Shabana Masters Nicol In Bermuda Final

The climax of the richest event on the PSA Tour this year between the World Open champion, who is also now the world number one, and one of the sport's legends fresh from winning two medals in the Commonwealth Games, lived up to all expectations in the final of the Virtual Spectator Bermuda PSA Masters in Hamilton, Bermuda.

Egypt's top seed Amr Shabana was taken the full distance by England's sixth seed Peter Nicol, but ultimately prevailed to win the PSA Super Series Platinum event, presented by Logic and hosted by Endurance, in a 65-minute encounter which had it all!

First blood went to Nicol, who seemed prepared to play long, patient rallies and wait for fellow left-hander Shabana to make mistakes. Both played superlative shots, and recovered the impossible, with Nicol moving well around the court.

The second game saw the positions reverse. Shabana raced into the lead, and Nicol had to work much harder to avoid giving Shabana any opportunity to play his devastating drops.

A similar pattern started in the third game with the 26-year-old from Cairo looking more confident with every rally. Nicol led 6-3 at one point, but Shabana came back strongly to win it and move into a 2/1 lead.

At this point it appeared to be the beginning of the end for Nicol - but he shocked the capacity crowd by completely dominating the fourth game while Shabana seemed to lose heart with a series of uncharacteristic unforced errors. Nicol was serving for game ball before Shabana could even get on the score sheet with two unreturnable drops. Not to be denied, Nicol put the game away with a superb drive, wrong-footing the Egyptian.

Shabana came out for the decider with all guns blazing and raced into a 7-1 lead. Both of these incredible athletes were playing superbly and retrieving as though this was the first, rather than the fifth, game. Then it was time for Nicol to surge back as he tried valiantly to catch up. At 5-9 the two played an incredible rally, won by Nicol, resulting in thunderous applause from an expectant crowd, and this was followed by yet another marathon rally during which both players pulled off miraculous retrievals which many in the audience simply could not believe because they burst into applause thinking a winning shot had been played, only to realise the rally was still in play!

When Shabana finally tinned the ball, the crowd simply erupted as Nicol appeared to be on the verge of catching up the World Champion. However, Shabana reached match point when Nicol hit a return volley out of court. Shabana failed in his first attempt, hitting into the tin - but, in one final brilliant rally, hit an unbeatable forehand drive down the wall, and it was all over, 9-11, 11-6, 11-7, 2-11, 11-8.

The crowd rose as one to acknowledge two incredible athletes, both of whom gave their all, and then some, in their bid to become the Virtual Spectator Bermuda Masters 2006 Champion.

"Amr Shabana fully deserved his victory, but in truth there were two winners on court when this match ended," said event spokesman Roger Sherratt.

"I'm gob smacked," said Nicol. "It was a great game of squash. There were only three or four decisions in the whole match, which is the way it should be played. We played at a very fast pace, both going for our shots. It was very exciting. In the last game I made a few mistakes and gave him a good start and he was able to stay ahead. He played slightly better than me at the end so he deserves it. I think he's going to be world champion for years to come."

Of his third visit to Bermuda, Nicol said: "I've thoroughly enjoyed coming to Bermuda. This tournament just gets better and better. We had a fabulous crowd, and I love it here."

After being crowned champion, Amr Shabana commented: "First, I'd like to thank Peter for his kind words. He is a legend of the game. All respect to Peter. It was a tough match, he's an amazing player. He started off so fast and quick he caught me by surprise a little. I started to see the ball better in the second and was able to get more control of the centre of the court.

"I've got absolute respect for Peter, he raised the bar for all of us - he's an inspiration.

"It's been a great tournament, the crowd, the organisation, the sponsors have all been perfect," added Shabana, after his third PSA title of the year, and the 12th of his career.

Final:
[1] Amr Shabana (EGY) bt [6] Peter Nicol (ENG) 9-11, 11-6, 11-7, 2-11, 11-8 (65m)