On 1st March 2007, Amr Shabana celebrated a full year at the top of the Dunlop PSA World Rankings. And the following day, the 27-year-old Egyptian backed-up his status as the world's best player by retaining his Tournament of Champions title in New York - a victory which marked his eighth PSA Super Series crown in just over three years.

But it was in 2003 that Shabana made his major career breakthrough, in the World Open in Pakistan. Seeded nine, he despatched title-holder David Palmer, the third seed, in five games in the third round before taking out Palmer’s Australian team-mate Anthony Ricketts in the last eight. After defeating Karim Darwish (then the Egyptian No1) in a four-game semi-final, Shabana clinched his historic title by beating Thierry Lincou 15-14 9-15 15-11 15-7 to claim the biggest title of his life. Remarkably, Shabana become Egypt first winner of the sport premier title.

After a disappointing 2004, Shabana stormed back to the top of his game in 2005 winning four PSA events from September, climaxing with his second World Open title in December. The success led him to the top of the world rankings in April 2006. Shabana hardly put a foot wrong in 2006, winning the Canadian Classic, Tournament of Champions, PSA Masters, Hong Kong Open and the Saudi International.

In December, he was honored as PSA Player of the Year in the World Squash Awards in London. In the New Year, Shabana maintained his winning momentum, picking up the Windy City Open and Tournament of Champions trophies - bringing his career PSA Tour haul to 16 titles from 22 final appearances.