Egypt's dominance on the squash court continued at the world championships in Chicago as Nour El Sherbini won the women’s title for the seventh time to close-in on Nicol David's record while Ali Farag was crowned men's champion for the fourth time on Thursday.

In two all-Egyptian finals, El Sherbini and Farag retained their titles following respective wins over compatriots Nouran Gohar and Karim Abdel Gawad.

El Sherbini, 27, is now just one World Championship title off the current women’s record held by Malaysian great David, after a stunning 11-6 11-4 12-10 victory over world number two Gohar.

It was the third time in a row that El Sherbini and Gohar were contesting the World Championship final, which offers $1,000,000 in total prize money split equally between the male and female players.

“I’m over the moon to win my seventh World Championship,” said world number one El Sherbini.

“It’s huge and special for me and I can’t believe I did it, I’m so happy. Of course, I’m happy that I’m closer to Nicol’s record. She’s a legend and what she did was amazing and unbelievable.”

The men’s final saw world number four Farag become the second Egyptian after Amr Shabana to lift four World Championship trophies after he overcame 17th-ranked Abdel Gawad 12-10 11-6 11-6.

Abdel Gawad’s run to the final came seven months after he was consigned to a wheelchair as he received treatment for a heel injury.

He had beaten world number one Diego Elias and number two Mohamed El Shorbagy en route to a second World Championship final following his title win in 2016.

“The emotions are so raw, it’s so hard to put it into words,” said Farag, who spent four months on the sidelines because of a knee problem this season.

“Two months ago we played a practice match and we were limping and the standard wouldn’t have even earned us a place in the World Championship, let alone the final. To come all the way through to reach the final is a very proud achievement for the two of us.”

(Reporting by Shady Amir and Ahmed Mostafa Editing by Toby Davis)