Motherhood does not appear to have softened the ferocity of Nouran Gohar's ambition. Despite dirty diapers, fractured sleep patterns and doubting voices, her focus is clear:
"I will return to world no.1."
It was a year almost to the day between the former world champion's exit from the PSA World Tour last September to have her baby daughter, Leila, and her subsequent return at last month's Qatar Classic.
The time off has inevitably been hectic, as it is for any first-time mum, but has also offered a period of reflection away from the squash court. That thinking time has only sharpened her determination to return to the top of the rankings, a position she vacated when taking maternity leave.
"I would never come back if I didn’t believe that I can get back to world no.1," she stated. "I’m not going to go back just to get back to number two, three or four.
"If you were asking me, my goals will always be: I’m playing to be the best player in the world. I will never just be playing for the sake of playing. That’s not who I am."
There are precedents for elite female squash players returning to the Tour post-partum — Nour El Tayeb, Camille Serme and Natalie Grinham, for example. El Tayeb even returned to just about her best ranking of no.4.
In tennis, Elina Svitolina and Belinda Bencic both returned to the top 10 earlier this year after having babies. Kim Clijsters won three of her four Majors as a mother, Serena Williams reached four Major finals and, going back a bit, Evonne Goolagong was the only mother to win Wimbledon in 1980. These, however, are outliers.
"I think in squash we need to have more examples showcasing that this is possible," said 28-year-old Gohar.
"It’s possible for you to get back to your best potential, whether it was being world no.3, world no.1, world no.2, whichever the case was.
"I always love to break stereotypes in general. When I used to study, they said you never become world number one while studying engineering. It’s just impossible. [But] I did it.
"I hope my comeback breaks the stereotype that if you’re a mum, you are a weaker athlete, in all senses. 'You used to be world no.1, [but] you will never be world no.1 after being a mum.' I want to prove that this is wrong."
Gohar revealed that an unnamed member of her inner circle said to her face during her time off, 'You will never return to where you think you can get back to after having a baby.' For a character like Gohar, this just added more fuel to her motivation.
"I’m hoping to prove these people wrong," she stated. "From a very young age, that’s how I function [defying doubters]. I need to have it... I have intensity in the way I play, and this actually brings even more intensity.
"I just love it when people say it to my face. 'Challenge accepted!'"
Before conceiving with husband Ziad Elsissy (an Egyptian fencing champion who has competed at the last two Olympics), Gohar had her best ever season, winning eight titles (incuding the US Open, British Open and World Tour Finals) and finishing runner-up four times. She was world no.1 for the entire 2025 calendar year.
At the first major tournament of the 2025/26 season, the Egyptian Open, Gohar reached the semi-finals. She didn't know it, but she was nine weeks pregnant.
At that point, she withdrew from the Tour (initially without public explanation) and started to suffer typical first trimster pregnancy symptoms. "It was so tough... I could barely get out of bed at some points," she admits.
She continued some squash and fitness training through the second trimester. Later, some complications necessitated a two-week stay in hospital, and Leila was born shortly afterwards.
A fortnight after the birth, Gohar was back in the gym, doing breathing work and pelvic floor exercises for four or five weeks. Any new mother will empathise with the "nightmare" Gohar describes of simply leaving the house, let alone trying to complete a gym session.
On one occasion, Leila vomited over her fitness trainer's t-shirt.
Her regime soon stepped up to solo court sessions, and by the summer, she had returned to "what every squash player does;" three sessions a day — fitness, strength and conditioning, running, ghosting, 90-minute pressure sessions with her coach and practice matches.
"It was quite an intense schedule," she said. "It would take me five, six hours, and then I would have a recovery session with a physiotherapist. And that’s daily. And I did this for six, seven weeks. Then I knew, 'OK, maybe now I’m ready.'"
"I try, as much as I can, not to lose what made me the best player in the world, which is discipline," she states. "This is something that I cannot lack. If anything, I need to have more of it."
The 2026/27 season soon dawned and Gohar made a fairly late decision to begin her comeback at the Qatar Classic, going in as fifth seed. She began with a straight-games win over Kenzy Ayman, then battled through a fractious five-game second round encounter with Malak Khafagy.
"As much as I was excited and happy and smiling, I could feel the nerves from love-all," she says of her comeback match.
"After the first game, I started to settle down a bit and feel more and more comfortable."
As her return gathers pace, thoughts will inevitably turn to future milestones, and none are bigger than the Olympics in 2028.
The postponement of the African Games, originally scheduled for January 2027, works considerably to Gohar's advantage. One of the five Continental Games that forms part of the LA28 qualification process, the squash element of the African Games is now likely to take place next summer, affording the Cairo-born star at least an additional six months of preparation.
"[I was] relieved, obviously, and I felt it’s giving me a fair chance. At the beginning I felt like it [the timing] wasn’t really fair, honestly speaking. But I think giving me a season is more than fair to get me back to my form. And then whoever is the best player at that time deserves to get that first spot.
"That would be a cool story, right? To get back to world no.1 after two years, qualify for the Olympics, play the Olympics, hopefully win the Olympics."
After LA28, Leila will be two and a half — old enough to be taken on court for her first hit.
"Obviously, if she likes squash, it’s not like I’m going to stop her from doing it!" Gohar says. "But I’m not going to be pushing her to do it.
"I’m going to introduce her to the sport, obviously... If she likes it and she wants me to coach her, I would be more than happy to do it. I’m an intense coach, though. I don’t know if she will take it. And she’s pretty stubborn too!"
Where she gets such a character trait from, one can only speculate.
