Shabana misses out as Tarek
takes final World Series spot
Report by LEE HORTON
REIGNING champ Amr Shabana won’t make the World Series Finals – if and when they are staged in 2014 – unless another player in the world’s top eight pulls out.
Shabs, who beat Gregory Gaultier in last January’s final at The Queen’s Club in London, finished tied eighth with Egyptian team-mate TarEk Momen in this year’s event, but misses out having played fewer events. That leaves the charismatic Shabana, nicknamed the Maestro, as first reserve needing a drop out for him to be included.
January’s scheduled World Series Finals at the Queen’s Club were shelved after promoter,  Saudi businessman Ziad Al-Turki, elected not to go ahead with sponsorship.
That left PSA organisers facing a race to find a new backer, date and venue for the tournament, which has been screened live by Sky Sports for the past two years. Squash Mad understands that PSA chief executive Alex Gough has intimated privately that he is confident of staging the event, possibly by next March. We contacted PSA press officer Nathan Clarke by email requesting information but received no reply.
To read how Squash Mad reported the cancellation of the World Series Finals, click here.
Final World Series Standings
Rank Name Country Points Tournaments
1 Ramy Ashour Egypt 440.000 5
2 Gregory Gaultier France 400,000 7
3 Nick Matthew England 390,000 7
4 James Willstrop England 265,000 7
5 Mohamed Elshorbagy Egypt 245,000 6
6 Karim Darwish Egypt 195,000 7
7 Simon Rosner Germany 120,000 7
8 Tarek Momen Egypt 115,000 7
8- Amr Shabana Egypt 115,000 5
10 Peter Barker England 110,000 6
10- Borja Golan Spain 110,000 5
12 Omar Mosaad Egypt 95,000 6
13 Cameron Pilley Australia 90,000 6
13- Daryl Selby England 90,000 4
15 Karim Abdel Gawad Egypt 85,000 6
15- Saurav Ghosal India 85,000 6
17 Stephen Coppinger South Africa 75,000 6
18 Nicolas Mueller Switzerland 70,000 7
18- Laurens Jan Anjema Netherlands 70,000 6
18- Miguel Angel Rodriguez Colombia 70,000 6