Far-sighted approach as ACE get Faragallah to shape up youths

PETALING JAYA: Budding local juniors had the chance of a lifetime to train under renowned fitness and mental trainer Ahmed Faragallah during four squash camps in Terengganu, Penang and Selangor recently.

Faragallah has been a household name in Egypt in the fitness field where he has been in charge of former world champion Raneem El Weleily and Karim Abdel Gawad.

He was not only a fitness trainer for Raneem but also acted as the mental coach for the Egyptian from 2008 until her retirement in 2020 and played a big part in assisting her in winning the 2017 world crown.

Proper technique: Ahmed Faragallah guiding one of the junior players during the squash camp recently.

He has continued to work with Gawad and several other top Egyptian professional players and also runs “Faragallah Fitness School” in Cairo.

The camps were organised by ACE Sports and Management, who have been organising professional Squash Association (PSA) Challenger tour tournaments and the PSA world tour event – ACE Malaysian Squash Cup since last year.

A total 36 players benefitted from the camps held in Kerteh, Terengganu (June 28-30), Penang (July 2-4) and Petaling Jaya (July 7-9 and July 9-11) to expose the players to the modern methods of fitness and skills training.

“There are a lot of natural squash players here and all they need is a lot of motivation and confidence.

“In the next few years, Malaysia have a lot potential who can reach the finals at the British and World Juniors, even winning the titles,” said Faragallah.

“I will be conducting a lot of camps here so that the junior players can gain from the new drills, movements and mental training sessions.

“I was surprised why these players haven’t been to Egypt to attend training camps where they can learn a lot.

“I’ve a lot of different training programmes where the kids can benefit and become better players. The parents can contact me for advice and tips.”

The development of squash in Egypt has been phenomenal in producing young talents and have been the superpowers for more than a decade.

Tournament promoter V. Jadishkumar said cost factor may not allow the juniors to travel for training camps in Egypt and this was the reason for ACE Sports to engage Faragallah.

Faragallah will be returning in November to conduct more camps and the initiative is likely to continue next year as ACE Sports’ aim not only to organise PSA tournaments in Malaysia but also develop the sport at the grassroots.