Amr Shabana
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| Country: | Egypt | |
| Residence: | Cairo, Egypt | |
| Height: | 1.7m | |
| Weight: | 73 kg(161 lb) | |
| Plays: | Left | |
| Racquet: | Dunlop ICE CUSTOM | |
| Turned pro: | 1995 | |
| Highest World Ranking: | 1 (April 2006) | |
| Current World Ranking: | 1 (March 2007) | |
| PSA Tour Titles: | 16 | |
| PSA Tour Finals: | 22 | |
Amr Shabana (born 20 July 1979, in Cairo, Egypt) is a professional squash player from Egypt. He won the World Open in 2003 and 2005, and reached the World No. 1 ranking in 2006.
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 to beat the future world No1 Thierry Lincou in the final – and 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 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 – winning four PSA events from September, climaxing with his second World Open title in December. The success led to the 26-year-old rising to a career-high world No1 ranking in April 2006.
The talented left-hander from Cairo first showed his promise when he was runner-up (to compatriot Ahmed Faizy) in the British U-14 Open in January 1993. Four years later he reached the final of the British U-19 Open, where he again lost to Faizy.
A PSA member since 1995, Amr claimed his first Tour title in July 1999, winning the Puebla Open in Mexico. Seven days later he grabbed his second, the Mexico Open, again beating Australia’s Craig Rowland in the final.
He made his World Open breakthrough in 2003 when he despatched title-holder David Palmer, the third seed, in five games in the third round. He then went on to take out Palmer’s Australian team-mate Anthony Ricketts in the last eight. After defeating Karim Darwish (the Egyptian No1) in a four-game semi-final, Shabana clinched his historic title by beating Lincou 15-14 9-15 15-11 15-7 to lift the biggest title of his life.
Despite losing his World Open crown in Qatar the following year, Amr came back with all guns blazing in 2005 – getting to the finals of both the Windy City Open and Dayton Open with his remarkable racquet wizardry.
It was later in the year that Shabana admitted that his life had come together: 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 the new-look Shabana.
And the effect was plain to see: 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 of the St Louis Open in the USA. 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 a 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.
In April 2006, Shabana became the first Egyptian player to reach the World No. 1 ranking.
[edit] PSA Tour Titles
| Year | Championship | Opponent in Final | Score in Final |
| 1999 | Pubela Open |  Craig Rowland |
11-15, 15-7, 15-7, 15-9 |
| 1999 | Mexico Open | Craig Rowland |
8-15, 15-7, 15-4, 15-13 |
| 2001 | El Ahly Open |  Karim Darwish |
15-12, 15-12, 17-15 |
| 2003 | Spanish-Seville Open | Karim Darwish |
15-13, 13-15, 15-14, 8-15, 15-13 |
| 2003 | Bank AlFalah World Open |  Thierry Lincou |
15-11, 11-15, 15-8, 15-14 |
| 2005 | Rotary Helioplis Open | Karim Darwish |
11-10(2-0), 2-0 ret. |
| 2005 | St.Louis MPM Open | Anthony Ricketts |
11-10(2-0), 11-8, 11-7 |
| 2005 | Hungarian Open | Grégory Gaultier |
6-11, 11-2, 11-7, 8-11, 11-5 |
| 2005 | Cathay Pacific Credit Suisse Privilege World Open | David Palmer |
11-6, 11-7, 11-8 |
| 2006 | Pace Canadian Classic Open |  Jonathan Power |
11-9, 11-8, 11-5 |
| 2006 | Bear Stearns Tournament of Champions Open |  Nick Matthew |
11-6, 11-9, 11-4 |
| 2006 | Virtual Spectator Bermude Masters Open | Peter Nicol |
9-11, 11-6, 11-7, 2-11, 11-8 |
| 2006 | Cathay Pacific Swiss Privilege Hong Kong Open | Ramy Ashour |
11-10(3-1), 3-11, 11-5, 11-10(3-1) |
| 2006 | Saudi International Open | Grégory Gaultier |
11-7, 11-9, 11-4 |
| 2007 | Infor Windy City Open | Anthony Ricketts |
11-8, 11-8, 11-10(5-3) |
| 2007 | Bear Stearns Tournament of Champions Open | Anthony Ricketts |
7-11, 11-3, 8-4 ret. |
[edit] PSA Tour Finals(Runner-Up)
| Year | Championship | Opponent in Final | Score in Final |
| 1998 | Mega Italia Open |  John White |
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| 2003 | Pakistan Circuit No.2 Open | Karim Darwish |
12-15, 7-15, 2-6 ret. |
| 2004 | Harris British Open | David Palmer |
11-10(6-4), 7-11, 10-11(1-3), 7-11 |
| 2005 | SSA Global Windy City Open | John White |
7-11, 8-11, 4-11 |
| 2005 | EBS Dayton Open | Peter Nicol |
6-11, 10-11(1-3), 2-11 |
| 2006 | US Open | Grégory Gaultier |
5-11, 11-7, 4-11, 9-11 |
