World Champion. World Number 1. Incredible moments for Ali Farag have been achieved on the glass courts but it’s the lifetime of sacrifice, hard work and passion that have led him to the reach the top of his sport.
Few people probably know that Ali Farag thought about quitting the game, on a professional level, at least. One of his biggest influencers in Squash and in life was his brother and his brother motivated him to continue. It was a good job he did. As a very promising young talent, it was never nailed on that Ali Farag would achieve the success he did, he had to work hard for it, he had to train himself to really understand what he needed to do and that made it all the sweeter when he finally achieved it.
Of course a big part of the Ali Farag story is that his wife is Nour El Tayeb, a top 10 professional PSA Squash player herself. This has allowed him to do things that many people never get the chance too, travel the world with the person he loves. It’s quite a story, enough to make you jealous. However, Ali isn’t the type to gloat. He’s humble, considerate, his passion is for sport and for people. Often called ‘The fairest farag’ he is known on the tour for his manners and calm, likeable demeanor.
With all his hard work culminating in an incredible month in which he became both the world no.1 and the world champion, two things he had never previously achieved, we now turn to (arguably) the hard bit. Staying there. You get the sense though, that Ali isn’t done yet anyway. While achieving these goals were definitely childhood dreams and incredible experiences for him, as Ali puts it
‘My whole life is Squash, I have loved every aspect of it’
This isn’t the end of a journey but only the beginning of one. Where can he go from here? Where can Squash go from here? He has taken Dunlop to the forefront of the Squash world, now it’s time to take Squash to the forefront of the sporting world.
The Love the Game series is a portrait of a player. Each player has their own story, a reason that they play, a reason they fell in love with the game. They give the game so much, so the game can give them back even more. While each player has their own story to tell, one thing always remains – A love for the game.