Ramy Ashour facts for kids

Quick facts for kids
Ramy Ashour

Ramy Ashour with his 2011 Australian Open
Full name	Ramy Mohamed Ashour
Nickname(s)	The Maverick, The Artist,
Country	Egypt
Residence	Cairo, Egypt
Born	(1987-09-30) September 30, 1987 (age 37) Cairo, Egypt
Height	1.8 m (5 ft 11 in)
Weight	78 kg (172 lb)
Turned Pro	2006
Retired	April 22, 2019
Plays	Right handed
Coached by	Hisham Ashour (Ramy’s older brother)
Racquet used	Prince Textreme Pro Warrior 600
Men's singles
Highest ranking	No. 1 (January 2010)
Title(s)	40
Tour final(s)	55
World Open	W (2008, 2012, 2014)
Medal record Men's squash Representing  Egypt World Championships Gold 2008 Manchester Singles Silver 2009 Kuwait Singles Gold 2012 Doha Singles Bronze 2013 Manchester Singles Gold 2014 Doha Singles Silver 2016 Cairo Singles World Team Championships Gold 2009 Odense Team Gold 2011 Paderborn Team Silver 2013 Mulhouse Team Gold 2017 Marseille Team

Ramy Mohamed Ashour (born September 30, 1987, in Cairo, Egypt) is a famous retired professional squash player. He is from Egypt. Many people think he is one of the best squash players ever. He won three World titles in 2008, 2012, and 2014. Ramy was the youngest player to become number one in the world since the 1980s. He was also the first person to win the World Junior Squash Championship twice.

Ramy Ashour's Amazing Career

Ramy Ashour won his first big international title in 2004. He was only 16 years old. This made him the youngest player to win the Men's World Junior Squash Championship. In the same year, he helped Egypt's team get second place.

In July 2006, Ramy made history. He became the first player to win the World Junior Championships a second time. He beat another Egyptian player, Omar Mosaad. Ramy also led the Egyptian team to victory. They beat Pakistan 2–1 in the team final. The Egyptian team even took the top three spots in the individual event. This was a huge achievement!

Starting Professional Play

After his junior success, Ramy started playing professionally. In 2006, he reached his first major final. This was at the Hong Kong Squash Open. He lost to Amr Shabana, who later became world number one. On his way to the final, Ramy beat many top players. These included John White, Thierry Lincou, and David Palmer.

In January 2007, Ramy won his first big professional title. He defeated David Palmer in the Canadian Squash Classic. The match lasted only 32 minutes. In April 2007, Ramy won the Kuwait Open. This was the richest squash event at the time. He beat Amr Shabana in 34 minutes. He also won the Qatar Classic in Doha, again beating David Palmer.

Later in 2007, Ramy was invited to the ATCO World Series Squash Finals. He played against the top seven players of the season. Ramy was the only player who didn't lose any of his first three matches. He then played Grégory Gaultier in the final. After a 62-minute match, Ramy won the title.

Squash writer Malcolm Willstrop once said Ramy was special. He praised Ramy's movement and racket skills. He also noted Ramy's modesty and friendly smile.

Becoming World Number One

In 2009, Ramy played Nick Matthew at the Saudi International Open. This match was very important. The winner would become the new world number one. Ramy won the match after a very long 110-minute battle.

Ramy lost his world number one spot to Nick Matthew in June 2010. But he quickly bounced back. In August, he reached the final of the Australian Open. Two weeks later, he won the Hong Kong Open final. He beat Grégory Gaultier in a 90-minute match. These wins helped Ramy get back to the top ranking in September 2010.

In early 2011, Ramy slipped behind Matthew again. But Ramy then won the JP Morgan Tournament of Champions. He beat Matthew in the final. This was a great comeback after a hamstring injury in 2010. Ramy and Matthew continued their rivalry. They played against each other in many big tournaments. Ramy often came out on top.

Undefeated Streak and World Titles

The year 2012 was one of Ramy's best. He was the first player since Jansher Khan to reach the final of every tournament he played. After an injury break, Ramy reached the final of the North American Open 2012. He lost to James Willstrop. But Ramy got his revenge at the El Gouna International in April. He won another major title in front of his home crowd.

Ramy then went undefeated in the second half of 2012. He won all four tournaments he entered. He defended his Australian Open title. He won the US Open title. He also took the Hong Kong Open title. This amazing run led to his biggest win of the year. He won the 2012 Men's World Open Squash Championship in December. By beating Matthew in the semi-final, he became world number one again. He then beat his fellow countryman, Mohamed El Shorbagy, in a tough final. This was his second World Open title.

In 2013, Ramy kept his world number one ranking. He won the J.P. Morgan Tournament of Champions again. He came back from being two games down to beat Grégory Gaultier. This made him only the third player to win this title three times. Ramy then won two more titles in two weeks. He won the North American Open and the Kuwait PSA Cup. He extended his winning streak to seven major PSA titles in a row.

In May, Ramy won his first British Open championship. He was the first Egyptian to win it since 1966. He also extended his unbeaten run to 41 matches. His last loss had been exactly a year before. After a summer break, Ramy won his ninth PSA World Tour title in a row. He extended his unbeaten streak to 45 matches.

On November 21, 2014, Ramy won his third world title. He defeated Mohamed El-Shorbagy in a match described as "epic."

Dealing with Injuries and Retirement

Sadly, Ramy faced a lot of injuries. He had a chronic hamstring problem. This affected his career, but Ramy stayed positive. He often shared his thoughts on social media. He talked about his mental strength and wanting to fully recover. His injuries came after his amazing 40+ match winning streak. This streak showed off his fast-paced rallies and unique playing style.

Ramy Ashour was known for his special way of playing. People called him 'The Artist'. Many believed he was one of the most naturally talented players ever. Mohamed El Shorbagy, a world champion, called Ramy 'the best of the best'. Squash legend Jonah Barrington said Ramy was as good as the famous Pakistani players Jahangir Khan and Jansher Khan.

On April 22, 2019, Ramy Ashour announced his retirement. He was 31 years old.

World Open Final Appearances

Ramy Ashour played in five World Open finals. He won three of them and was runner-up twice.

Outcome	Year	Location	Opponent in the final	Score in the final
Winner	2008	Manchester, England	Karim Darwish	5–11, 11–8, 11–4, 11–5
Runner-up	2009	Kuwait	Amr Shabana	11–8, 11–5, 11–5
Winner	2012	Doha, Qatar	Mohamed El Shorbagy	2-11, 11-6, 11-5, 9-11, 11-8
Winner	2014	Doha, Qatar	Mohamed El Shorbagy	13-11, 7-11, 5-11, 11-5, 14-12
Runner-up	2016	Cairo, Egypt	Karim Abdel Gawad	5-11, 11-6, 11-7, 2-1 (retired)

Major World Series Final Appearances

British Open: 3 Finals (1 Title, 2 Runner-up)

Outcome	Year	Opponent in the final	Score in the final
Runner-up	2012	Nick Matthew	11-9, 11–4, 11-8
Winner	2013	Grégory Gaultier	7-11, 11-4, 11-7, 11-8
Runner-up	2016	Mohamed El Shorbagy	11-2, 11-5, 11-9

Hong Kong Open: 4 Finals (3 Titles, 1 Runner-up)

Outcome	Year	Opponent in the final	Score in the final
Runner-up	2006	Amr Shabana	13-11, 3-11, 11-5, 13-11
Winner	2010	Grégory Gaultier	10-12, 11-9, 11-9, 9-11, 11-9
Winner	2012	James Willstrop	11-8, 3-11, 11-7, 11-6
Winner	2016	Karim Abdel Gawad	11-9, 8-11, 11-6, 5-11, 11-6

Qatar Classic: 1 Final (1 Title)

Outcome	Year	Opponent in the final	Score in the final
Winner	2007	David Palmer	8-11, 11-9, 11-9, 11-6

US Open: 2 Finals (1 Title, 1 Runner-up)

Outcome	Year	Opponent in the final	Score in the final
Runner-up	2009	Amr Shabana	11-7, 11-2, 7-11, 12-14, 11-8
Winner	2012	Grégory Gaultier	11-4, 11-9, 11-9

Career Statistics

Ramy Ashour won 40 PSA titles during his career.

PSA Tour Finals (Runner-Up) (15)

Ramy Ashour during the 2011 Australian Open quarter-final match against Peter Barker.

No.	Date	Tournament	Opponent in Final	Score in Final
1.	October 22, 2005	Athens Open	Hisham Mohd Ashour	11–7, 2–11, 10–12, 7–11
2.	January 29, 2006	Dayton Open	John White	5–11, 3–11, 6–11
3.	March 11, 2006	COAS International	Mohammed Abbas	4–11, 11–9, 5–11, 7–11
4.	October 22, 2006	Hong Kong Open	Amr Shabana	11–13, 11–3, 5–11, 11–13
5.	October 28, 2007	Saudi International Open	Amr Shabana	5–11, 5–11, 11–1, 9–11
6.	April 27, 2008	Kuwait Open	Amr Shabana	9-11, 7-11, 11-13
7.	September 6, 2009	U.S. Open	Amr Shabana	7-11, 2-11, 11-7, 14-12, 8-11
8.	November 7, 2009	Kuwait Open	Amr Shabana	8-11, 8-11, 5-11
9.	January 28, 2010	Tournament of Champions	James Willstrop	10-12, 5-11, 11-9, 2-11
10.	February 27, 2010	North American Open	Nick Matthew	9-11, 14-16, 4-5 (ret)
11.	August 15, 2010	Australian Open	Nick Matthew	14-16, 7-11, 10-12
12.	October 24, 2010	El Gouna International	Karim Darwish	14-16, 3-11, 1-5 (ret)
13.	February 26, 2011	North American Open	Nick Matthew	9-11, 5-11, 11-8, 11-8, 6-11
14.	February 25, 2012	North American Open	James Willstrop	11-7, 11-8, 11-7
15.	May 26, 2012	British Open	Nick Matthew	11-9, 11-4, 11-8

RAM Scoring System

In 2019, Ramy Ashour introduced a new way to score in squash called the RAM scoring system. He created it with Osama Khalifa. Here are the main rules:

• Matches are "best of five games."
• Each game is three minutes long. This time only counts for actual playing, not breaks between points.
• When the three minutes are up, the player who is ahead needs to win one more point to win the game.
• If the player who is behind wins that point, the game continues. It keeps going until the leading player wins a final point, or the trailing player ties the score and then wins one more point to win the game.
• If the score is tied when time runs out, one "sudden death" point is played to decide the winner of that game.
• If the score is 0-0 when time runs out, the three-minute clock resets, and the game starts again.
• The clock only goes back to the start of a point if there's a "let call" (when a point is replayed).
• There must be at least one referee and one "Time Keeper" for the match.
• Players get 2 minutes of rest between games.
• All other rules from the Professional Squash Association (PSA) and World Squash Federation (WSF) still apply.

See also

In Spanish: Ramy Mohamed Ashour para niños

• Official Men's Squash World Ranking