Nour El Sherbini

Nour Atef Ahmed Zaki El Sherbini (; born 1 November 1995) is an Egyptian professional squash player.

She holds the record with Malaysian Nicol David for having won the most women's world individual titles. The eight world titles were achieved in; 2015, 2016, 2018–19, 2019–20, 2020–21, 2022, 2023 and 2025.

She has been ranked as the world No. 1 in women's singles by the Women's Squash Association (WSA), on several occasions, has won the British Open four times and as of May 2025, she has 45 PSA titles to her name.

Early life Nour was born and raised in Alexandria, Egypt. She started playing squash when she was 6 years old, and was already participating in tournaments before she was 8. She trained at Alexandria Sporting Club (ASC) in Alexandria.

Her brother Omar el Sherbini kept her interested in squash as she would spend time watching him and learning from his sessions. She has said that sports runs in her family: "My father used to be a football player and a good swimmer. Also my mum was a good athlete".

Junior career Nour won the British Junior Open Under-13 category in 2007 and 2008. On 28 November 2009, Sherbini was awarded the 2009 Young WISPA Squash Player of the Year. As she explains: "By time I gained more confidence and become [sic.] more steady that made me able to win most of the titles of the local tournaments in Egypt, till reaching the British open and my first international titles. My first BJO title was such a push for more titles starting from under 13 years old till under 15, titles in a row".

A few months after her 13th birthday, she joined WISPA in early 2009, and in April she announced her arrival by losing to world top liner Engy Kheirallah in a tight 3/1 at the Heliopolis Open. After having reached the final of the ATCO Miro event in June, also in Cairo, Sherbini was stopped by Kheirallah in her bid for her first WISPA Tour title. On August 2, 2009, at 13, Sherbini became the youngest world champion in the history of the sport when she won the women's title at the World Junior squash Championships (U-19). As she explained: "Reaching the most important moment of my life, I was chosen to represent Egypt in the world open junior championship taking place in Chennai, India. To win the title was a dream, but to take it and feel the taste of victory was a dream came true. Adding the World Team title made it looks extraordinary".

Professional career Entering the world's top 10 In 2012 on the WSA World Tour, Nour El Sherbini rose 208 places in the women's rankings to occupy the world No. 7 spot at the age of 16.

Her first professional competition came in the Heliopolis Open as a qualifier, and she made it to the first round. The following January she won the British Junior Under-19 Open at the age of 14, at which point she had already broken into the world's top 50. She returned to Heliopolis in 2010 to claim her first WSA title. The following year, still climbing the rankings and sitting at No. 36, she won the Alexandria International Open as 5th seed and finished the year by reaching round two of the World Open as a qualifier.

In 2012 Sherbini made a semi-final appearances in the Tournament of Champions in New York, as well as in the KL Open in Malaysia. These results tipped Sherbini into the world top 20, and she reached the final of the WSA World Series Platinum Allam British Open event at the O2 Arena, where she lost to Nicol David.

World No. 1 and world titles El Sherbini won her first world title at the 2015 Women's World Open Squash Championship in Kuala Lumpur, defeating English player Laura Massaro in the final. By April 2016 she reached a world ranking of No. 1, won her first British Open and won a second world title at the 2016 Women's World Open Squash Championship in El Gouna.

Five consecutive world titles were secured in 2018–19, 2019–20, 2020–21, 2022 and 2023. In the May 2023 competition, she defeated the number 4 seed Joelle King in the semi final and defeating the number 1 seed Nouran Gohar in the final. It was her seventh World Championship (and fifth in a row) taking her to second in the all-time list of World championship wins behind Nicol David. She also won her fourth British Open title by securing victory at the 2023 Women's British Open Squash Championship.

2025 record equaling feat El Sherbini was on the verge of being classed as the greatest women's player of all-time after winning an eighth world title at the 2025 Women's World Squash Championship in Chicago, defeating Hania El Hammamy in the final. The win equaled the all-time record set by Malaysian Nicol David from 2005 to 2014.

She won her 45th PSA title after securing victory in the Hong Kong Open during the 2025–26 PSA Squash Tour. In 2026 El Sherbini lost her world title to Amina Orfi the 2026 World Championship final.

National representation WSF World Junior Team championships She won her first world team title, the gold medal with the Egyptian team at the 2009 Women's World Junior Team Championships. 2011, She was with the Egyptian team that won their fifth title at the WSF World Junior Team title. Nour's last appearance with the junior national team in World Junior Team Championships was at the 2013 edition.

WSF World Team Championships In 2012, she was part of the team that regained the world team title following a gold medal at the 2012 WSF World Team Championships. 2014, she was part of the Egyptian team that won the bronze medal at the 2014 Women's World Team Squash Championships. 2016, she won her second world team title as part of the Egyptian team that won the gold medal at the 2016 Women's World Team Squash Championships. 2018, she won her third world team title as part of the Egyptian team that won the 2018 Women's World Team Squash Championships. In 2022, she was part of the Egyptian team that won the 2022 Women's World Team Squash Championships. It was her fourth world team title.

In December 2024, El Sherbini helped Egypt win their fourth consecutive title at the 2024 Women's World Team Squash Championships.

World Squash Championships Finals: 11 (8 titles, 3 runner-up)

World Tour Finals Finals: 4 (2 titles, 2 runner-up)

Major World Series final appearances

Major Finals (29) Major tournaments include: Top-tier PSA World Tour tournaments (Diamond+Platinum/World Series/Super Series)

British Open: 7 finals (4 titles, 3 runner-up)

US Open: 6 finals (1 title, 5 runner-up)

Hong Kong Open: 2 finals (2 titles, 0 runner-up) Outcome YearOpponent in the finalScore in the finalWinner 2017 Raneem El Weleily 11–5, 11–8, 11–5Winner 2025 Olivia Weaver 11–5, 11–5, 11–7

Qatar Classic: 4 finals (1 title, 3 runner-up)

Windy City Open: 6 finals (3 titles, 3 runner-up)

El Gouna International: 3 finals (1 title, 2 runner-up)

Tournament of Champions: 6 finals (5 titles, 1 runner-up)

Paris Squash: 2 finals (2 titles, 0 runner-up) Outcome Year Opponent in the final Score in the finalWinner 2023 Nouran Gohar 7–11, 11–4, 11–8, 11–5Winner 2024 Nouran Gohar 6–11, 11–3, 8–11, 11–7, 11-4

Awards and achievements

British Junior Open Champion GU13 2007 British Junior Open Champion GU13 2008 British Junior Open Champion GU15 2009 Atco Miro No.1 WISPA Runner-up 2009 World Junior Champion 2009 Young WISPA Player of the Year 2009 Young Female Player of the Year 2009 British Junior Open Champion GU19 2010 Heliopolis Open WISPA Champion 2010 High WISPA Ranking of 25 October 2010 World Junior Runner-up 2011 Alexandria International Open WISPA Champion 2011 British Junior Open Champion GU19 2012 High WSA Ranking of 7 June 2012 Youngest ever to reach the final of the British open in 2012 The first Egyptian to reach the final of the British Open in 2012 World Junior Champion 2012 The first Egyptian to win the British Open (in 2016) PSA Player of The Year 2017/18