Women's champ raising the stakes

Earning more than male counterpart sends a signal to other global sports

LONDON - Nour El Sherbini was just 6 years old when she first followed her brother on to a squash court in Alexandria, Egypt.

At 8, she was competing in tournaments.

Although neither of her parents plays the sport, and despite numerous injuries, El Sherbini is now one of the world's top squash players and the youngest to gain four world titles.

Last week she notched another record by becoming the first female player to earn more prize money than her male equivalent when she won the CIB PSA Women's World Championship in Egypt.

El Sherbini, 24, pocketed $60,800 from a pot of $430,000. The men's world champion will earn $45,600 from a total purse of $335,000 in Qatar later this month.

El Sherbini said she was thrilled her country was championing women's success in the sport.

"We have to be proud that we are doing this," she told the Thomson Reuters Foundation in a telephone interview.

"This is a big, big step for women. Hopefully other sports can see exactly what we can see in squash, and do the same thing."

The increase in prize money came after sponsor CIB pledged an additional $100,000 to the tournament pot.

Alex Gough, CEO of the Professional Squash Association, said prize money for the women's championship was at its highest level after increasing 65 percent since 2015.

But the equity between winnings for men and women's squash players contrasts to several other global sports in which women receive a fraction of what is earned by their male counterparts.

In March, the US women's soccer team sued governing body US Soccer for gender discrimination in earnings.

Last year Australian basketball player Liz Cambage tweeted that referees in the NBA were paid more than female players in the Women's National Basketball Association.

A 2017 BBC study found about 83 percent of sports rewarded men and women equal prize money - but that did not take into account other disparities such as salaries and sponsorship.

For sponsors and the media it can come down to return on investment, and squash's popularity in Egypt might be helping drive the change, El Sherbini said.

"Everyone is following squash and knows the players," she said. "We grew up watching a lot of good Egyptian players, so when we were young we wanted to be like them.

"Once I grabbed the racket I didn't leave it."

Egypt has produced world-class squash players since the 1930s. Currently four of the world's top five female players are Egyptian.

Coaches and sponsors "now believe in women," El Sherbini said. "They know we can play sports. They know we can achieve something big."

As for the big brother she followed on to the court all those years ago?

"He's no longer playing," El Sherbini laughed.

Reuters