Player: Amr Shabana

Country: EGYPT

Ranking: 3

Highest Ranking: 1 (Apr 2006)

Height: 1.73m

Weight: 11st 6.9lb

DOB: 29^th Jul 1979

Birthplace: Cairo

Residence: Giza, Egypt

Turned Pro: 1995

Marital Status: Married

Best Squash success this year: Winner Kuwait Open

Other notable achievements: 33 unbroken months as number 1

Interest: Family

Ambitions and aims: Winning World Open

After becoming the first Egyptian to top the Dunlop PSA Men's World Rankings in April 2006, Amr Shabana went on to hold the position for 33 unbroken months - confirming his status as the fifth longest-standing world number one of all-time, behind Pakistanis Jansher Khan and Jahangir Khan, Englishman Peter Nicol and Australian Geoff Hunt.

The achievement perhaps sums up best the 29-year-old's impressive squash career - which also features 22 PSA Tour titles from 33 final appearances, including 14 Super Series crowns and World Open trophies in 2003, 2005 and 2007.

The left-hander from Cairo, one of the most stylish players in the modern game, first showed his promise when he was runner-up (to compatriot Ahmed Faizy) in the British U14 Open in January 1993. Four years later he reached the final of the British U19 Open, where he again lost to Faizy.

A PSA member since 1995, Amr claimed his first Tour title in July 1999, winning the Puebla Open in Mexico.

But it was in 2003 that Shabana made his major career breakthrough, securing the World Open title for the first time in Pakistan - remarkably, becoming Egypt’s first winner of the sport’s premier prize.

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 honoured as PSA Player of the Year in the World Squash Awards in London - an accolade he received for the second time at the 2007 Awards!

Shabana claimed his best ever year on the Tour in 2007, beginning the run by picking up the Windy City Open and Tournament of Champions trophies. The year ended with one of the tightest calendars for a long time - but Shabana took in his stride, achieving what most thought would be impossible: winning four PSA Super Series titles in succession!

After clinching the Saudi International title in October (downing his fast-rising compatriot Ramy Ashour in the final), he went on to take the Qatar Classic and Hong Kong Open crowns in November before claiming the ultimate prize, the World Open, in Bermuda.

The Bermuda triumph, his third successive final win over Frenchman Gregory Gaultier, made Shabana only the fourth player in history to lift the world title for a third time.

Shabana reached five further Tour finals in 2008 - but perhaps his most notable success of the year was reaching the final of the Super Series Finals for the first time in his career. Pool wins over Lee Beachill and Thierry Lincou took the world number one into the semi-finals, where a straight games victory over former champion David Palmer led to his maiden appearance in the final. But, this time, it was Gaultier that prevailed, winning in a close-fought 51-minute battle.

In November, he picked up his 14th Super Series title, beating Gaultier in the final to win the Hong Kong Open.

But it was his quarter-final loss to Karim Darwish in the Saudi International in December that signalled the end of his 33-month reign as world number one - and his compatriot duly took over in January this year.

In March this year, Shabana was invited to join the board of the PSA, becoming the Association's President.