[1] Amr Shabana (Egy) bt [2] Gregory Gaultier (Fra)
       11/13, 11/3, 11/6, 13/11 (61m)

Three and three for Shabana

If Nicol underlined her position at the top today, so did Amr Shabana. For the Prince of Egypt it's not only three Hong Kong titles in a row, but three major titles - Saudi, Kuwait and here - in three weeks.

And hasn't he looked good doing it. As Ong Beng Hee, his second round victim here mused, "he plays such a simple game these days, but he just destroys you."

Nowhere was this illustrated better than when Gregory Gaultier led 5/3 in the fourth. A huge, huge rally, not frantic, but precise, and tough ... Greg finally offers one ball that's marginally loose and BANG, it's away into the back corner with Greg nowhere in sight.

Greg knows how to play Shabana though, and tired as he was he came so, so close to taking it to five. The Frenchman dominated the opening exchanges, leading 7/2 and 10/6, but was grateful for a couple of errors from Shabana after the defending champion had come back to level it.

The second was all Shabana, and Greg let it go a few points from the end. The third too went the Egyptian's way, but if anyone thought the Frenchman was finished they were mistaken.

Greg led the 5/2 in the fourth, but that huge rally helped Shabana come back into it. Greg was getting frustrated with some of the decisions going against him as Shabana took the lead, then gave a big "thankyou" to the ref as Shabana got a 'no let' to make it 7-all.

Remember that here we have the giant screen behind the spectators, showing the really excellent live TV coverage - ideal for the players to watch the slo-mo replays before deciding how hard to argue! And it really brings the crowd into it as they ooh and aah after spectacular rallies or dodgy decisions. Anyway, back to the squash.

Shabana had the momentum, but Greg wouldn't let go. Shabana led 7/6, 8/7, 9/8 but Greg levelled ... 7/7, 8/8, 9/9. Shabana smacked away a crosscourt  to reach match ball but still Greg wasn't finished.

He even got a game ball at 11/10, but hit the tin. He hit the tin again to give Shabana another match ball. And then Shabana served into the nick.

A cruel way to finish, but how much Greg would have had left for a fifth is open to question. What's beyond question is that this has been Shabana's month, and that Hong Kong has been a happy hunting ground for him.

Three of the best for Shabana. Now attention moves to Bermuda where he will be favourite to make it three world titles.

Can't wait ... 

"I'm very happy to win here in Hong Kong for the third time. It was a tough match, Greg is a great player and he never gives up.

"I didn't worry about losing the first, he was very accurate and I just couldn't do anything, but at the moment I just focus on playing each point and not worrying about the score. It was a lucky way to win it, but I thought I played well all match.

"The court and the venue here are amazing, I've been coming here for years and every year it's a surprise to see how many people are watching. This should be an example to the rest of the world how to run a tournament.

"I'm very happy with the way I'm playing now, I think I'm at my peak, I just hope I carry on playing as good for the worlds later this month.

"You see how many games I've played compared to him in the last three weeks, I've been unlucky with the draws, getting Nick in the quarters made a big difference.

"I know how to beat Shabana, but today I just pushed my body to its limit. I didn't have any days off between tournaments, and I know he played as many matches but I spent more time on court than him, that's the difference.

"Of course I'm disappointed to lose, but this tournament wasn't a big aim for me, the worlds is my main aim and as long as I do what I want in that I'll be happy.

"The mall is great for the public to see top squash, it's great for the sport and great organisation here. I hope I can come back next year and play here again …"

7/11, 11/7, 11/8, 11/7 (50m)

Wael
El Hindi

Amr Shabana

11/5, 11/5, 10/12, 13/11 (67m)

David
Palmer

11/13, 11/3, 11/6, 13/11 (61m)

Gregory Gaultier

11/4, 11/7, 11/6 (38m)

Karim
Darwish

11/8, 11/9, 11/4 (42m)

Thierry Lincou

Thierry
Lincou

9/11, 11/7, 13/11, 11/9 (70m)

Gregory Gaultier

8/11, 11/4, 8/11, 11/2, 12/10 (80m)

Gregory Gaultier

** 05-Nov, Olli Tuominen withdrawn ill

06 Nov, Finals:

Omar Abdel Aziz (Egy) bt Steve Finitsis (Aus)            10/12, 11/7, 11/3, 11/3 (38m)
Mark Krajcsak (Hun) bt Jan Koukal (Cze)                   12/10, 11/8, 10/12, 11/8 (72m)
Saurav Ghosal (Ind) bt Jesse Engelbrecht (Rsa)          11/5, 11/9, 11/5 (30m)
Max Lee (Hkg) bt  Ali Anwar Reda (Egy)                      11/8, 2/11, 5/11, 11/6, 11/7 (72m)
Aaron Frankcomb (Aus) bt Bradley Hindle (Aus)         11/6, 11/8, 11/7 (48m)
Ritwik Bhattacharya (Ind) bt Chris Simpson (Eng)      4/11, 12/10, 11/7, 11/4 (42m)
Chris Ryder (Eng) bt Simon Rosner (Ger)                    14/12, 11/5, 11/7 (45m)
Dylan Bennett (Ned) bt Adil Maqbool (Pak)                  11/7, 7/11, 11/5, 11/1 (34m)

05-Nov, Round One:

Omar Abdel Aziz (Egy) bt Roger Ngan (H                  11/0, 11/6, 11/5 (18m)
Steve Finitsis (Aus) bt Wong King Ngo (Hkg)             11/2, 11/3, 11/4 (15m)
Mark Krajcsak (Hun) bt Fung Ngo Long (Hkg)            11/1, 11/3, 11/2 (18m)
Jan Koukal (Cze) bt Leo Au (Hkg)                             11/7, 11/9, 11/1 (24m)

Saurav Ghosal (Ind) bt Choy Kit Lun (Hkg)                11/4, 11/3, 11/6 (18m)
Jesse Engelbrecht (Rsa) bt Chris Gordon (Usa)         11/4, 8/11, 11/1, 11/4 (34m)
Ali Anwar Reda (Egy) bt Fung Ji Yang (Hkg)               11/4, 11/3, 11/4 (16m)
Max Lee (Hkg) bt Sherif Kamel (Hkg)                         11/8, 11/9, 3/11, 15/13 (69m)

Bradley Hindle (Aus) bt Yip Tsun Yuen (Hkg)             11/4, 11/4, 11/3 (16m)
Aaron Frankcomb (Aus) bt Hwang Joong-Won (Kor)  11/3, 11/3, 11/0 (21m)
Ritwik Bhattacharya (Ind) bt Anson Kong (Hkg)        11/6, 11/8, 11/6 (27m)
Chris Simpson (Eng) bt Wong Hon Fung (Hkg)            11/3, 11/5, 11/7 (17m)

Simon Rosner (Ger) bt Wong Wai Hang (Hkg)            11/2, 11/9, 11/4 (34m)
Chris Ryder (Eng) bt Kwok Chun Lok (Hkg)                11/3, 11/3, 11/4 (19m)
Adil Maqbool (Pak) bt Nelson Chan (Hkg)                  11/4, 11/7, 11/4 (22m)
Dylan Bennett (Ned) bt Chiu Ho Fai (Hkg)                 11/4, 11/4, 11/2 (19m)