Squash: Shabana becomes first Egyptian to claim World Open crown
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Amr Shabana, the world No 11 from Cairo, became the lowest ranked player and the first Egyptian to win the World Open squash title when he completed a sequence of startling upsets in the final here yesterday.
The 24-year-old won 15-14, 9-15, 15-11, 15-7 against Thierry Lincou, the fourth-seeded Frenchman, who 24 hours earlier had made certain of becoming the world No 1 for the first time.
But Shabana, who had previously beaten the defending world champion David Palmer, the world No 5 Anthony Ricketts and the world No 7 Karim Darwish, prevented Lincou from achieving his two greatest ambitions in successive days. "I've never played such fantastic squash before," the new champion said.
Lincou, who hails from Reunion Island in the Indian Ocean, had useful leads in all of the first three games without being able to capitalise on two of them. "I fought back but I used up too much energy," he said.
Meanwhile, Pakistan players, who are struggling to revive their squash dynasty, were handed an incentive after the tournament. The country's president, Pervez Musharraf, announced that the government would reward any Pakistani player who won the World Open with 10 million Pakistan rupees (£99,000) and the British Open with five million rupees.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments