David and Shabana taking ToC title!

"Everything came together for me this week. 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," said Amr Shabana (pic: Steve Line).

It was squash queen Nicol David and squash maestro Amr Shabana who dominated the finals at the 2014 JP Morgan Tournament of Champions (ToC) in New York.

David, the World No1 from Malaysia claimed her first ToC title with a 11-4, 13 -11, 11-8 victory over World No2 Laura Massaro on glass court in Grand Central Terminal. “The ToC is huge, there is something in the air here”, said the Malaysian superstar after the triumph over her English rival in the women’s climax.

Even though David now has 72 WSA titles to her name and has been at the top of the rankings for 90 consecutive months, the 2014 ToC champion is still enthralled with her sport: “I have learned so much from this sport, and I am continuing to learn,” said David.

In the men’s final the Egyptian 4-time World Champion and current World No9 upsetting the top seed Frenchman Gregory Gaultier in straight games (11-8, 11-3, 11-4) to seal the 1st PSA World Series title of the year. “Greg wasn’t maybe at his 100 per cent best tonight but I took full advantage of that,” said Shabana, who was in ominous form the very first point.

Shabana’s victory, his 1st 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.

Final:
[7] Amr Shabana (EGY) bt [1] Gregory Gaultier (FRA) 11-8, 11-3, 11-4 (42m)

Semi-finals:
[7] Amr Shabana (EGY) bt [4] James Willstrop (ENG) 11-5, 5-11, 11-5, 11-5 (61m)
[1] Gregory Gaultier (FRA) bt [3] Mohamed Elshorbagy (EGY) 5-11, 11-6, 11-8, 14-12 (75m)

Quarter-finals:
[7] Amr Shabana (EGY) bt [2] Nick Matthew (ENG) 9-11, 12-10, 11-7, 2-11, 11-9 (90m)
[4] James Willstrop (ENG) bt [6] Peter Barker (ENG) 11-7, 5-11, 12-10, 11-5 (66m)
[3] Mohamed Elshorbagy (EGY) bt [8] Daryl Selby (ENG) 8-11, 11-7, 11-5, 11-8 (60m)
[1] Gregory Gaultier (FRA) bt Simon Rosner (GER) 12-10, 11-6, 11-7 (57m)

Final:
[1] Nicol David (MAS) bt [2] Laura Massaro (ENG) 11-4, 13-11, 11-8 (46m)

Semi-finals:
[1] Nicol David (MAS) bt [4] Alison Waters (ENG) 11-8, 11-8, 12-10 (45m)
[2] Laura Massaro (ENG) bt [5] Camille Serme (FRA) 11-5, 3-11, 11-6, 11-9 (63m)

Quarter-finals:
[1] Nicol David (MAS) bt [8] Low Wee Wern (MAS) 11-5, 11-3, 11-4 (32m)
[4] Alison Waters (ENG) bt [Q] Sarah-Jane Perry (ENG) 11-5, 11-6, 11-2 (28m)
[5] Camille Serme (FRA) bt Madeline Perry (IRL) 11-8, 11-4, 11-13, 11-8 (52m)
[2] Laura Massaro (ENG) bt [6] Joelle King (NZL) 9-11, 13-11, 11-3, 11-7 (52m)