Magical Egyptian Regains the Upper Hand For Now   [THE DRAW]

Venue for the Al Kobar Saudi International won by Amr Shabana (photo © 2006 Fritz Borchert)

The squash world waited with baited breath to find out if the new star in town, the irreverent Gregory Gaultier from France, could duplicate his win over world #1 Amr Shabana, scored in November in Boston at the US Open.

Shabana takes the Al Kobar Saudi International with a flourish (photo © 2006 Fritz Borchert)

The answer was a very emphatic NO !

Amr Shabana, who impresses more each time out, showed he has the timing, pride, focus, instincts and attacking power to establish the psychological and physical upper hand that he needed to establish exactly when he did, to remind Gregory Gaultier and the rest of the squash establishment that for now, this increasingly mature Egyptian, is very much the top of the hill.

Egypt's Amr Shabana, who kicked off the year with victory in his first tournament, rounded off 2006 in fine style when he clinched the Saudi International title

It was the 20th PSA Tour final appearance for both players, but the fifth title of the year – and the 14th of his career - for the 27-year-old world number one from Cairo who took 44 minutes to quash Gaultier, the No7 seed, 11-7, 11-9, 11-4.

Gaultier, the 23-year-old from Aix-en-Provence who has had a meteoric rise up the rankings this year – starting at 12 and finishing at four – was appearing in his third successive PSA final after upsetting third seed Thierry Lincou and No2 seed David Palmer in the previous two rounds.

"I think Greg had a harder route to the final than I had.  I was fresher and also more determined than he was, I didn’t have the pressure," top seed Shabana said.

Gaultier was philosophical:  "I’m disappointed, of course, but not that much. It's a positive result and a great end of the year."

Shabana's Saudi success moves him into third place amongst current players in the list of PSA title-holders, behind David Palmer with 19 titles and Thierry Lincou with 18.  The Egyptian's next appearance will be at the World Squash Awards at the RAC Club in London on Friday (22 December) where he is one of the nominations for PSA Player of the Year.

Shabana now sends notice to Gaultier, Ashour, Palmer and Willstrop that for now, he is planning to stay as #1.

Saudi International, Al Khobar, Saudi Arabia
Final round:
[1] Amr Shabana (EGY) bt [7] Gregory Gaultier (FRA) 11-7 11-9 11-4