UWE Bristol has a great history of squash so if you’re looking to get involved, this will definitely be the place for you. We are now the top university in the world for squash, an achievement that we are all very proud of, having supported some of the world’s top squash players in their quest to be the best.

As part of our Performance Sport Programme, we house some of the best squash players across the country. UWE Bristol has been a centre for excellence for young squash players for many years now, including developing the El Shorbagy brothers since they began their studies at UWE Bristol.

Reaching world number one in 2014, Mohamed El Shorbagy began studying at UWE Bristol over eight years ago, he is currently studying for a masters in Real Estate Management. In a previous article, after winning 2015 BUCS Sportsman of the Year, he was quoted as saying, “the support I have been getting from UWE Centre for Sport has been amazing and I’m really lucky to have a team like that behind me”. He has stayed with UWE Bristol ever since, using our amazing facilities that have helped him reached the height of his career.

His brother, Marwan, has also stayed with UWE Bristol since beginning his studies, three years after his brother joined. Also studying Real Estate, Marwan is currently at a career high with a ranking of world number five. Although travelling all across the world to compete, he always makes his way back to UWE Bristol with his brother to refuel and train.

UWE Bristol is proud to have supported this kind of talent but the progress we have seen doesn’t stop here.

Brad Masters is one of the newest talents we have seen in the UWE Performance Squash team, he said that the great squash programme here was a big attraction,

“Having two world class professionals studying at the uni was one of the main incentives for coming here. The coach, Hadrian Stiff [from Elite Squash] and the set-up he has is very professional and the kind of set up I need to develop and improve.”

Brad recently reached the semi-finals of the Italian leg of the Professional Squash Association Tour but has competed in many competitions since he started playing at the age of five with his Dad.

“I have travelled around Europe to play in many professional events and also BUCS events representing the university”.

Brad is just one part of the development in improved squash competition that the university has seen across the past 10 years, and hopes to emulate the El Shorbagy brothers in the near future, very plausible seeing as they share training facilities and the fantastic coaching resource at Elite Squash!

Roshan Bharos, James Peach and Lily Taylor are just a few more names of the great athletes that we have competing at UWE and we are extremely excited to follow their progress in the future.

We are sure that as a university we can continue our amazing squash programme with the support of students and staff alike, it may not be long until we see another world number one here at UWE Bristol!

Want to get involved? Head into the Centre for Sport to ask or email the Sport Performance Officer, Kieran Hopkins.