By Brandon Thomas
Cornell Athletic Communications
 
ITHACA, N.Y. — Ongoing for more than a year now, it's safe to say the global pandemic has taken countless people out of their respective comfort zones. Danielle Letourneau '15 has taken that a step further with a concurrent intercontinental move – and yet she is playing the best squash of her life.
 
One of the most accomplished women's squash competitors in Cornell program history, Letourneau has risen as high as 25th in the Professional Squash Association's national rankings recently. The jump has coincided with a re-dedication to the sport, of sorts, leading to a move halfway across the world.
 
Up until July, Letourneau had been based in her native Calgary, Alberta. But she said she realized the limitations that coincided with some of those comforts of home, and a somewhat-stagnated professional career got a boost by her move to Egypt – an epicenter of the professional squash world. To wit, four of the world's top five-ranked women and nine of the top 19 hail from Egypt, a country that ranks 14th in the world with a population of just over 100 million as of 2019, according to the World Bank.
 
Part of the allure was the level of competition in training. Another was the collaboration of Letourneau's new coach, Karim Aly Fathi, who is based in Egypt. After a two-month trial of living and training there in Fall 2019, Letourneau decided the risk of relocation was worth the potential reward.
 
"You play a lot more matches here, so getting the exposure to top players in training and in matches has been huge," Letourneau said. "But I also feel like the structure that they have here is very intense and squash-focused. So you find these holes in your game early on – things that you might not have noticed before."
 
Four years of Letourneau's groomed talent came at Belkin International Squash Courts, where her presence had a direct correlation with the most successful four-year stretch in the Cornell women's squash program's history. The Big Red ranked sixth in the final College Squash Association rankings each year from 2012-15, with Letourneau anchoring the No. 1 position throughout. Her 42-23 cumulative record led to four first-team All-America and four All-Ivy League first team selections.
 
After joining the professional ranks, Letourneau climbed to 40th in the world within a couple of years. But then her play leveled off.
 
"I did really well at first, and then I plateaued for a while," Letourneau said. "I think I was a bit slow to make some changes. But now that I have made the change, it's definitely all coming along nicely. It's all due to moving to Egypt."
 
In a way, time was running out on her professional career from a financial stand point. Prize money from tournaments and sponsorships through equipment companies are part of the livelihood, but Letourneau said her move to Egypt wasn't feasible without the financial assistance provided by Sport Canada. Only, that support isn't a lifetime meal ticket. She explained that there are only four slots nationally for women's squash, and the status is awarded on an annual basis. If she didn't start to show consistent improvement, she could have lost that key financial backing.
 
The results started coming at the right time to make sure Letourneau remained one of Canada's brightest stars in the professional squash. She won a pair of silver medals at the 2019 Pan American Games in Peru – one as a member of a doubles team; the other as part of Canada's team performance. Letourneau would go on to become the only woman to win three Professional Squash Association World Tour titles in 2020, garnering the 2019-20 PSA Challenger Series Female Player of the Year honors.
 
While titles at Challenger Tour events – dubbed the "backbone" of professional squash by the PSA – yield payouts, the most lucrative tournaments are on the World Tour. Entry into those elite events can be limited to just the 24 or 32 highest-ranked competitors. With that in mind, Letourneau's jump in the rankings from 36th at the end of 2019 and 25th at the end of 2020 is significant. Not only will more opportunities be available, but she's in better position to advance further into the elite tournaments.
 
Amid the pandemic, professional squash is slowly getting back up to speed. Many Challenger Tour events are limited to competitors either in or immediately surrounding the host country, Letourneau said, but two of the three World Tour events since her move have featured a bubble for the competitors and full fields.
 
Two of those tournaments have been staged in Cairo, including one at a stunning glass court constructed at the foot of one of the Seven Wonders of the World – the Great Pyramid of Giza. It was there, at the CIB Egyptian Squash Open in October, that Letourneau had her best showing to date. She advanced to the Round of 16 after an upset of Millie Tomlinson, a Yale graduate who was ranked five spots higher than Letourneau at the time.
 
Letourneau not only credits her newest ascension to the Egyptian influence, but she wants to explore it further. A graduate in Communication from the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, Letourneau is looking to ply some of her learned skills from East Hill with the creation of a vlog.
 
"I want to do some interviews with some coaches and academy owners here to see why Egypt is thriving, and maybe how we can grow the sport using a similar model elsewhere," she said. "It's also to keep family and friends updated on what I'm doing, see the culture, and feel a little more connected to home."
 
The cultural grace period has been more gradual than the professional one. From a latitudinal perspective, the outskirts of Cairo are nearly halfway around the world from Calgary. Culturally and geographically, it might somehow seem even further. The tap water has been known to make expatriates ill, and Letourneau described the cuisine as quite a bit richer than what is commonly found in North America. For example, rice is typically prepared with cream instead of water, and vegetable incorporation into meals is scarce.
 
But Letourneau's assimilation has widely been a success. Residing in Cairo's Maadi District, she's in an area popular for 20-somethings like herself. She described beautiful beaches along the Mediterranean Sea to the north, and she has found a way to balance a healthier diet with the experimentation of some local fare – including a centuries-old dish of Egyptian Hamam Mahshi, which is stuffed squab (a young pigeon).
 
A seven-hour time difference between Egypt and Ithaca has made keeping in touch with her alma mater a challenge at times, but Letourneau continues to proudly wear the badge of being a Cornell graduate. Even though the coaches have changed since her matriculation, she still touches base occasionally with David Palmer, the James Broadhead '57 Head Coach of Squash.
 
"I've had a few encounters with him, and it's been great to kind of feel connected to him and some of the alumni," Letourneau said. "I stay in touch with a lot of my teammates, and I know one of the girls on the current team – Sivasangari (Subramaniam, a junior currently tabbed 37th in the world rankings). … So I'm trying to stay involved. I haven't been able to make it back to campus since graduating. I was hoping to do that at the five-year reunion, but I guess that will wait."