Ones to Watch: Egypt's Top 10 Skaters Right Now

Every scene on earth argues about who's the best. It happens in park sessions, in group chats, in the comments under every clip. Egypt's scene has been having that argument for years — so we thought why not make it official?

SAHARA asked nine of the people who actually run Egyptian skateboarding — the leaders who build the events, film the parts, open the shops, and keep the sessions alive — to each rank the country's ten best skaters right now. Mohamed Adel, Yassin Koptan, Tarek Ezzat, Hassan 'Oxada' Abdelrahman, Ahmed Magdy, Seif Hesham, Karim Othman, Mostafa Karama, and Yehia O all put their names on a ballot.

The math is simple and transparent: first place on a ballot is worth 10 points, down to 1 point for tenth. Every ballot weighs the same. Nobody was allowed to vote for themselves — and we audited every ballot to make sure. Ties break by first-place votes, then by how many ballots a skater appeared on. SAHARA holds exactly one of the nine ballots — our founder's, cast as a member of this scene and weighted no more than anyone else's. The other eight aren't ours. This isn't the magazine handing down a verdict. It's the scene, on the record.

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Here's what it said.

The Top 10

10 — Ayoub Shebl · 18.5 pts. The closest call on the entire list. Ayoub edged into the ten by half a point, named on five of nine ballots — the definition of a skater the scene and the entertainment industry are watching right now.

9 — Ahmed Tarek · 21.5 pts. Only three leaders put him on a ballot — but one of them put him first. That's the profile of a skater whose believers believe hard.

8 — Bedo Hamed · 22.5 pts. On six of nine ballots. Quiet, broad consensus — the whole scene rates him, and the ceiling is still rising for this young blood.

7 — Mohamed Adel · 29.0 pts. A voter on this panel who landed on the list he helped judge — with no self-votes allowed. His peers put him here on their own. He's represented Egypt globally and is one of the most daring skaters out there.

6 — Seif Mohamed · 34.0 pts. Six ballots, ranked as high as second. Winning competitions back to back. The fire-barrel clip alone tells you why.

5 — Tarek Ezzat · 41.5 pts. Two leaders called him the best skater in the country outright. And with his insane bag of tricks on and off the ground, they definitely have a valid point. Also a voter — and also banned from voting for himself. Didn't really need to.

4 — Yassin El Attar · 45.5 pts. On eight of nine ballots — matched only by the winner. Nobody's more consistently rated across the whole panel. And nobody skates for the pure love of it like Yassin.

3 — Faris Rashwan · 47.5 pts. Seven ballots, twice ranked second. The podium doesn't start or end here. Everyone knows Rashwan's quality.

2 — Ashraf Samir · 54.0 pts. Proudly representing Tanta with two first-place votes and top-three on five ballots. On another day, with one ballot flipped, this list has a different name at the top.

1 — Saif Wael · 59.5 pts. Named on eight of nine ballots. Three leaders put him first. Zamalek-raised, eighteen years old, and already the closest thing Egyptian skateboarding has to a consensus. The number one, by the numbers.

The Half-Point

The only genuinely brutal cut on this list happened at the bottom of it. Alexandria's Abdelrahman Ghoniem finished at 18.0 points — half a point behind Ayoub Shebl's 18.5. Half a point, out of four hundred and ninety-five cast. Ayoub also appeared on five ballots to Ghoniem's three, so the tiebreakers agree with the points. But if you want to know how deep this scene runs, that's the number: the difference between tenth and eleventh in Egypt right now is half a point.

Every Name on the Ballots

Twenty-three skaters received votes. If you're anywhere on this list, somebody who runs this scene rates your skating — and that's the real story here: the depth. Five years ago this vote doesn't fill one ballot. Today it overflows nine.

11. Abdelrahman Ghoniem — 18.0 · 12. Youssef Emad — 17.5 · 13. Abdelrahman Moscow — 13.5 · 14. Samir Magdy — 13.0 · 15. Mairon Gerges — 12.0 · 16. Yassin Omar — 11.5 · 17. Ramy Hassanein — 11.0 · 18. Shady Hany — 9.0 · 19. Kobtan — 6.0 · 20. Nour Ashraf — 3.0 · 20. Mostafa Mohamed — 3.0 · 22. Zeyad Ahmed — 2.0 · 22. Late Yassin — 2.0

What Happens Next

Portraits and mini-profiles of all ten are in the works — every skater on this list is getting their moment properly. And the vote runs back next year, when half these positions will be war.

Full tally and raw ballots are on file. Argue with the list all you want — just know it wasn't us. It was the scene.

Voted by: Mohamed Adel, Yassin Koptan, Tarek Ezzat, Oxada, Ahmed Magdy, Seif Hesham, Karim Othman, Mostafa Karama, Yehia O.

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