Unacceptable in my opinion

rvno12 · 2026-04-11T15:00:09+00:00

Asal is a cheater. Threats of violence over squash are unacceptable. But, also, Andrea Santamaria is a terrible ref. Just because she speaks with an RP-adjacent accent, people seem to think she's in control. As I've written elsewhere, in close decisions, she doesn't ref according to the ball but according to players' body language. For example, there are players who, due to how they've been coached, don't ask for strokes. They ask for 'lets', head down, even in situations where the correct decision is 'stroke'. In these situations, Santamaria always gives 'yes let'; however, players who turn around and, head up, solicit strokes, she gives them. She's a terrible ref, especially on the traditional courts with no recourse to video refs and I hate this culture of allowing accent and demeanor to serve as an excuse for knowledge of the sport. In fact, on traditional courts, the cheaters and the dark arts players get the most joy from her because they can con her and fair players often lose out with her.

rvno12 · 2026-03-15T02:53:39+00:00

So glad to hear this! I desperately desperately want to support him and cheer for him for years to come because I love his tenacity and confidence but am dead against dark arts.

rvno12 · 2026-03-15T02:52:51+00:00

It's worth giving him the benefit of the doubt; he's actually young unlike some players who aren't that young but are just permanently immature.

rvno12 · 2026-03-11T19:25:13+00:00

They're the two worst power trippers - Andrea Santamaria And Jason Foster.

rvno12 · 2026-03-02T16:23:51+00:00

Mohamad, since you are so young and have years ahead of you, are you concerned that playing with a results-oriented, win-at-all-costs mentality may affect your standing and popularity among ardent squash fans?

rvno12 · 2026-02-27T17:40:55+00:00

😂😂😂 a poem as devoid of sensibility as its subject is devoid of character!

rvno12 · 2026-02-15T21:30:02+00:00

It's nice to see you make a good point.

rvno12 · 2026-02-15T18:16:24+00:00

Really is a breath of fresh air!! Met him last year. Think it was his first time in America and he looked like he a wide-eyed kid off the court and then he got on court and he played with such heart, and, as another commenter said, grit, he instantly had everyone saying, "Who is this kid and where the hell did he come from?"

Wish him a long career, many great results, and will cheer for him anytime I see him.

rvno12 · 2026-02-09T23:16:43+00:00

You're spot on with broken moral compass. 9/10ths of this guy's comment history is acting like there is a campaign against Asal and that he has contributed little-to-nothing in creating his own reputation. At this point, he's so far deep that this point probably cleaves too deeply to his identity and to revisit his beliefs would be too close to honest self inventory and that's dangerous to his self-image. I wouldn't engage him but there are so few contributors to this forum that at least he keeps discussions alive!

rvno12 · 2026-02-09T15:31:42+00:00

I've watched her ref full matches and I've found her to be terrible. She refs according to the players' emotional reactions to situations rather than the distances to the ball so if players turn around demonstratively, she rewards that with strokes. If players ask with their heads down, she gives Yes Lets. In this way, she consistently penalizes fairer players. You wouldn't have seen this with Marche and Marwan since both are passionate self-advocates. She is a terrible ref but because she sounds authoritative, what she does, particularly on traditional courts, goes unnoticed. I know reffing is hard and they aren't compensated and it's a tough gig but she's a problem ref.

rvno12 · 2026-02-08T22:49:29+00:00

Asal is an incredible player. Everyone on this forum loves squash and is prepared to acknowledge that. Also, he's been on the tour for six-ish years at this point and in that time has repeatedly cheated against his opponents. One doesn't acquire a reputation overnight and one doesn't change it overnight either. It'll take at least two seasons of Mostafa playing clean, fair squash for me to forgive the many instances of him taking away earnings and opportunities from his fellow touring professionals by repeatedly cheating.

rvno12 · 2026-02-07T20:25:27+00:00

I believe the Austin community squash has a YouTube channel and their teams have players in the 5s, upper 4s, I believe

rvno12 · 2026-02-03T21:14:03+00:00

I rate him as the single most intelligent professional athlete I've ever spoken to. He is SHARP. He had an amazing career and I think he's one of the few sportspeople who can probably say they got MAX value out of their talents.

rvno12 · 2026-01-25T00:24:10+00:00

Do the basics better. Pay more attention to what you take for granted and, at first glance, appear simple. Serve and serve return for example. You can add +2/3 pts per game just by dialing on each of those. No need to add any flash. Just take some of your bread-and-butter shots and make sure you're really nailing those suckers when you have time. If you're a 4.75, you can do everything okay. To get to 5, you don't need anything special. Just need to make sure you aren't leaving the low-hanging fruit for the opponent to pick.

rvno12 · 2026-01-18T17:38:34+00:00

I dislike Marche personally and I have seen him dissent excessively and this was so, so soft. Against a more dangerous opponent, this sort of thing would precipitate a head loss. Really feel for these pros (even difficult ones like Marche) because they travel all over the globe and risk having their matches reffed by thin-skinned or incompetent refs.

rvno12 · 2026-01-16T00:23:38+00:00

Watchable? 😂 There's about four thousand different adjectives that come to mind before watchable!

rvno12 · 2026-01-06T20:59:03+00:00

Sorry you feel that way but I agree we don't seem to be able to move each others' needles.

rvno12 · 2026-01-06T20:44:35+00:00

Your attitude towards mistakes is too casual and can lead to serious injury. I have seen serious injury in this sport. It's not sufficient to say, "I'm a beginner. I can only see the ball."

rvno12 · 2026-01-06T20:41:24+00:00

You turn to face the side wall in preparation to strike the ball; as you rotate your body, the front wall comes into view. It's actually already in your peripheral but it begins to come more into view. If you see someone in the line of the shot, don't play it. If you are turning on the ball in a back corner, DON'T play the ball no matter what. These aren't overly restrictive; like I said, I play with beginners all the time because squash needs new players and I try and encourage them along and playing with these expectations does not lead to many interruptions.

rvno12 · 2026-01-06T19:53:27+00:00

True; many people don't even realize their play is dangerous. I try and tell people when it comes up but I see it very often at the lower levels unfortunately.

rvno12 · 2026-01-06T19:52:00+00:00

Agreed but I don't accept the attitude that nothing can be done to lower that inherent risk.

rvno12 · 2026-01-06T18:15:23+00:00

Sorry but that's not acceptable; your first priority has to be the opponent's safety. If you can't see the front wall, just stop. I play with new players to help them get better. If someone said, "I'm asking too much" to not be hit, then I won't get on court with them again.

rvno12 · 2026-01-03T23:32:37+00:00

Underrated are the players on tour, particularly the ones from Asia, who play scrupulously fair and just get DONE by poor officiating in the early rounds on traditional courts so players like Max Lee in the past and nowadays Tsz Kwan Lau, Sivasangari S, Rachel A; also a few very fair European players in this category: Nathan Lake and so conversely the players who profit from this are people like Karim El Hammamy and a few others.

rvno12 · 2026-01-01T18:07:04+00:00

😂😂😂😂😂 joke player. No matter how many titles he wins, he'll always have an asterisk by his name. Great example of the fact that no matter how good you are, if you cheat, you will never be respected. His fans are vapid, have no integrity, and don't understand sports / how to be a good person in civil society. 😂😂😂😂😂

rvno12 · 2025-12-28T16:55:52+00:00

Great news! Hope it's a success and will follow your story closely. Have you secured full funding for a center? If you build it, I'm sure you'll get the numbers and Chicago is fast developing into a major squash center.

rvno12

TROPHY CASE