Amr Shabana, one of the most prominent players in the history of squash, has announced his retirement from competitive squash to bring an end to a glittering career spanning 20 years. The 36-year-old won 33 PSA World Tour titles and topped the world rankings for a total of 33 months. He became the first Egyptian to win the World Championship in 2003, setting the tone for a decade of glory for the country in Squash. "I have been overwhelmed by your wonderful messages on social media, I am feeling the love, thank you all for that," Shabana said in a message to his fans on his Facebook page. "So basically, after spending 20 years as a competitive pro athlete in the beautiful sport of Squash I have decided that this is the perfect time for me to step down and relinquish my spot in the top 10 and retire from the PSA International Squash Tour and focus on my other passion which is to help people worldwide realize their hidden potential and find their inner strengths. "I want to motivate you and help you realize and achieve your potential not only on court, but most importantly in life." The British Open is the only major event that Shabana, nicknamed the "Maestro", has failed to win. He reached the final in 2004 but lost to Australia's David Palmer. "I am retiring from the PSA, “BUT” I am not retiring from Squash and I am not hanging my rackets up just yet," Shabana added. "On the contrary this is just the beginning of a new exciting era where I will be serving the game in new and innovative ways and giving you the fans new and unprecedented free access to me in the coming months and much much more." Former number one and fellow Egyptian Karim Darwish also retired last year at the age of 33. (For more sports news andupdates, followAhramOnlineSportson Twitter at@AO_Sportsand onFacebookatAhramOnlineSports.) http://english.ahram.org.eg/News/139096.aspx
