Thierry Lincou has tipped “magician” Amr Shabana to pull the proverbial rabbit out of the hat and claim the title at this week’s Randall & Quilter Legends of Squash tournament.

At the age of 36, Shabana will be by far and away the youngest of the six “legends” in the competitions, having only retired last summer shortly after playing an exhibition match against Miguel Rodríguez in Bermuda.

The elegant left-hander will be making his debut in the competition at the Bermuda Squash Racquets Association courts in Devonshire, which also features former world No 1 players David Palmer, John White, Lee Beachill and Jonathon Power.

Lincou, last year’s winner, will take on Beachill of England in the opening match of the tournament tonight at 6pm. Tonight’s other games are Palmer of Australia against Power of Canada, and Shabana against White of Scotland.

“With the addition of Shabana it’s going to be even stronger and a more exciting tournament,” Lincou, 40, said.

“I’m really excited to see Shabana performing and it will be amazing to play against him. It will be such a joy to be on the court with him again because he’s a real talent, a real magician with the ball.

“I think everyone will be excited to see him play and it’s good to have some new blood in the competition. He’s going to be the youngest player by far!”

One of the greatest lateral movers to have played the game, Lincou is unable to cover the court as quickly as in his prime, but he is confident of producing some thrilling squash for the spectators.

“The atmosphere of the club is so warm and the people are so lively and loud — it’s like a volcano when you play,” said Lincou, who reached the world No 1 ranking in January 2004.

“Every year we’re getting older so it gets harder and you don’t really know how your body will react. Hopefully we will all be able to put in good performances.

“I’ve had a few sessions in my bag to make sure I was ready for the competition. Once you’re on court the winning instinct comes back and everyone will want to do well.”

Shabana won the last of his world titles on the island in 2007 and was ranked the world’s No 1 for 33 consecutive months between 2006 and 2009.

He now works with Egypt’s top players in his role as the country’s high-performance coach, and the nation has five of the world’s top ten women, and six of world’s top ten men.

During a sparkling career, Shabana won 33 Professional Squash Association Tour events from 45 finals.

The Cairo-born player’s victories included four world titles, one British Open, two US Open titles and four Hong Kong Classic wins.