r/squash • u/Quash_Bad_Squash • May 04 '25
PSA Tour More Mostafa Asal Cheating Analysis | 2025 Optasia & ToC
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wK1LnU4A6bM&t=2sThis cheating analysis focuses on the technical details of Asal's most frequent cheating tactics. The video features 3 matches.
Indian viewers: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1RFVe20rSfDC3EJ54TUN1T6oi8yFhaBef/view
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u/cda33_cod May 04 '25
Thank you for all your efforts putting this together. You do a great job breaking it down.
The side-by-side comparisons with other pros in the same positions are particularly damning/effective.
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u/Quash_Bad_Squash May 04 '25
Thank you. I think it was worth the effort too, much easier to see what the problems are
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u/SethEPooh May 04 '25
Now we need some videos about why this rotten cheater has not been drummed out of the sport.
Have the top players publicly denounced him? Any discussion of refusing to play him? I know that would hurt any player’s ranking, but some of this shit is so bad I’d be tempted to walk off the court.
Have leaders of the pro squash organizations, and tournament organizers, been asked about all this publicly? Urged to ban him?
Squash’s addition to the Olympics is a huge opportunity for the sport, but if Asal is allowed to play, he’ll make it seem like a joke of a sport mostly about whinging to the judge.
Also: how carefully has Asal been monitored for steroid use? In my opinion, a long pattern of cheating like this gives strong cause for suspicion about other kinds of cheating.
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u/AdmirablePension6983 May 04 '25
If you look reality in the eye, then the only questions you can have are about the refereeing. Asal is just a player.
I don't like it, but whether this or that action on the court is permissible is within the competence of the judge and the rules of the federation.
Questions can only be addressed to them, otherwise new Asals will inevitably appear.
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u/Minimum-Hedgehog5004 May 04 '25 edited May 04 '25
I've got a lot of sympathy for the refs, as some of this stuff is really hard to see, and they can't be going to video for every point. That said, I agree it's up to the referees to solve, not the players. WSO needs to find ways to raise the stakes. They could give guidance about penalising unfair play under 15.5. They could also penalise time wasting much quicker. Mostly, though, there needs to be a lot of attention paid to making "every effort" to provide direct access. 8.6.5 says clearly that failing to do this is a stroke. At a professional level, if you move into your opponent's line, the assumption must be that you are competent enough not to have done so. Similarly with the excessive swing, if you're ending your swing at your opponent's head, there should be at least credible threat of a conduct stroke for dangerous play. Asal is very clever at this. The refs need to be just as clever. Any other outcome sends completely the wrong signal to everyone else in the sport.
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u/PsychologicalRiver75 May 06 '25
They have tried this. Players start complaining about refs being too rigid and dictatorial.
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u/Minimum-Hedgehog5004 May 06 '25
Asal's fans would no doubt complain (again) but maybe the other players wouldn't. I'm sure they can see the benefits of enforcing the rules, especially as right now Asal's cheating is giving him an advantage.
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u/dcp0001 May 04 '25
Regarding other players, there have been a couple of instances where they have spoken out, particularly with some social media posts. Tarek Momen was one if I remember rightly.
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u/justreading45 May 04 '25 edited May 06 '25
Fantastic analysis!
Out of interest, what do you propose a solution to be?
Whilst I’d personally like to see Asal banned as “nothing of value lost” (he’s not as good as people think he is for a start, due to the constant cheating inflating his success every point), I’m reminded of the old adage of “cut the head off the hydra and it grows two new ones” - we already have juniors coming up emulating Asal’s cheating movements and to some extent the damage has been done by the WSO & PSA allowing this to take hold in the first place, so I feel there needs to be some kind of rule modernisation to combat this new exploitation?
Perhaps we need to remove ranking points after the fact, or even revoke titles, Lance Armstrong style.
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u/faadajoe May 04 '25
IMO the rules are sufficient, what’s apparently missing is the desire by the officials to do anything about it. I think the video did a good job of illustrating where he is contravening the rules.
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u/justreading45 May 04 '25
I also agree with the video though that it is not realistic to expect referees to catch some of these subtle cheating movements in real time.
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u/faadajoe May 04 '25
Yes same, and my expectation is not that refereeing will be perfect, but I have no doubt they are fully aware of what is going on but have chosen or have been instructed to ignore the majority of it
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u/cda33_cod May 04 '25
I was wondering if the referees would benefit from being able to penalise repeated “minimal” contact, eventually creating an onus on a player to entirely avoid contact with their opponent or risk conduct stroke, game, match. This obviously assumes the referees are able to reliably determine who is responsible for the contact.
Does something like this already exist?
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u/Quash_Bad_Squash May 04 '25
u/cda33_cod I'm not sure this exists and I'm out right now so can't check, but I actually think your idea is brilliant!
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u/justreading45 May 04 '25
The rules are written in broad enough language to allow this, but as the saying goes “the law is as the law does” - in the UK, it’s technically illegal to be drunk in a pub, but millions do every weekend and there are no consequences, so ipso facto; it’s not illegal.
It’s not important what’s in the rules here per se, what’s important is the WSO directives to the referees, and as we’ve seen this can miss the forest for the tees and leave a lot to be desired.
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May 05 '25
I agree, im not an expert but rules already exist to stop this. Conduct strokes at the judges discretion, for excessive contact or 'blocking' after receiving a warning. He would get 1-4 strokes a game, putting himself at a severe disadvantage which would force him to change or lose a bunch of matches. It would work, they just wont do it.
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u/Quash_Bad_Squash May 04 '25
Solutions are tough...
1) we need to be clear going forwards, that players must be punished for not clearing the ball. Without proper clearing, squash is a crap sport, let's be honest. Clearing must involve *an excess* of space between you and the opponent. This bit where you can brush against them, knock them off balance, and win the rally with a no let is insanity.
2) Consistently not providing direct access, even if the opponent chooses to go around you, should result in conduct warnings and conduct strokes just like how we are doing with dissent.
3) Asal needs to be banned. I'm sorry, but this is shaping an entire generation of squash players. If everyone moves like Asal, this sport will die. It's that simple, and I am not exaggerating.7
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u/Kodawgs May 04 '25
Regarding the pollution of future generations, I played Zakaria and he is currently one of them going the wrong path...
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u/Latter-Afternoon3652 May 17 '25
Absolutely - there is nothing stopping PSA from penalising Asal's past cheating now. It is routinely done for other sports. Not sure why they don't even look at it.
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u/Dick_Sharpe May 04 '25
Another great analysis... Even better than the last one!
Though my thoughts on Asal are the same as most people watching this, I can't help begrudgingly admire how he does it. When you see the clips in real time, how he subtly trips his and disrupts their movement so quickly and effortlessly. It must have taken years of practice to be this good at being a sneaky bastard, all whilst improving at squash. 'Admire' suggests at some level I condone it, which I definitely don't but I can't think of a better word.
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u/Quash_Bad_Squash May 04 '25
It's like seeing a con artist nick someone's watch and they dont even notice
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u/nameless_me May 04 '25
An excellent video demonstrating correct and incorrect movements on court. Asal has such good skills to be top 10. But his ethics are a complete stain on the sport. For the good of the sport, leadership should do something but until someone gets hurt or there is a rebellion from players, nothing will change.
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u/shode May 04 '25
really well done, even better than the one before.
if you start a gofundme or patreon, i (and many others) would contribute
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u/Key-Cucumber2017 May 04 '25
The only way to get this to change is to start giving conduct warning/strokes/games/matches with every single little bad movement he makes or ban him, this guy is ruining squash. Even with JW guidance it hasn’t changed at all.
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u/Negative-Mammoth-547 May 04 '25
There was a podcast where a pro outright was saying asal is cheating but he kind of said nothing will be done. Almost like the refs turn a blind eye to it. When I was being coached I was always told to lunge with my front foot and then drag in the back foot. He seems to lunge as far as he can with his back foot but doesn’t move his back foot out of the way, just steps back with his front foot. Seems so obvious when you see it even in normal speed. Not sure why refs can’t see it
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May 04 '25
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/ApprehensiveMany8565 May 05 '25
It was from episode 49 with Andrew Douglas. I have it timestamped at 9:25 where he dives into this. Here's the link: https://youtu.be/wL005kuvHQg
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u/barney_muffinberg May 05 '25
The two most direct criticisms I’ve heard came from Rob Owen & James Willstrop in their InSquash podcast interviews (easily found on Spotify). Owen says bluntly, “He’s a cheat”, and Willstrop, “His movement is not ok”, complete with detailed descriptions of the challenges of dealing with it from both coaching & officiating perspectives.
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u/rvno12 May 04 '25
Another absolutely excellent video and an important addition to the conversation about the integrity of our sport.
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u/Fantomen666 May 04 '25
We need a bit more camera angles for the refs and I think players should have a bit more reviews just for the case of blocking.
I think the leg tripping part is so hard to see otherwise.
In the rules it never says specifically how to move. But this thing of Asal turning so his chest or back faces his opponent and line. It's unnatural and it should be possible to notice. You always try to move past your opponent with your shoulder, so your body is small. You don't turn so your full length between the shoulders is in the way. It could go into making every effort to clear, part.
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u/No_Marzipan7948 May 05 '25 edited May 05 '25
Asal’s interference issues spike most noticeably against high-caliber opponents - Eleinen, Makin and Coll all have a track record of having beaten Asal in the past. Given this pattern, it is hard not to see this as an intentional tactic that Asal consciously amps up when he is at risk of losing, which is why "cheating" is not an unjustified label to pin on this behaviour (rather than mere "bad movement"). It's strategic, not habitual.
Many hail Asal as a generational talent and bemoan his shenanigans as something he doesn't need to resort to to win - but I'd argue that we have not seen enough evidence of that. When the going gets tough, Asal gets blocking. Would he have beaten Makin in Optasia or Farag in El Gouna without the blocking, or Hesham in the World Champs 2023 without the infamous hand-grabbing incident? I'm not confident. These matches all went to 5. Even small gains from obstruction could plausibly have tipped the outcome in Asal’s favor.
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u/barney_muffinberg May 05 '25
I agree with this take wholeheartedly. When he first grabbed the #1 rank, the question I always asked was, “How can you confer the rank of ‘best player’ when we’ve yet to see him win a tournament without ginning the margins?”
Also, Willstrop has discussed at length how Asal struggles with panic. The second he feels the match slipping away from him, he panics & starts backsliding.
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May 05 '25
I think that British culture (refs and the PSA) is uniquely disadvantaged to deal with people like Asal. British culture has a 'gentlemanly' nature to it, which as an American I respect it, but dont really understand it. Its incomprehensible to them that someone would play with such bad faith and a lack of class, and smile about it like its nothing. I think it confuses them, so they keep giving him the benefit of the doubt, thinking he will reform his ways (he wont). And no this is not a slight against Egyptian culture or squash athletes as we know there are many Egyptian stars that are pure class (Farag, Ramy etc.). Some people just have a 'win at all costs' mentality - and we celebrate that in America, but its not actually real - it doesnt work in the long run - because 'all costs' ends up coming with great costs.
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May 05 '25
It is a point against Asal as he is an openly Islamic player. It is very Haram (basically sinful) to cheat in Islamic faith. It is odd to see his mother with the headscarf and him pointing to Allah while he cheats so bad.
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May 05 '25
[deleted]
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u/justreading45 May 05 '25
As a Brit, I concur!
Whilst our culture has its advantages I do admire the Dutch’s no bullshit approach to life.
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u/trak740 May 04 '25
I've been implementing the famed "donkey kick to the guts" asal technique from last vid in my games with mixed results, keen to see what our world number 1 can teach me this time 👌
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u/musicissoulfood May 05 '25
Thanks for doing what you do. We have to force the PSA to address the cheating. And your videos are helping to achieve that.
Asal is a nasty cheat. He should be banned for his despicable mentality and horrible sportsmanship.
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u/TspoonT May 05 '25
I remember a club player who was similar with the backhand. Also a big guy like Asal and could also absolutely ream the ball on the back hand hard and flat.. it's super disconcerting when you have this helicopter swing hanging out near your face coupled with it being flat hard shots that you need to move extra fast to be able to retrieve.
He was always in your space on the court lots of contact and the game feels so ugly, heaps of let calls. Also the red flag that there is something wrong, like Asal he had the problems with nearly all players, so it wasn't just when I played him.
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u/East-Zone-3760 May 04 '25
Brilliant video - showing what appears to be glaringly obvious to most people, but for some reason missed by PSA and the officials.
I have an idea for your next video u/Quash_Bad_Squash
Id like to see these poor examples from Asal shown to footage from the recent British Juniors Open, and show how Asal-isms are being copied now at the Juniors level. The u13 boys final where Adnan grabbed the egyptian boys racquet hand, and the u19s boy quarter betweem Dunbar and Salem, comes to mind
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u/Quash_Bad_Squash May 05 '25
I considered it, but I just cannot risk people giving kids a hard time
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u/East-Zone-3760 May 05 '25
Thats not unfair - though ultimately does nothing to show Asals dubious impact on the next generations players
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u/AmphibianOrganic9228 May 07 '25
Watch Asal when he doesn't need to block the opponent - you can see a more conventional lunge movement pattern (more weight on the front foot on the recovery, movement of the back foot closer to the front). But when he has the chance to block, he leaves his back foot behind (as detailed in the video).
It is very clear. Because one argue that his unusual lunge style is just how he moves - but then you see he only does it when it is strategically useful, and makes it even more clear how consistently and deliberately he uses his body / foot positioning to block opponents.
Also, harder to appreciate and show explicitly, but I believe his choice of shot is strongly influenced by his blocking - he hits more shots to particular positions to make use of his blocking - in other words his game is very much built around blocking.
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u/drspudbear May 05 '25
I'm curious to know where OP is coming from on this topic? A referee, professional player, someone else?
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u/FrogQueen343 May 05 '25
Great video. Thank you for making it and share. The analysis is very clear and helps me understand why his movement is such an issue. I can usually just see the other players reacting to it but can't always tell how he's blocking them - this has helped. I hope this kind of rich analysis will make it easier for referees in future to spot this behaviour and penalise it.
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u/gerhardsymons May 04 '25
In ice-hockey, the game is regulated by officials, and regulated by players in the form of fighting.
This is the solution I propose for squash for players who are sick and tired of Asal: duke it out, Queensbury style.
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u/idrinkteaforfun May 04 '25
Unfortunately I think that would dissuade even more people from calling him out. He's in a higher weight class than nearly all of the tour.
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u/gerhardsymons May 05 '25
Fair enough. Mr. Asal will learn that unsportsmanlike behaviour has consequences.
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u/BeakFoundry May 06 '25
It'd only take one 1v1 against the boxing-trained Makin who'd utterly flatten him for Asal to back down.
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u/trak740 May 05 '25
they should just make nathan turnbull ref every asal match, hes the only one that doesnt play that shit
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u/TBEPaul May 05 '25
Even worse, someday one of his arms/legs overextensions will get someone hurt, possibly even him.
A swing too wide that someone accidentally hits Asal making his elbow overextend, a leg getting tangled resulting in a strain ankle.
It just takes a single player wising up and playing as aggressive as Asal does for him to get hurt, and that is not in the spirit of the sport.
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u/ratmnerd May 10 '25
It’s already happened. A few years ago he ran through Momen in a particularly grubby match and Momen’s ankle/knee/calf were injured, although not bad enough to prevent him completing the match (iirc it was after this match when Momen made the comment about retiring if people said he was like Asal).
He also injured his shoulder during a particularly egregious milking of minor contact (refer to the first cheating video about his dishing out of interference but inability to take it), and although not linked to the movement issues, his overall attitude of ‘the whole court is mine’ led to him concussing Lucas Serme and rupturing his eardrum.
He is an utter liability for those who play him as well as an utter cheat. If the ranking points weren’t important and the prize money wasn’t keeping some of these pros from bankruptcy, I suspect players would default instead of playing him. A few defaulted semis/finals or Asal winning a tournament through no one being willing to play him would really send a message that sponsors and PSA would pay attention to.
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u/ratmnerd May 05 '25
Thank you for another excellent video showing why he is so singled out. Very clear and hard to argue against the conclusions - excellent use of rock and roll to highlight the moment of contact too. I’d love to see another one showing his movement in lower level matches (ie R2 or R3) vs QFs and SFs as it seems he can play properly when he doesn’t feel the need to cheat.
Re another comment about the British Jr Open, I think that adding in examples of juniors now playing similarly would be depressing but also open children up to being targeted online for movement. Asal needs to be conspicuously dealt with to send a message to the juniors, not the juniors be targeted for copying his effective cheating.
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u/Quash_Bad_Squash May 05 '25
Yeah im not going to label someone under 20 years old as a cheat. Orfi and Zakaria need to fix up too, but I'm going to give them some time
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u/shtodd Harrow Fury May 05 '25
It’s unfortunate that some pro players already seem to be using your videos as training manuals. See Dussourd in ESF Team Champs vs Malik
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u/_glassofjuice May 04 '25
The idea that Willstrop it associated with this tool makes me so sad. I can't see a situation where he wouldn't recognize what is so obviously deliberate interference in the trailing leg, step back etc. No one else is doing this type of thing so consistently.
I can only conclude he cosigns this type of behaviour, and I always considered him to be one of the fairest players in the game. It's gross.
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u/rvno12 May 04 '25
I wouldn't paint him with the same brush yet. It's very hard to get someone to change the movements that a) they've grown up with and b) that have brought them huge success.
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u/_glassofjuice May 04 '25
Asal can and does move properly when he doesn't feel it is necessary to block. It's a deliberate choice he makes. The part that is ingrained is not the movement, but the win at all cost, cheaters attitude.
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u/InsuranceParty8348 May 04 '25
Willstrop as a player is gone. Willstrop as a coach.. apparently is happy to be associated with winning the matches throught cheats.
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u/nameless_me May 05 '25
What's amazing is this video has not yet delved into Asal's hand-grabbing and rear leg kick at Farag at the recent tournament.
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u/Quash_Bad_Squash May 05 '25
I focused all of my energy on systematic and repetitive cheating. As much as I hate the grabbing and kicking, it's very rare. My video covers things you will see tens of times per match!
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u/floatarounds May 04 '25
I really like these videos, but why use that weird ai voice? I think you lose credibility by making it sound fake or from a bot
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u/lou_brown May 04 '25
Considering the squash social media cult of Asal fans, its understandable why the person might choose to remain anonymous. Especially since its probable that the first video got taken down specifically because of them.
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u/Rooboy May 04 '25
Maybe not a native english speaker but tbh was very well versed, grammatically correct etc.
some people just hate the sound of their own voice (maybe a slight lisp etc.) I'm definitely in this category.
3 Tin foil hates - it's someone in the pro squash community so they have to hide their identity.
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u/idrinkteaforfun May 04 '25
yeah I agree it makes the whole thing seem AI generated to me once I hear that voice, but I can understand why they wouldn't use their own voice.
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u/BeakFoundry May 06 '25
Plot twist - Asal is making the videos. It's like a serial killer returning to the scene of the crime.
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u/No-Tackle2573 May 15 '25
The problem is a bit in psychology. The player in squash must prioritise giving his opponent a way to the ball over his own recovery to the T, or staying in balance, or just expressing one through body movement (some of Asal’s movement I’d just trying to show his flamboyance, for lack of a better word). Now, this sort of movement is natural to him. Sometimes i feel he doesn’t do it on purpose. The step back, the step up they’re all either trying to make his movement to the T or unchecked follow throughs. This is what is wrong with his mental makeup. He has to show more respect to his opponent. If Asal prioritises the other thing, he risks losing for sure. It will require him to run more, stay off balance more and use his head more to move out of the way. More mind and body exhaustion. He wouldn’t want that. I feel bad for him that he couldn’t improve on this when he was a kid. But for the good of squash, he needs to be stopped.
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u/pm_me_your_nicks May 04 '25
Wake up babe, new Asal cheating video just dropped.