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| December 22, 2003 | Monday | Shawwal 27, 1424 |
Shabana wins World Open squash crown
LAHORE, Dec 21: Amr Shabana became the first Egyptian to annex World Open crown when he humbled Frenchman Thierry Lincou in a four-game final on Sunday.
Shabana 24, ranked world No 11 before the start of the contest, kept Lincou at bay to clinch the title with the scoreline 15-14, 9-15, 15-11, 15-7.
In a match that lasted one hour 25 minutes, Shabana put up an excellent performance with his all-round court craft, superb drop shots and match-winning nicks.
However, Lincou who is now ranked world No 1, after beating Joseph Kniepp of Australia in the semifinal, looked tired and jaded after third game and posed no real challenge to the champion.
“It is fantastic to play in Pakistan and win the most coveted squash title here,” Shabana said.
“I appreciate the excellent facilities available here, which were of international standard, and I would like to thank the local crowd for extending me morale boosting support,” he added.
Lincou admitted “Shabana played well and I would like to congratulate him. It was a 10-day long tough contest and I really admire the sporting crowd here.”
Shabana received a cash prize of US $24,000 and an additional US $15,000 from the sponsors.
Shabana recovered to win the first game, after Lincou had gained 8-3 lead with a couple of drop shots, earning strokes and cross court smashing.
The Egyptian caught up with Lincou at 12-all. At 10-12 down, Shabana was awarded two strokes for rough blocking by Lincou.
After several lets, Shabana took the lead (13-12) for the first time in the game with a forehand and increased it to 14-12 with a nick. But at game-ball, he hit the tin twice as Lincou made it 14-all.
Shabana called for set-1 and Lincou conceded a stroke at the crucial stage to lose the opener.
Lincou built up 8-3 in the second game as Shabana had hit the tin thrice. However, Shabana fought back to make it 9-10. But from there on Shabana faltered as he conceded a stroke for his unfair blocking and Lincou earned another winner with his forehand errors. This allowed the French to grab the second game and restore the parity 1-1.
Shabana was back to his best in the third game as Lincou seemed to lose concentration as well as appeared tired offering little resistance to the resurgent Egyptian who wrapped the game 15-11 to go 2-1 up.
The fourth game saw Shabana now in full flow scoring points at will as Lincou appeared to lose heart and lost the game and the final without putting up any fight 15-7.
Result (final): Amr Shabana (Egypt) bt Thiery Lincou (France) 15-14, 9-15, 15- 11, 15-7.
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