The great Ahmed Barada, a future world number two, happened to be the most famous sportsman in the country and his emergence, according to Elshorbagy, was a seminal moment in Egypt’s squash development.
“We always had someone to look up to and follow,” said the 22-year-old.
Egypt’s dominance at the top of the men’s game, in particular, is obvious, but an even more impressive picture emerges further down the age groups.
The British Junior Open, for example, is among the most highly-regarded junior competitions in the world, and the under-19 men’s title has been won by an Egyptian every year since 2006.
In the women’s game, 13 of the last 15 winners of the under-15 title have been from Egypt. These numbers tell only part of the story.
“Around 600 children tried to qualify for the Egyptian championships and that is just in the under-11s section,” said Wagih, who won more than 30 world titles as national coach.
“The game is massive. We have always had very natural, skilful, attacking players but back in 1994 we started studying what players were doing in England and Australia and copied their work ethic.
“Squash is a business now in Egypt.”
For all the investment in facilities and coaches, Elshorbagy concedes that millions of poor children in Egypt will “find it very hard to play squash”.
But participation levels remain high and they are being helped by the fact that many of the country’s top players still live in Egypt.
“The juniors are watching, learning and playing every day with their legends,” said Wagih.
“The players are contracted to clubs all over the country and it is written into their contracts that they have to play with the juniors.
“The under-13 British Open champion is Egyptian and he practises with Ramy Ashour [the world number one]. Imagine playing tennis with Rafael Nadal.”
Other young and ambitious Egyptian players are taking advantage of the growing interest in squash in the United States, especially in the college system, and they are securing scholarships to Ivy League universities.