Geoff Hunt
Ramy Ashour
Stat by stat
Bars are scaled to the leader in this list.
The verdict
Geoff Hunt leads 4 of 4 categories. Our all-time ranking places Geoff Hunt at #5 and Ramy Ashour at #12.
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The case for Geoff Hunt
The bridge between the amateur game and the modern professional one, and the man who beat everybody before Jahangir Khan arrived. Hunt won eight British Opens between 1969 and 1981 and the first, second, fourth and fifth World Opens in 1976, 1977, 1979 and 1980 — twelve majors — after collecting multiple world amateur titles in the late 1960s. He matched Jonah Barrington's training revolution and added a far superior technical base, and their rivalry through the 1970s defined the decade. His last great act was the 1981 British Open final, in which he beat the 17-year-old Jahangir Khan; it was the final defeat before Jahangir's 555-match streak began, and Hunt retired soon afterwards, his body worn out by the volume of work the era demanded. He later became one of the sport's most influential coaches, running Australia's national programme and shaping a generation of Australian world champions.
The case for Ramy Ashour
The most naturally gifted player squash has produced, and the largest what-if in its history. Ashour won the world junior championship twice, in 2004 and 2006 — the first player to do so — and three World Championships, in 2008, 2012 and 2014, adding a British Open and long spells at world number one. His hallmark was a shot vocabulary nobody else possessed: holds that froze opponents mid-stride, flicked crosscourt nicks hit from impossible positions, and an ability to attack off balls that the coaching manual said must be played safe. At his best, through 2013 and 2014, he strung together long unbeaten runs and was regarded by his peers as untouchable. Chronic hamstring injuries repeatedly cut those runs short and eventually ended his career, and his major total sits well below the players above him. On pure ability, most professionals of his generation still name him first.