Player Heba El Torky Country EGY Ranking 33 Last Ranking 32 Highest Ranking 25 ( Nov 2011 ) DATE OF BIRTH 15th Jan 1991 PLACE OF BIRTH ALEXANDRIA, EGYPT LIVES ALEXANDRIA, EGYPT COACH IBRAHIM ASSAL, AMNA EL TARABOLSY, FITNESS: WALEED MOSALAMY RACKET TECNIFIBRE SHOES ADIDAS CLOTHING ADIDAS HANDED RIGHT HANDED AGE BEGAN PLAYING 8 CLUB BASED AT ALEXANDRIA SPORTING CLUB TIMES PLAYED FOR COUNTRY 4 TO DATE SQUASH ACHIEVEMENTS 2003 u13 R/UP NRITIAH JUNIOR OPEN, 2004 WINNER U13 BRITISH JUNIOR OPEN, 2005 & 06 U15 WINNER BRITISH JUNIOR OPEN. 2007 WINNER U17 BRITISH JUNIOR OPEN, 2006 WINNER DUTCH OPEN & PIONEER JUNIOR OPEN, 2007 U19 WINNER WORLD JUNIOR TEAMS, WINNER GERMAN JUNIOR O AMBITIONS TO KEEP INJURY FREE HOBBIES SWIMMING, TABLE TENNIS, BELYARDO, MUSIC OTHER Heba is very much one of the next line of players coming out of the Egyptian champion factory! But, things could have been different though. Heba almost started playing tennis at the age of six. But, in an interesting twist, her father, who was a tennis player himself, wasn't willing to let Heba and sister Nouran risk sunburn playing tennis under the Egyptian sun. So the natural choice was squash. Growing up in the Mediterranean city of Alexandria, she used to take piano lessons too. But as Heba got better and better in squash, piano started to take a back seat and it is said that once her piano teacher complained that because of squash Heba was using her right hand too hard on the keys! Heba used to take swimming lessons too, an exercise which helped her keep up the fitness levels for squash. Her best junior victories in the age-group categories came at the British Junior Open, where she was champion four times. Besides that she has won two World junior team titles, the second one as captain of the Egyptian team in the 2009 World Junior Teams in Chennai, India. There is a long list of junior titles too, including the 2007 Dutch and Pioneer Junior Open (U-17) and the German Junior Open in the U-19 category. In Germany she beat Low Wee Wern in the final, the Malaysian being one of her biggest rivals in the junior circuit. Heba rates her 2007 German victory as special for it was a sweet double for not just Egypt but for her family. Her sister Nouran won the U-16 title. Though Heba has only just started off on the WISPA Tour she has already won two WISPA events – the 2008 Pakistan Open and China Open events. Besides she was the youngest member of the Egyptian team which won the senior world title in 2008, beating favourites England in the final. During 2009 Heba reached the quarterfinals of two WISPA events, the Silver band Hurghada Open, where she reached the final-eight beating two-time World Junior champion Raneem el Weleily. She also made the quarters of Heliopolis Open after beating top South African player Tenille Swartz. Heba’s deceptive soft drops, which she seems to play with immense skill from almost anywhere in the court, and killer volleys are perhaps her best weapons on court. And she compensates for her small frame with a fast nimble game, which unsettles her opponents. Not surprising then that she has won so many titles at such a young age. Heba is currently pursuing her medical degree at the prestigious Alexandria University, though her coach is unhappy as being a medical student she would have less time to devote to squash! But Heba is never the one to give up. Training at Smouha Club in Alexandria, she has struck a balance between college work and training and is aiming to now graduate to the senior ranks and make a mark in the WISPA circuit.