Dubai: Egyptian squash brothers Mohammad and Marwan Al Shorbagy are dreaming of facing each other in the final of the Professional Squash Association (PSA) World Series Finals at Dubai Opera this week.
World No. 3 Mohammad, aged 26, always used to get the better of his younger brother Marwan — who is three years his junior and the World No. 5 — winning five times without reply until this year when Marwan fought back with two wins in four.
Their head-to-head record now reads 7-2 to Mohammad from a total nine matches.
“I followed in his footsteps and he made it so much easier for me,” said Marwan.
“And once he knew what to do he came and beat me so it was my fault for teaching him,” joked Mohammad.
Both got their PSA World Series Finals campaigns off to a winning start on Tuesday with Marwan beating Nick Matthew 2-1 to win the opening game in his first PSA World Series Finals appearance, while Mohammad — who is a seasoned regular in this event having reached the 2014 final — beat James Willstrop 2-0
Now the brothers, who are both in separate groups, are hoping to win their next game and avoid each other in the semi-finals to line up an all-Al Shorbagy final.
“It would be a dream come true to play against my brother in the final,” said Marwan, who qualified for this event after finishing fourth in the season-long Road to Dubai standings (Mohammad finished third). “It would be amazing and very special for my family who have done so much for both of us. We are just trying to make them proud and are both working really hard and are going to be giving everything here this week.”
Mohammad added: “We both have individual dreams, but we both share this dream to reach the final at a venue like this. It would be a dream come true and we are both going to give everything to achieve that, but it’s not going to be easy because all the best players in the world are here and they are all playing well so it will take a lot of hard work to do that.”
Asked who their parents would support if both made the final, Mohammad joked: “The first son is always most special.”
While Marwan chipped in: “It’s harder for them than it is for us. They don’t come and watch us when we play because they don’t want all the cameras to be focused on them so they watch it from the hotel room. It’s something new for everyone to have two brothers in the world’s top 10 so there is a lot of attention.
“My mum will give us separate advice on what we did right and wrong after the game, she doesn’t tell me how to beat Mohammad but she’ll say what I need to train on.
“I wouldn’t say it’s harder to lose to your brother in fact it’s the other way around it’s harder to beat him. And it’s harder to lose to others because when I lose to him I’m happy for him, I wouldn’t be happy for anyone else.
Mohammad agreed: “Seeing him beat me was actually a proud moment because if there’s anyone I would like to see become more successful than me, it’s my brother.”
