In just four years on the WSA World Tour, Nour El Sherbini has risen a remarkable 208 places in the women’s rankings to occupy the world No.7 spot at the tender age of 16-years-old. Many players spend years battling through competitions but the rate at which Sherbini has progressed to a world-beating standard has without doubt thrown down the gauntlet to Nicol David for the next couple of years.
Her first professional competition came in the Heliopolis Open as a qualifier, and made it through to the first round. The following January she won the British Junior Under 19’s Open at the age of fourteen, at which point she had already broken into the world’s top50. She returned to Heliopolis in 2010 to claim her first WSA title at the event in which she had made her debut the year before. The following year, still rapidly climbing the rankings and sitting at No36, she won the Alexandria International Open as 5th seed and finished off the year by reaching round two of the World Open as a qualifier.
So far in 2012 the signs have continued to look good for the Egyptian starlet after semi-final appearances in Tournament of Champions in New York, as well as in the KL Open in Malaysia. These results tipped Sherbini into the Top20 mix, but undeterred by the daunting prospect of facing the big names in the tour, she stunned Londoners at the O2 Arena by reaching the final of the WSA World Series Platinum Allam British Open event, only quelled by the current queen of the women’s game Nicol David. If Sherbini’s progression continues at this rate, it won’t be long before David’s No.1 spot may be put under question.
