World number one Ramy Ashour will try to become the first Egyptian to win the British Open in nearly 50 years when the world's oldest tournament starts in Hull on Monday. The 25-year-old from Cairo may be a strong favourite to succeed after winning seven successive tournaments during a 36-match unbeaten run, but he will be battling a curious jinx which has frustrated some of Egypt's greatest squash legends.
The brilliant Ashour became another of them last year while losing the final to Nick Matthew, who thus became the first home player to win the British Open three times. These two are seeded to contest the final again. Ashour is unclear why so many of his compatriots, especially great ones like Gamal Awad, Ahmed Barada, and Amr Shabana, have failed to land the title ever since Abdelfattah Aboutaleb did so in 1966.
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