Best Squash Players of All Time: The Definitive List

Jahangir Khan, Jansher Khan, and Nicol David sit at the heart of any greatest-squash-players list. Jahangir went unbeaten for 555 straight matches, Jansher won eight World Opens, and David held world number one for more than nine consecutive years. Geoff Hunt, Heather McKay, and Egypt’s modern wave of champions round out a pantheon few sports can match for sheer statistical scale.

What makes a squash player one of the greatest

Great players win titles; all-time greats hold the top of the sport for years at a time. The names below share three things: long stretches at world number one, dominance that held up across different opponents and eras, and a habit of raising their level when a World Open or World Championship was on the line. Longevity separates them most. A single major title marks a great player, but a decade of them marks a legend, and that is the bar this list uses.

Jahangir Khan: the 555-match streak

Jahangir Khan won the World Open six times and the British Open ten times, but the number that defines him is 555: consecutive professional match wins across roughly five years, from 1981 to 1986, without a single loss. He built that run on a punishing endurance style, pressuring opponents into errors long after most players would have eased off. His dominance changed how seriously squash treated fitness and conditioning, and it helped push the sport onto a bigger global stage through the 1980s. That streak remains unmatched in any major racket sport.

Jansher Khan: eight World Opens

Jansher Khan, no relation to Jahangir despite the shared surname, arguably has the stronger trophy case. Eight World Open titles from the late 1980s into the 1990s put him two ahead of Jahangir on that specific count. What set him apart was coverage and read rather than power: he reached balls other players could not and made tactical decisions faster than opponents could adjust. His rivalry with Jahangir, contested as both men peaked, produced some of the most-watched matches in squash history.

Nicol David: the women’s benchmark

Nicol David of Malaysia held the world number one ranking for more than nine consecutive years and won the Women’s World Championship eight times. Speed alone does not explain that longevity; it was clean technique paired with composure under pressure that let her keep winning long after rivals redesigned their games specifically to beat her. Coaches and players who watched her career point to her as the standard for the women’s game. Egypt’s Nour El Sherbini equalled her eight-title world record in 2025, but David’s uninterrupted reign at the top remains the reference point.

Other all-time greats

A handful of names belong in the conversation alongside the headline three. Geoff Hunt won the World Open four times across the 1970s and early 1980s, bridging squash’s amateur era into its professional one. Heather McKay went unbeaten for years and stacked up 16 British Open titles, a run that arguably has no equal in the women’s game even today. Ramy Ashour brought a shot-making brilliance to the men’s tour that few could match before injuries cut short his best years, and France’s Gregory Gaultier finally landed a World Open in 2015 after years as the game’s great nearly-man.

Greatest squash players at a glance

Player	Country	Major titles	Era
Jahangir Khan	Pakistan	6 World Opens, 10 British Opens	1980s
Jansher Khan	Pakistan	8 World Opens	Late 1980s–1990s
Nicol David	Malaysia	8 World Championships	2000s–2010s
Geoff Hunt	Australia	4 World Opens	1970s–1980s
Heather McKay	Australia	16 British Opens	1960s–1970s
Ramy Ashour	Egypt	3 World Championships	2010s
Gregory Gaultier	France	1 World Championship	2010s

The modern era: Egypt’s grip and the 2025-26 picture

Egyptian players have run the men’s rankings since the 2010s, and as of July 2026 Mostafa Asal sits at world number one, clear of New Zealand’s Paul Coll after a long unbeaten stretch. Mohamed ElShorbagy, now competing for England, remains a fixture near the top and passed his 52nd career title at the 2025-26 Washington Open. The women’s draw is even more Egyptian-heavy: Nour El Sherbini and the fast-rising Amina Orfi have traded the number one ranking and World Championship titles through the season, with Hania El Hammamy also in the mix. The loss of four-time world champion Ali Farag, who retired in May 2025, left a gap at the very top, but the depth behind him keeps Egypt firmly in control heading toward squash’s Olympic debut at Los Angeles 2028.

What separates all-time greats from champions

What ties these players together is not a single trophy. It is years spent at world number one, performances that held up across opponents and formats, and the habit of peaking when the match mattered most. Jahangir’s 555 wins, Jansher’s eight World Opens, and Nicol David’s decade at the top are the kind of numbers that define a sport. One World Championship makes a great player. Eight makes a legend, and this short list is built almost entirely from legends.