Maestro Amr Shabana Wins 2014 Tournament of Champions

Egyptian squash maestro Amr Shabana dominated Frenchman Gregory Gaultier in the final of the 2014 JP Morgan Tournament of Champions, upsetting the top seed in straight games to seal the first PSA World Series title of the year at Grand Central Terminal in New York.

The 34-year-old seventh seed from Cairo was in ominous form from the very first point - displaying the calibre of talent that saw him hold the world No1 ranking unopposed for 33 consecutive months between 2006 and 2008.

Shabana's victory, his first PSA World Series event title since 2011, also prevents Gaultier from becoming world No1 outright in February - the Aix-en-Provence 31-year-old now goes level with England's Nick Matthew at the top of the rankings.

"Greg wasn't maybe at his 100 per cent best tonight but I took full advantage of that," said Shabana, whose victory sees him edge 14-13 ahead of his French rival in their career head-to-head standings.

"I can remember so many times when he has beat me 3/0 when I have been playing my best so I'm happy to win today especially as it has been eight years since I last won the title here and playing a final here is such an amazing experience.

"Everything came together for me this week," continued Shabana, who now has 32 PSA Tour titles to his credit. "You can do all the training you want but you still need things to go your way and that's what happened for me this week so I'm going to remember it for a long time.

"I had a tough few years with injury and every time you get injured you don't know if you'll be back again. I've had moments when I've thought that would be it for me but luckily I've kept my head down and I'm ok for now."

Image courtesy of SquashPics.com