over men’s squash as no other country has ever dominated in one particular sports discipline. In order to track the schedule of a certain match ahead of an important final, fans usually visit RolsBet Egypt. World champion Ali Farag occupies the first place in the ranking, and Mostafa Asal tries his best to defeat him in each important tournament.

Both athletes are known for their different styles that help explain the popularity of their matches. While Ali Farag builds his play on positioning and patience, Mostafa Asal uses speed and endurance to win. As a result, their rivalry has turned into one of the most exciting stories in the world of this sport nowadays.

That contrast shows up clearly whenever the two meet on court:

• Farag dominates the T position, hence Asal has to run further with each rally.
• Asal retaliates by using speed to his advantage to change any defensive position to a win.
• The rallies that Farag has in his games are normally long and patient.
• On the other hand, Asal’s game has high intensity with short rallies.

It’s also one of the reasons why their matches remain so unpredictable. If a match ends up in a five-game showdown, the winner could simply come down to whose style fares better when tired.

Their fans’ interest in their games constantly grows each season, and many of them use RolsBet login to monitor live scores in five-game finals. This kind of popularity is quite uncommon in the world of squash except when it comes to Farag and Asal.

Farag’s Path to the Top

Ali Farag first reached the World No. 1 ranking in March 2019 and later spent a total of 238 weeks at the top. He retired in May 2025 after winning four World Championships and 46 PSA Tour titles. Ali Farag is a multiple World Champion and successfully defended his title against Egyptian rivals. The player is characterized by his court coverage and patience as opposed to power. It is claimed that Farag is tiring to play against because of his lack of giving opponents free points.

The thing that sets apart Farag from most of his rivals is his choice of shots under pressure. Namely, it is not typical for him to attempt an aggressive winner when it is possible to make a simple length shot. However, the tactic takes away from the attractiveness of the game but helps him win against stronger opponents. Besides, Farag can recover after each point faster than most of the other players on tour.

Asal’s Aggressive Rise

However, Mostafa Asal represents the exact opposite style. He attacks stronger, reacts faster to the ball, and puts opponents in difficult situations from the beginning. The rapid growth in the ratings of Asal was expected much sooner than anyone thought, and by the time he reached his early twenties, he became Farag’s serious competitor.

There are numerous controversies regarding the conduct of the player, who had been punished many times for dangerous and physical play, but no one could question his success. Numerous matches ended with five games each, when victory depended only on a single point.

The conduct rules were revised during the tournaments precisely because of Asal. In spite of all scandals and conflicts, Asal’s rating continued to increase. The younger generation of Egyptian players started imitating his court behavior already.

Player	World Ranking	Signature Trait
Ali Farag	World No. 1	Court coverage, patience
Mostafa Asal	World No. 2	Aggression, physicality
Mohamed ElShorbagy	Former No. 1	Experience, consistency
Karim Abdel Gawad	Top 20	Shot variety

The table above shows just how concentrated squash talent has become in one country. Three of these four names train from the same club system in Cairo. That density of talent at the top makes Egypt’s current run genuinely unusual for an individual sport.

Why Egyptian Squash Keeps Producing Champions

The youth academies throughout Cairo and Alexandria form a pipeline that has been active for more than ten years. Unlike elsewhere, coaches here focus on teaching technical skills prior to physical fitness. Players also compete with each other at an early age, increasing the basic standard at a younger age. Mohamed ElShorbagy, the former world number one player, is another product of this pipeline like Farag and Asal.

There are a few reasons why this pipeline has continued successfully:

• structured junior competitions running year-round across major cities;
• coaches who previously competed at the professional level themselves;
• strong domestic sponsorship keeping talented players in the sport;
• rivalry culture that pushes players to improve against each other.

All of the above individually will not account for Egypt’s supremacy. Collectively, however, these elements add up to form pressure that results in more polished players reaching their teens. Club rivalry is usually mentioned as being the underlying cause by coaches who have witnessed talented juniors facing seasoned pros even before turning 18.

What Comes Next for the Rivalry

Asal and Farag meet several times per season on tour, and their meeting always garners far more interest than any squash match would typically receive. Whoever wins the next big final will probably have an advantage going into the coming season, if not anything else.

Outside of the big names of Asal and Farag, the entire Egyptian squad is steadily working its way up the global ranking tables, and they do so in numbers that are unrivalled by any other country in the world right now.