is once again crowned world squash champion. Nashwa Abdel-Tawab reports on the Egyptian who returned for more Egypt's has been crowned world squash champion for the second time, a record not matched since Jansher Khan a decade ago. Shabana, the fifth seed, regained the title he first won two years ago in Pakistan when he beat third seed David Palmer, the 2002 champion from Australia, 11-6 11-7 11-8. After dropping his only game of the tournament in his first round match against English qualifier Simon Parke, Shabana reached the final of the Cathay Pacific Credit Suisse Privilege World Open in Hong Kong following a straight games dismissal of England's 1999 world champion Peter Nicol in straight sets, who in the previous round had dethroned title-holder Thierry Lincou in four games. Palmer also defeated a high-flying Englishman in the semis, avenging his defeat in the Qatar Classic final six days earlier by beating the new world No 2 James Willstrop in three close games. The 26-year-old left-hander from Cairo was in devastating form against the Australian, winning in just 40 minutes to become the first player to win the World Open title more than once since the great Jansher Khan a decade ago. "It's such a dream to win this title for a second time, it's like entering history as nobody has done it since the great Jahangir and Jansher [Khans]," said Shabana after the victory. Shabana was in sparkling form as he dismissed fellow former World Open champion Nicol 11-8 11-2 11-6 in just 35 minutes to register his first career win over the 1999 champion. Both had achieved upsets in the quarter-finals, sixth seed Nicol dethroning title-holder Lincou in four games and Shabana, the champion in 2003, dispatching fourth seed Lee Beachill in straight games. Like Shabana, Palmer was also celebrating his second World Open final, after winning the title in 2002. After losing the first game of the second semi-final, Willstrop forced the next two games into tie-breaks, but was unable to convert either as Palmer powered his way to an 11-9 11-10 11-10 victory to reach his third PSA Tour final since last month, and the 37th of his career. The men's final was a repeat of last year's British Open final, won by the 29-year-old Palmer from Lithgow in New South Wales. It was the pair's fourth consecutive meeting in World Opens, with Palmer holding a 2/1 advantage. Shabana, however, had the form advantage, having beaten the Australian in their two earlier clashes this year. The Hong Kong success marks the ninth PSA title of Shabana's career, four of which he has secured since September. After leading Egypt in the Men's World Team Championships in Pakistan, Shabana will rejoin the PSA Tour on 16 December at the $127,500 Saudi International in Al-Khobar, where he is the fourth seed. The tournament witnessed the top seeded player losing in the quarter- finals. Though Lincou, who won the world championship for the first time last year in Qatar, and who this week celebrated a complete year at the top of the world rankings, was favoured to beat Nicol, it was more than four years ago that the Frenchman last got the better of the Englishman -- and this was the pair's fourth meeting this year. The top seed took the opening game against sixth seed Nicol but the effects of Lincou's marathon second round match with fellow countryman Gregory Gaultier 24 hours earlier no doubt began to take effect as the 1999 champion Nicol gained the upper hand and went on to win 8-11 11-3 11-5 11-9 in 46 minutes to reach his seventh semi-final. England's Simon Parke survived a 72- minute five-game battle against Canada's Shahier Razik in the qualifying finals of championships to celebrating his 15th successive World Open appearance since making his debut as a 17-year-old in the 1989 event in Malaysia. Despite undergoing treatment for testicular cancer in 1996 and ankle surgery in 2001, the 32-year-old Yorkshireman never missed a single appearance in the event over a 16-year period, reaching the last eight on four separate occasions and achieving a career-high world No 3 ranking in October 2000. Parke's reward for his 11-5 4-11 11-6 8-11 11-6 victory over Razik was a first round clash with Shabana who ousted him 6-11, 11-5, 11-7, 11-2 in 55 minutes. Egyptian brothers Hisham and Rami Ashour also claimed places in the main draw after qualifying successes -- Hisham beating South Africa's Rodney Durbach 4-11 11-9 9-11 11-10 11-7 in 50 minutes and 18-year-old Rami becoming the youngest player in the men's draw after a 1-11 11-9 11-5 11-7 win over Australia's Dan Jenson, a seven- time World Open participant since 1995. The brothers lost in their first game in the main draw with Mohamed Abbas and Wa'el El-Hindi. Karim Darwish, ranked ninth, beat Mansoor Zaman from Pakistan, then lost to Anthony Ricketts of Australia in the quarter-finals. The women's title went to Nicol David who beat Australia's world No 1 Rachael Grinham. The rapid rise over the past few months made the 22-year-old from Penang one of Malaysia's most celebrated sports stars. David twice led in the first game of the final and saved a game ball at 7-8 before Grinham, the world No 1 for 16 months until this week, took the opener. Within 24 hours of winning the semi- final match which guaranteed her status as the next women's world No 1, third seed David added "world champion" to her credits when she beat Grinham 8-10 9-2 9-6 9-7. The young Malaysian fought back to even the match after only losing the opening game, then outlasted her experienced opponent to clinch a sensational victory -- and the sport's most prized title -- after 53 minutes. "This has come maybe sooner than expected. I simply cannot believe it," said an emotional David after becoming the first Asian women's world champion. "This is only the beginning. I'm looking forward to the future. I've got so much more to learn, so much more to work on." Both David and Grinham made their maiden appearances in a World Open final, though the pair contested the World Games final in July -- one of four meetings this year in which the Malaysian defeated the Australian. The Malaysian's semi-final was of great effect. She had double reason to celebrate her semi-final success, not only for beating the defending champion Vanessa Atkinson to reach her first World Open final, but also for ensuring that she will be the new world No 1 in the first WISPA (Women's International Squash Professional's Association) rankings of next year. Atkinson, the 29-year-old from The Netherlands and newly promoted to world No 1 this month, came into the match having brought to an end a three-match winning run by David in September's Seattle Open. But this was to be David's night as the 22-year-old from Penang recovered from a game down to triumph 6-9 9-1 10-9 9-3 in 47 minutes. "This is the best match I've ever played," David said. The Hong Kong triumph rounds off a magnificent year for David, who won the Kuala Lumpur Open in February and went on to remain undefeated in six further WISPA Tour finals -- in addition to the World Games final in July -- to bring her Tour title haul to 10. It was in February 2000 that David won her maiden professional trophy in the Finnish Open -- becoming, at 16, the youngest ever winner of a WISPA title. In the women's event, three players represented Egypt. Omneya Abdel-Qawi cruised to the quarter-finals where she lost to Natalie Grinham 9-1, 1-9, 9- 4, 9-0. Inji Khairallah lost to Nicol in the first round of the draw. Raneem El-Weleili made her debut in the main draw in her fourth qualifying attempt since 2002. The 16-year-old from Alexandria -- the youngest competitor in the WISPA Gold championship -- beat England's Kirsty McPhee 8-10 9-1 7-9 9-1 9-4. El-Weleili faced Atkinson in the first round in the second seed's opening match and lost 9-4 9-3 9-4. Players from 16 countries were competing in Hong Kong in the first ever combined men's and women's World Open.
