Amr Shabana (; born 20 July 1979 in
Cairo
Cairo ( ; ar, القاهرة, al-Qāhirah, ) is the capital of Egypt and its largest city, home to 10 million people. It is also part of the largest urban agglomeration in Africa, the Arab world and the Middle East: The Greater Cairo metr ...
) is a former professional
squash player from
Egypt
Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning the North Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via a land bridg ...
. He won the
World Open in
2003
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,
2005
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,
2007
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and
2009
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, and reached the World No. 1 ranking in 2006.
He represented the winning Egyptian team in the
1999 Men's World Team Squash Championships held in
Cairo
Cairo ( ; ar, القاهرة, al-Qāhirah, ) is the capital of Egypt and its largest city, home to 10 million people. It is also part of the largest urban agglomeration in Africa, the Arab world and the Middle East: The Greater Cairo metr ...
and the
2009 Men's World Team Squash Championships held in
Denmark
)
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. Shabana's accomplishments in professional squash lead many to regard him as one of the greatest players of all time.
Career overview
The talented left-hander from
Cairo
Cairo ( ; ar, القاهرة, al-Qāhirah, ) is the capital of Egypt and its largest city, home to 10 million people. It is also part of the largest urban agglomeration in Africa, the Arab world and the Middle East: The Greater Cairo metr ...
first showed his promise when he was the runner-up (to compatriot Ahmed Faizy) in the British Under-14 Open in January 1993. Four years later he reached the final of the British Under-19 Open, where he again lost to Faizy.
A
PSA
PSA, PsA, Psa, or psa may refer to:
Biology and medicine
* Posterior spinal artery
* Primary systemic amyloidosis, a disease caused by the accumulation of abnormal proteins
* Prostate-specific antigen, an enzyme used as a blood tracer for pros ...
member since 1995, Amr claimed his first Tour title with the help of Bryan "Griffin" Knight in July 1999, winning the Puebla Open in
Mexico
Mexico (Spanish language, Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a List of sovereign states, country in the southern portion of North America. It is borders of Mexico, bordered to the north by the United States; to the so ...
. Seven days later he grabbed his second, the Mexico Open, again by beating Australia's
Craig Rowland
Craig Rowland (born 30 June 1971) is a squash coach and former professional squash player from Australia. As a player, he reached a career-high world ranking of World No. 7 in 1996. He won a gold medal in the mixed doubles at the 1998 Commonw ...
in the final.
Amr Shabana crowned a remarkable year in 2003 when, as ninth seed, he forced his way through a star-studded field in the World Open in
Pakistan
Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...
. He dispatched title-holder
David Palmer, the third seed, in five games in the third round. He then went on to take out Palmer's Australian teammate
Anthony Ricketts in the last eight. After defeating
Karim Darwish (the Egyptian No 1) in a four-game semi-final, Shabana clinched the historic title by beating
Thierry Lincou in the final 15–14, 9–15, 15–11, 15–7, to become Egypt's first winner of the sport's premier title.
But after a disappointing following year, in which his only final appearance was in the
British Open Squash Championship in
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...
, losing to
David Palmer in four games 10–11 (4–6), 11–7, 11–10 (3–1), 11–7, Shabana stormed back to the top of his game in 2005. Over a short period, he acquired a new coach, Ahmed Tahir; a new manager, the former Egyptian international Omar Elborolossy; and a wife, Nadjla. ''"All I have to worry about now is playing my matches – everything else is looked after for me now"'', said Shabana. And the effect was plain to see as a week after winning the Heliopolis Open in his home town
Cairo
Cairo ( ; ar, القاهرة, al-Qāhirah, ) is the capital of Egypt and its largest city, home to 10 million people. It is also part of the largest urban agglomeration in Africa, the Arab world and the Middle East: The Greater Cairo metr ...
, the seventh-seeded Shabana beat David Palmer and
James Willstrop
James Willstrop (born 15 August 1983) is an English professional squash player living in Yorkshire, England. He was born in North Walsham, Norfolk, England.
Career
Willstrop has a large build for a squash player, being and . He trains at P ...
, before defeating Anthony Ricketts in the final to claim the St Louis Open crown in the United States.
The next event saw the in-form Egyptian brush aside all opposition in the Hungarian Open in
Budapest
Budapest (, ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Hungary. It is the ninth-largest city in the European Union by population within city limits and the second-largest city on the Danube river; the city has an estimated population o ...
, winning his third title in as many weeks after beating
Grégory Gaultier
Grégory Gaultier (born 23 December 1982, in Épinal, France) is a former professional squash player from France. He has won the 2015 World Open Squash Championship, the British Open three times, in 2007, 2014 and 2017, the Qatar Classic in 20 ...
in the final. But the World Open in
Hong Kong
Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a List of cities in China, city and Special administrative regions of China, special ...
confirmed his renaissance beyond doubt. Seeded five, Amr crushed fourth seed
Lee Beachill in the quarters,
Peter Nicol in the semis, and, in his third successive straight games victory, powered past David Palmer 11–6 11–7 11–8 in the final to become the first player since the heyday of the Khans to win the World Open title for the second time.
The new year brought continuing rewards for Shabana with victories in the Canadian Classic in January, followed by the
Tournament of Champions in
New York
New York most commonly refers to:
* New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York
* New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States
New York may also refer to:
Film and television
* '' ...
in March, and the
Bermuda
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PSA Masters
The PSA Masters is a prestigious squash tournament which is one of the premier events on the Professional Squash Association (PSA) Tour. It is the only PSA World Tour event which is open exclusively to the top 32 players in the world rankings, a ...
in April – bringing his PSA Tour title tally to 12, and then in April 2006, Shabana became the first Egyptian player to reach the world number 1 ranking.
In 2007, Shabana was crowned world champion for the third time in five years at the World Open in Bermuda and later in January 2009, Shabana's 33-month reign as World No. 1 was ended by his countryman
Karim Darwish.
In 2014, Shabana became the oldest professional to win a World Series title by defeating Grégory Gaultier in the finals of
Tournament of Champions.
On the 27th of August 2015, Shabana announced his retirement from competitive professional squash.
World Open final appearances
4 titles & 0 runner-up
Major
World Series
The World Series is the annual championship series of Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, contested since 1903 between the champion teams of the American League (AL) and the National League (NL). The winner of the Worl ...
final appearances
British Open
The Open Championship, often referred to as The Open or the British Open, is the oldest golf tournament in the world, and one of the most prestigious. Founded in 1860, it was originally held annually at Prestwick Golf Club in Scotland. Later ...
: 1 final (0 title, 1 runner-up)
Hong Kong Open: 4 finals (4 titles, 0 runner-up)
Qatar Classic
The Qatar Classic is an annual international squash tournament that takes place in Doha, Qatar
Qatar (, ; ar, قطر, Qaṭar ; local vernacular pronunciation: ), officially the State of Qatar,) is a country in Western Asia. It occupie ...
: 3 final (1 title, 2 runner-up)
US Open: 4 finals (2 titles, 2 runner-up)
Career statistics
Listed below.
PSA Titles (30)
All Results for Amr Shabana in PSA World's Tour tournament
''Note:'' (ret) = retired, min = minutes, h = hours
PSA Tour Finals (runner-up) (11)
Shabana after winning the AON US Open.
Singles performance timeline
''To prevent confusion and double counting, information in this table is updated only once a tournament or the player's participation in the tournament has concluded.''
''Note:'' NA = Not Available
See also
*
Official Men's Squash World Ranking
The Official Men's Squash World Ranking is the official world ranking for men's squash. The ranking is to rate the performance level of male professional squash player. It is also a merit-based method used for determining entry and seeding in men' ...
References
External links
*
*
*
*
20 Questions With Amr Shabana at Squashsite.co.uk*
ttp://www.squashsite.co.uk/amr_profile.htm Amr's Profile at El Ahram Weekly
{{DEFAULTSORT:Shabana, Amr
Egyptian male squash players
1979 births
Living people
Sportspeople from Cairo