Amr Shabana (; born 20 July 1979 in Cairo) is a former professional squash player from Egypt. He won the World Open in 2003, 2005, 2007 and 2009, 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 and the 2009 Men's World Team Squash Championships held in Denmark. 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 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 member since 1995, Amr claimed his first Tour title with the help of Bryan "Griffin" Knight in July 1999, winning the Puebla Open final against Australia's Craig Rowland in Mexico. Seven days later he grabbed his second, the Mexico Open, again by beating Rowland 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. 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, 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, the seventh-seeded Shabana beat David Palmer and James Willstrop, 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, winning his third title in as many weeks after beating Grégory Gaultier in the final. But the World Open in Hong Kong 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 in March, and the Bermuda PSA Masters 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
OutcomeYearLocationOpponent in the finalScore in the finalWinner 2003 Lahore, Pakistan Thierry Lincou 15–11, 11–15, 15–8, 15–14Winner 2005 Hong Kong David Palmer 11–6, 11–7, 11–8Winner 2007 Bermuda Grégory Gaultier 11–7, 11–4, 11–6Winner 2009 Kuwait Ramy Ashour 11–8, 11–5, 11–5
Major World Series final appearances
British Open: 1 final (0 title, 1 runner-up)
OutcomeYearOpponent in the finalScore in the finalRunner-up 2004 David Palmer 14–16, 11–7, 13–11, 11–7
Hong Kong Open: 4 finals (4 titles, 0 runner-up)
OutcomeYearOpponent in the finalScore in the finalWinner 2006 Ramy Ashour 13-11, 3-11, 11-5, 13-11Winner 2007 Grégory Gaultier 11-13, 11-3, 11-6, 13-11Winner 2008 Grégory Gaultier 11-9, 13-15, 8-11, 11-2, 11-3Winner 2009 Grégory Gaultier 11-9, 9-11, 11-3, 5-2 (rtd)
Qatar Classic: 3 final (1 title, 2 runner-up)
OutcomeYearOpponent in the finalScore in the finalWinner 2007 Grégory Gaultier 11-4, 8-11, 11-6, 11-5Runner-up 2008 Karim Darwish 11-4, 11-5, 11-3Runner-up 2010 Karim Darwish 8-11, 11-2, 11-7, 11-6
US Open: 4 finals (2 titles, 2 runner-up)
OutcomeYearOpponent in the finalScore in the finalRunner-up 2006 Grégory Gaultier 11-5, 7-11, 11-4, 11-9Winner 2009 Ramy Ashour 11-7, 11-2, 7-11, 12-14, 11-8Winner 2011 Nick Matthew 11-9, 8-11, 11-2, 11-4Runner-up 2014 Mohamed El Shorbagy 8-11, 11-9, 11-3, 11-3
Career statistics
Listed below.
PSA Titles (30) All Results for Amr Shabana in PSA World's Tour tournament
Legend PSA Platinum Series / PSA Series Final / PSA World Open (13) PSA Gold Series (0) PSA Silver Series (3) PSA Star Series (10) PSA Super Satellite (0) PSA Satellite (0) Titles by major tournaments World Open (4) British Open (0) Hong Kong Open (4) US Open (2) Tournament of Champions (3) Qatar Classic (1)
No.DateTournamentOpponent in finalScore in finalMinutes played1.July 4, 1999Puebla Open Craig Rowland 11–15, 15–7, 15–7, 15–9 Unknown2.July 11, 1999Mexico Open Craig Rowland 8–15, 15–7, 15–4, 15–13 Unknown3.January 23, 2001El Ahly Open Karim Darwish 15–12, 15–12, 17–15 57minutes4.June 29, 2003Spanish Open Karim Darwish 15–13, 13–15, 15–14, 8–15, 15–13 1 h 24 min5.December 21, 2003World Open Thierry Lincou 15–11, 11–15, 15–8, 15–14 1 h 13 min6.September 12, 2005Helioplis Open Karim Darwish 11–10(2–0), 2–0 (ret) Unknown7.September 20, 2003St. Louis Open Anthony Ricketts 11–10(2–0), 11–8, 11–7 56 min8.October 2, 2005Hungarian Open Grégory Gaultier 6–11, 11–2, 11–7, 8–11, 11–5 1 h 6 min9.December 4, 2005World Open David Palmer 11–6, 11–7, 11–8 40 min10.January 14, 2006Canadian Classic Jonathon Power 11–9, 11–8, 11–5 37 min11.March 3, 2006Tournament of Champions Nick Matthew 11–6, 11–9, 11–4 40 min12.April 8, 2006Bermuda Masters Peter Nicol 9–11, 11–6, 11–7, 2–11, 11–8 1 h 5 min13.October 22, 2006Hong Kong Open Ramy Ashour 11–10(3–1), 3–11, 11–5, 11–10(3–1) 48 min14.December 20, 2006Saudi International Open Grégory Gaultier 11–7, 11–9, 11–4 1 h 13 min15.January 23, 2007Windy City Open Anthony Ricketts 11–8, 11–8, 11–10(5–3) 53 min16. March 2, 2007Tournament of Champions Anthony Ricketts 7–11, 11–3, 8–4 (ret) 26 min17.October 28, 2007Saudi International Open Ramy Ashour 11–5, 11–5, 1–11, 11–9 50 min18.November 3, 2007Qatar Classic Grégory Gaultier 11–4, 8–11, 11–6, 11–5 52 min19.November 11, 2007Hong Kong Open Grégory Gaultier 10–11 (1–3), 11–3, 11–6, 11–10 (3–1) 1 h 1 min20.December 1, 2007World Open Grégory Gaultier 11–7, 11–4, 11–6 42 min21.April 27, 2008Sheikha Al Saad Kuwait Open Ramy Ashour 11–9, 11–7, 13–11 52 min22.November 23, 2008Hong Kong Open Grégory Gaultier 11–7, 13–15, 8–11, 11–2, 11–3 1 h 16 min23.August 1, 2009Malaysian Open Nick Matthew 5–11, 11–9, 11–6, 11–4 51 min24.September 6, 2009US Open Ramy Ashour 11–7, 11–2, 7–11, 12–14, 11–8 57 min25.October 18, 2009Hong Kong Open Grégory Gaultier 11–8, 9–11, 11–3, 5–2 (ret) 48 min26.November 7, 2009World Open Ramy Ashour 11–8, 11–8, 11–5 50 min27.October 7, 2011US Open Nick Matthew 11-9, 8-11, 11-2, 11-4 51 min28.January 8, 2012World Series Finals Grégory Gaultier 6-11, 12-10, 11-7, 7-11, 11-8 1 h 31 min29.January 6, 2013World Series Finals Nick Matthew 4-11, 11-2, 11-4, 11-7 57 min 30.January 24, 2014Tournament of Champions Grégory Gaultier 11-8, 11-3, 11-4 42 min
Note: (ret) = retired, min = minutes, h = hours
PSA Tour Finals (runner-up) (11)
No.DateTournamentOpponent in finalScore in finalMinutes played1.May 17, 1998Italia Open John White Unknown Unknown2.May 3, 2003Pakistan Circuit Karim Darwish 12–15, 7–15, 2–6 (ret) 22 min3.November 6, 2004British Open David Palmer 11–10(6–4), 7–11, 10–11(1–3), 7–11 1 h 29 min4.January 25, 2005Windy City Open John White 7–11, 8–11, 4–11 40 min5.January 30, 2005Dayton Open Peter Nicol 6–11, 10–11(1–3), 2–11 28 min6.November 16, 2006US Open Grégory Gaultier 5–11, 11–7, 4–11, 9–11 1 h 1 min7.April 11, 2007Sheikha Al Saad Kuwait Open Ramy Ashour 3–11, 5–11, 10–12 34 min8.February 16, 2008Canadian Classic Ramy Ashour 2–11, 9–11, 11–8, 8–11 38 min9.April 20, 2008Hurghada International Ramy Ashour 10–11(0–2), 11–9, 7–11, 11–9, 10–11(0–2) 1 h 17 min10.October 31, 2008Qatar Classic Karim Darwish 4–11, 5–11, 3–11 29 min11.October 18, 2014US Open Mohamed El Shorbagy 11–8, 9–11, 3–11, 3–11 45 min
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.
Tournament 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 Career SR Career W-L PSA World Tour Tournaments World Open3RNot Held3RWQFWSFWSFWSFQFQFQFQFA4 / 1455–10 British OpenA1RAbsent1RFA1RSFQFSFNot HeldQFAQFA0 / 916–9 Hong Kong Open1R1R1R2RNHQFNHWWWWQFQFQFQFAA4 / 1331–9 Qatar ClassicNot HeldA2R1RNH2R2RWWAF1RNHQFNHA2 / 920–7 PSA MastersNH1R1RQF1RQFAbsentNot HeldSFSFANot Held0 / 710–7 Tournament of ChampionsAbsent2R1R1RASFWWA2RQFSFQFAWSF3 / 1230–9 North American OpenNot HeldNot World SeriesAbsentQFSFSFQFQFNot Held0 / 513–5 Kuwait PSA CupNot Held1RANHFWNHF2RNHQFNot Held1 / 516–5 US OpenAbsentNHA1R1RAFQFNHWAWQFAFA2 / 822–6 Saudi InternationalNot Held2RWWQF1RNot Held2 / 513–3 Pakistan International2RNot HeldQFNHQFQFQFNHNWSNot HeldNWSNH0 / 59–5 Win Ratio0 / 30 / 30 / 30 / 61 / 60 / 71 / 83 / 85 / 83 / 63 / 80 / 71 / 70 / 60 / 51 / 40 / 118 / 93NA Win–loss3 / 30 / 31 / 38 / 66 / 513 / 713 / 426 / 535 / 323 / 325 / 522 / 716 / 613 / 613 / 514 / 33 / 1NA233–78
Note: NA = Not Available
See also Official Men's Squash World Ranking
References
External links
20 Questions With Amr Shabana at Squashsite.co.uk All About Amr Shabana at Squashsite.co.uk Kaleidoscope Almost Famous by Amr Shabana at Squashsite.co.uk Amr's Profile at El Ahram Weekly