Is the No. 1 squash player testing the rules, or is he cheating?

Not long ago, an anonymous YouTuber known only as Quash Bad Squash reposted one of the strangest moments in the history of the sport.

- David Segal

NEW YORK - Not long ago, an anonymous YouTuber known only as Quash Bad Squash reposted one of the strangest moments in the history of the sport.

It is match ball in the final of the 2024 British Open, with a check for US$26,600 (S$33,900) on the line. Four-time world champion Ali Farag, an Egyptian with the physique of a pipe cleaner and the speed of Mercury, is about to lunge forward and hit a backhand. But as he tries to get past his opponent, a rising superstar and fellow countryman named Mostafa Asal, Farag does something baffling.

He stops playing. Instead, he wheels around to look at Asal, as if he is momentarily stunned.

"Oh, my goodness gracious me!" shouts a commentator broadcasting live on the website SquashTV.

"What has he done?" shouts another.

The referee is not sure. So a second referee, whose job is to handle tough calls, looks at instant replay video footage to determine if Asal blocked his opponent - a no-no that would cost him the point. The second referee watches the sequence a few times and sees nothing wrong.

Point and match to Asal.

For everyone else, a mystery remained: Why did Farag stop playing?

In a text message, Farag declined to say. But the answer seemed obvious in that Quash Bad Squash video, posted in early June and titled "Remember this left hand?" Whoever is behind the channel took the footage of the point, zoomed in and slowed it way, way down. At that speed, it is pretty clear.