Ziad Sakr
Ziad Sakr when he first joined PSA in 2023
Full nameZiad Mohamed Sakr
Country Egypt
ResidenceBoston, MA, United States
Born (1999-07-08) 8 July 1999
Tanta, Egypt
Height173 cm (5 ft 8 in)
Weight72 kg (159 lb)
Turned Pro2015
Retiredactive
PlaysRight handed
Coached byKhaled Ghoneim
Racquet usedTecnifibre carboflex 125
Websitehttps://ziadsakr.netlify.app/
Men's singles
Highest ranking183 (November 2023)
Current ranking183 (November 2023)
Last updated: November 2023.

Ziad Sakr (Arabic: زياد صقر; born July 8, 1999, in Tanta, Egypt) is an Egyptian professional squash player. Sakr is the 2012 British Junior Open champion,[1] the first-ever squash player from Tanta, a city outside of the two major cities in Egypt, Cairo and Alexandria, to win that title. He is a former Trinity College squash team captain (Bantams), class of 2021, and holds the 2018 College Squash Association (CSA) National Team Championship "A" Division Title with Trinity College.[2]

Early life and juniors career

Ziad Sakr embarked on his squash journey in 2007 at age of 7. His first national title was in 2009 when he won the Egyptian National championship under-11 category. Internationally, he secured the 2012 Under-13 British Junior Open title[1] and secured podium finishes in the 2014 British Junior Open Under-15 (3rd place)[3] and Under-17 (3rd place) categories. With the Egyptian national team, he won the Arabian championship teams title twice, and once in the individual event. In his last tournament in juniors before college, he finished in top-9 in the Under-19 category at the Squash World Junior Open held in Poland.[4]

College squash career

During his tenure at Trinity College, Sakr emerged as a leader, serving as a tri-captain in the 2020–21 season and a three-year starter.[5] His pivotal role contributed significantly to Trinity's national team championship title in 2018[6] and their three NESCAC championship victories. Sakr's individual achievements include a 1x CSA All-American second team title and a CSA National Singles Championship Molloy "B" Division title. He was honored with the 2019 All-NESCAC First Team,[7] and twice with NECAC All-Sportsmanship recognition.[8]

College Squash Career Statistics[9]

Year-by-year Records:

  • 2017–18: 19 wins – 1 loss
  • 2018–19: 13 wins – 4 losses
  • 2019–20: 10 wins – 4 losses

He finishes his college career with total 42 wins and only 9 losses.

Professional squash career

Recognized as a touring professional in March 2015, Sakr temporarily paused his professional squash career to pursue higher education. Amidst the challenges posed by the 2019 COVID-19 pandemic and during his senior year of college, Sakr made a triumphant return to the professional circuit after 7 years.[10] His comeback was marked by swift progress, achieving a Highest World Ranking (HWR) in the Official Men's Squash World Ranking of #183 as of November 2023,[11][12] merely less than 12 months from his return.

Education

Sakr earned a Bachelor of Science degree with faculty honors in Computer science,[13] minoring in Models and Data, from Trinity College, class of 2021. He furthered his passion for artificial intelligence (A.I.) and data analysis by obtaining a master's degree in Data science from Boston University in 2023.

Squash career milestones

  • 2012 Under 13 British Junior Open Champion[14][15][16]
  • 2014 and 2015 British Junior Open Under15 and Under 17 (3rd place)[3]
  • 3x Egyptian Individual National Championship Winner
  • 2x Arabian Teams Championship Winner
  • Top 9 in the World Junior Championship Under 19[5]
  • 1x CSA All-American[5]
  • 1x CSA National Team Championship Molloy "A" Division Title[6][2]
  • 2019 First Team All-NESCAC[7]
  • 3x NESCAC Teams championship winner
  • 2x NESCAC All-Sportsmanship Awards[5]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 "HISTORY". British Junior Open. Retrieved 10 November 2023.
  2. 1 2 "College Men's Team Nationals: Trinity Wins 2018 National Championship | College Squash Association". 25 February 2018. Retrieved 3 November 2023.
  3. 1 2 "Semi-final schedule". Retrieved 3 November 2023.
  4. ↑ "2016 Finals : Two for Gohar, Ng for One". Home of WSF World Junior Squash Championships. 11 August 2016. Retrieved 3 November 2023.
  5. 1 2 3 4 "Ziad Sakr – 2020–21 – Men's Squash". Trinity College. Retrieved 3 November 2023.
  6. 1 2 admin. "Men's Squash Wins 17th National Championship". Retrieved 3 November 2023.
  7. 1 2 "Men's Squash All-NESCAC Teams Announced". nescac.com. 27 February 2019. Retrieved 3 November 2023.
  8. ↑ "Ziad Sakr – 2020–21 – Men's Squash". Trinity College. Retrieved 3 November 2023.
  9. ↑ "Ziad Sakr – 2020–21 – Men's Squash". Trinity College. Retrieved 3 November 2023.
  10. ↑ Coles, Matt (4 May 2023). "Kiva Open RD1: Sakr Wins On Return After Seven Years". PSA World Tour. Retrieved 3 November 2023.
  11. 1 2 "Squash Info | Ziad Sakr | Squash". www.squashinfo.com. Retrieved 8 November 2023.
  12. ↑ "Ziad Sakr, Author at PSA World Tour". PSA World Tour. Retrieved 3 November 2023.
  13. ↑ "Trinity College Names Recipients of Faculty Honors for Spring 2021". Trinity College. Retrieved 8 November 2023.
  14. ↑ "Egypt's youth take first place in 2016 British Junior Open Squash Championship – Dailynewsegypt". 9 January 2016. Retrieved 3 November 2023.
  15. ↑ "Squash: Israr crowned U15 British Open champion". The Express Tribune. 7 January 2012. Retrieved 3 November 2023.
  16. ↑ "British Junior Open Squash", Wikipedia, 23 July 2023, retrieved 3 November 2023
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