It’s not every day that the then world number one men’s squash player calls into a club in Gloucestershire, but that’s certainly something that Old Patesians can claim.

Mohamed Elshorbagy was the very special guest at the Cheltenham club when he played an exhibition match, coached some of the club’s juniors and held an hour-long Q&A with members in the bar.

It was the perfect pick-me-up for the club’s squash section after a tough period, which saw the sport hit much harder by Covid than many others.

“We weren’t able to get back playing as soon as sports like golf and tennis,” said Old Pats squash chairman Dan Heaton.

“We stopped playing competitive squash at the start of March last year and we’ve only just started playing league games again.

“That’s more than 18 months, which is a long time.”

Elshorbagy’s visit was made possible by Nathan Lake, the world-ranked top 50 player and a former Old Pats junior.

The two know each other through playing all over the globe and Heaton explained: “It was part of the get back to squash initiative.

“We wanted to do something to drum up interest and get people back on the court.”

The initiative at the end of the summer was directed mainly at the juniors – they are the lifeblood of a club, of course – and as events go this one was certainly a big success.

“All the juniors went on court and got a hit with him,” continued Heaton, who has been chairman of the club for the past five years.

“Then Elshorbagy and Nathan Lake played an exhibition match, which was fantastic.

“They weren’t at it 100 per cent but Nathan was definitely up for it in front of his home crowd and he beat him.

“They played some incredible, crowd-pleasing, often obscure shots, it was great.”

And Elshorbagy still had plenty of energy for the Q&A.

“If you’d have just turned up for that it would have been worth it,” said Heaton.

“He gave us a great insight into sport at the elite level. Only a very few make it as a professional and even fewer make it to number one.

“He said you’ve got to have the killer instinct. He’ll look for anyway on or off the court to beat his opponent.

“There are no niceties, no friendship, it’s brutal. He’s dedicated his whole life to squash.”

Squash has been a big part of 38-year-old Heaton’s life as well, although not quite to the same extent!

He started playing the game at the age of four and, as well as being chairman of Old Pats, he is the club’s A team captain.

He also sits on the board of the Gloucestershire Squash Association, so why is the sport so special for him?

“It’s such an adrenaline rush,” he said. “I’ve played quite a lot of sport and nothing gives you such a physical workout.

“You’re flat out but it’s also very tactical, it’s like a game of chess, you’ve got to move your opponent around.

“There’s nothing like playing a hard game and the stats show the physical benefits of playing squash.”

Heaton’s two daughters, Millie and Chloe, both play as indeed do most of his family.

The Pats have some 60 to 70 members, about 25 of which are made up of juniors who are lucky enough to come under the watchful eye of long-time coach Gary Powell.

“If we keep getting the youngsters to come in and play, the rest of it will take care of itself,” said Heaton.

“It’s such a good sport, it’s cheap to play and you can play it all the year round.”