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Off to the States is our Omar El
Sherbini! 2016 will
stay in Nour El Sherbini's career as a turning point: a truly
incredible breakthrough in May, as she clinched the World
Champion title after being 2/0 down against former World Champ/World
#1 Laura Massaro, becoming the youngest ever woman player and
the first ever Egyptian woman to win the supreme title.
That victory allowed her to become World #1.
As we all know, such a journey doesn't arrive by chance. A lot
of work needs to be produced, a strong team works in the
background to allow an athlete to shine under the limelights.
Today, we highlight one of Nour's team members and one of the
reasons of his sister's success: Omar El Sherbini, Nour’s brother, coach & manager.
Nour, the Junior Years
"Omar is the reason why I set foot on a squash court in the first place!"
laughs Nour. " I didn't have the choice at the time, I was spending time watching his
sessions as a 6 year old at Smouha Club in Alexandria"
Time went by, and quickly, the young girl came from watching to
playing, and everyday they were playing together as soon as they
had some free time when they were done with their sessions.
It sort of worked, as
Nour won her first World Junior Champs title at the age
of 13, making history.
They kept practicing their daily routine and playing together,
until Omar set off for France to learn about management and promotion.
He graduated
from the Ecole of management de Normandie in the North france
with a high degree in management.
The El Gouna Adventure
 In
2012,
When he was approached by
Amr Mansi, a former PSA player who was
the head Coach of the Alexandria Sporting Club at that time.
“I’ve known Omar since he was very young we have some work
experience together working at El Gouna international tournament
that’s why I chose him for the position as I know his ability to
deliver on the Squash Court”
Now, El Gouna has become a World
Series, and this year, will host the World Women Champs as well
as the PSA Men's event, not to mention a Masters event!
"I am so excited the place that I
started at is getting bigger and bigger everyday" Omar told us .
"I'm certainly
happy for Amr Mansi. He is the main reason why I am inspired to
chase my dreams, he never settles down he always hustles to
reach the best.
"Just an example of his talent, in just 6 years he was able
to turn El Gouna into a Squash hub for everyone to come play! This year we have a squash complex with 4 new courts, we are
hosting the Women's World Championship which I strongly support
from day one, and the men's in addition to the amateur tournament
for all age groups in coordination with the African Squash
Federation, so definitely I am proud to be part of it and working
along with Amr and the team."
Nour, the senior years
Through the years, Omar has been working with Nour to develop a
team that will help in her transition from her junior career to
her senior career to pursue her dream of becoming the World no.1
and World Champion.
In July 2014 Omar moved to Alexandria Sporting Club as a junior
coach for developing young juniors at the ASC Squash Academy.
In early 2015 Nour reached a deal with Alexandria Sporting
club, big rival of the Smouha Club where Nour spent all her
junior years.
"Nour moved to the club where I was coaching because I wanted her by my
side, so she moved from Smouha Sporting Club to Alexandria Sporting
club. I had to start from scratch, a new team, including Waleed El Mosalamy and
Karim Shohayeb for a new start and it worked...
“I remember we would spend much time analyzing matches and
training schedules that can best fit her studying schedule and
training schedule, and everyone was really helpful and flexible
at that time and for me that was one of the main reason to our
success, which is having a team that is keen about Nour and her
program and works everything around it.”
 Season
2015/2106
Now with Omar as a full time coach, Nour
Kicked off the season with the Carol Weymuller in Brooklyn
in October 2015, then goes even better, winning the Tournament of
Champions in NY, then the British Open in Hull.
“Omar has been really important with me the past season he
made me work on all aspects of my Squash career, things I had
never done before.
"With his connections and experience in the
field he has been able to appoint and outsource most of the
important elements in my team that helped a lot last season.
"The
transition from one team to another was risky and hard, I was
worried to be honest but his continuous support and my trust in
his ability made me more confident about the step I was taking
and here you go it all worked out to what I became today”
 New
Start in 2017
End of 2016 sees Omar sailing off from Alexandria and Egypt to
the US, to pursue a new dream and work in a
different atmosphere where he can extend his experience
elsewhere.
“Being at Nour's side all the way has been really
exciting and a journey not many have an opportunity to experience,
for which I'm very thankful.
"But after living all of that,
you only think about reliving the moment once more but this wont
be possible without starting everything all over again.
"For
me to make it more exciting I just would like a different type
of challenge and that’s why I thank Alexandria and Egypt for
what they did for me. I am in current talks with a Club in the
united states, January is when I meet Sahel Anwar of PPS in
NewYork to discuss the details which is certainly
something I am excited about and hopefully it works out.”
Dear Omar - aka "The Professional", we wish you all the best in
your new venture... |
Nour's official site |
