They don’t make glass slippers for princesses in Egypt. Over the last decade, Egypt’s women squash players hit a small black crazy ball as hard as they could against three glass walls and create a winning din.
Nadien el Hammamy is the latest in a long jostling line of players, though her connection to fortified glass started much earlier.
Her father Walid Onsy is one of Egypt’s most renowned artists, known for his paintings on fused glass. Starting with one piece a day in a solitary kiln, experimenting with glass and colours, he now creates masterpieces that shimmer on the walls of the rich and influential.
“His art is very special and unique. Not many in Egypt do it. So I was inspired by his creativity,” Nadien says, having taken after his father to study graphic design, alongside playing squash.
Art flows in Egyptian squash too, and Amr Shabana (a sort of Roger Federer within glass courts) is a massive inspiration for Nadien besides current World No.1 Hania el Hammamy.
It took an entire nation to replace Nicol David. But the Malaysian’s dominance in women’s squash (eight World titles between 2005 and 2014) eventually made way for the start of the Egyptian dynasty, to the extent that in the last 10 World Open finals, 19 of the 20 contestants have been Egyptians.
Nadien is not quite in the Top 20 in the rankings (she’s No.43), where nine including the top 3 are from the nation of the Pyramids and Cleopatra, the last pharaoh. But the tall 18-year-old is tipped to take over from Nour el Sherbini and current World No.1 Hania in the coming years, though she’s already picked up the reputation of being a fighter on court, known as the ‘Comeback Queen.’
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Playing at the JSW Indian Open this week, as she leaves behind her junior exploits and gets down to jostling for her place amongst Egypt’s and the world’s finest, Nadien, a year older than Anahat Singh, is expected to mount her typically stubborn challenge wherever she goes, staking claim on every title.
“The competition within Egypt is why we are so good at squash. We have big rivalries amongst ourselves in local tournaments that make us stronger. I remember each and every match with each of them,” the teen says of scores that are meticulously kept. And settled. Nadien grew up looking up to Hania, but the bar has been set high in the north African nation by Sherbini, a serial winner (8 Worlds) over the last decade.
Nadien el Hammamy, the tall, 18-year-old, is tipped to take over from Nour el Sherbini and current World No.1 Hania in the coming years. (Photo: PSA)
Rise in profile
As the sport enters the Olympics, plenty of focus is on Egypt, where most girls follow their fathers and brothers to the court and end up outshining them.
“I was always at the training sessions of my older brother, ready to jump on court even if for two minutes. The coaches told my mother I’ll be a champion one day,” Nadien, the reigning British Juniors and World Juniors champ, recalls.
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Helped by a commanding presence on court due to her towering frame, Nadien picked the street cred of a fighter after she came back from 0-2, 2-7 down once at the British Junior Open. Her clutch mentality is quite the talk of squash-town, and while a lot of Egyptian squash is about elegant wristy strokes and deception, Nadien has plenty of grit and bosses clutch moments.
The strength almost comes from having emerged from a sporting kiln herself.
“When I’m trailing, I take a couple of seconds to imagine how I’ll feel when I lose,” she says.
That jolts her out of any slump. “I tell myself it can’t get worse than that feeling of losing. And I fight. Point by point.”
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Like her father’s work, experiments can go terribly south. Nadien has lost many matches (“couple silvers that hurt”) though she’s still 18. But like fellow player Amina Orfi, who made four world junior finals, resilience courses through Egyptian veins as much as filigreed shot angles. “Playing with PSA legends makes a huge difference,” she says.
Nadien’s tall frame grants her a good reach to cover the corners of the court. “But there are challenges too. You need a very strong core. Because squash has a lot of up and down, up and down,” she says about all the bending required on her backhand hits.
Nadien has had several face-offs with Anahat, her comebacks notable each time. She’s accustomed to India too. “I’ve been to Mumbai and Indore. The humidity is too hot,” she laughs, adding, “Food is great. Anahat is doing very well for her age being in the top 20 already.”
Nadien juggles university assignments and mid-terms with the short-term goal to get into the top 20.
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“It can be very stressful to balance with all the travelling,” she says. But nobody better than a squash player to know how glass isn’t always fragile.
