1 AMR SHABANA

On June 1, 2007, Amr Shabana celebrated his 15th successive month at the top of the Dunlop PSA Men's World Rankings - and thus overtook contemporaries Jonathon Power and Thierry Lincou, the Canadian and Frenchman, respectively, to become the sixth longest-standing world number one of all-time.

Four months later, the 28-year-old Egyptian still heads the world list after bringing his PSA Tour title tally to 16, including eight Super Series crowns and two World Open trophies (in 2003 and 2005).

The left-hander from Cairo, one of the most stylish players in the modern game, first showed his promise when he was runner-up (to compatriot Ahmed Faizy) in the British U-14 Open in January 1993. Four years later he reached the final of the British U-19 Open, where he again lost to Faizy.

A PSA member since 1995, Amr claimed his first Tour title in July 1999, winning the Puebla Open in Mexico. Seven days later he grabbed his second, the Mexico Open, again beating Australia's Craig Rowland in the final.

But it was in 2003 that Shabana made his major career breakthrough, in the World Open in Pakistan. Seeded nine, he despatched title-holder David Palmer, the third seed, in five games in the third round before taking out Palmer's Australian team-mate Anthony Ricketts in the last eight. After defeating Karim Darwish (then the Egyptian No1) in a four-game semi-final, Shabana clinched his historic title by beating Thierry Lincou 15-14 9-15 15-11 15-7 to claim the biggest title of his life.

Remarkably, Shabana become Egypt's first winner of the sport's premier title.

After a disappointing 2004, Shabana stormed back to the top of his game in 2005 - winning four PSA events from September, climaxing with his second World Open title in December. The success led him to the top of the world rankings in April 2006.

It was in 2005 that Shabana admitted that his life had come together: Over a short period, he acquired a new coach, Ahmed Tahir; a new manager, the former Egyptian international Omar Elborolossy; and a wife, Nadjla. "All I have to worry about now is playing my matches - everything else is looked after for me now," said the relaxed Shabana.

Shabana hardly put a foot wrong in 2006, winning the Canadian Classic, Tournament of Champions, PSA Masters, Hong Kong Open and the Saudi International. In December, he was honoured as PSA Player of the Year in the World Squash Awards in London. In the New Year, Shabana maintained his winning momentum, picking up the Windy City Open and Tournament of Champions trophies. In March, Shabana was forced to withdraw from the Canary Wharf Classic in London after sustaining a wrist injury - but the following month claimed his 23rd Tour final appearance when he reached the Kuwait Open climax, where he was beaten for the first time by his young compatriot Ramy Ashour.

Shabana suffered a further setback when he retired injured during October's US Open, citing a strained Achilles sustained during the previous month's British Open.

3 GREGORY GAULTIER

One of the fastest-rising new talents on the international squash circuit, Frenchman Gregory Gaultier has been in the shadows of his illustrious compatriot Thierry Lincou since emerging from the junior ranks. But, on the 1st January 2007 - just a week after his 24th birthday - Gaultier leapt to three in the Dunlop PSA World Rankings, overtaking Lincou to become the highest-ranked Frenchman for the first time. A month later, the Aix-en-Provence star overtook David Palmer to reach a career-high world No2 ranking! His crowning glory, however, came in September when he joined Lincou in the first all-French British Open final - going on to beat his close friend to become the first French winner of the title in the event's 77-year history.

Gaultier has followed a distinguished junior career - which included two European titles, a British Junior Open crown and a berth in the world individual final - to become a major force on the PSA Tour, with 11 titles from 22 final appearances.

He enjoyed a remarkable 2006 - which began with a world ranking of 12. After two non-PSA Tour successes - in the French Nationals (featuring his first ever win over Lincou, in the final) and the European Individual Championships - he went on to reach six PSA Tour finals against the seedings, and lifted the titles in the Hungarian Open and US Open, his first Super Series triumph.

A notable success of the year was his straight games defeat of defending champion Peter Nicol in the English Open in Sheffield - a victory which set up the first all-French PSA final outside France, against Lincou. Later, in the World Open staged by the Great Pyramids of Giza in Egypt, eighth seed Gaultier upset world No.1 Amr Shabana, the top seed and local hero, to reach his first PSA Super Series event final.

But it was in November that the Frenchman gained perhaps his sweetest win of the year, beating Thierry Lincou in straight games in the quarter-finals of the US Open in Boston. It was the pair's seventh PSA meeting since 2004 - but, finally, Gaultier's first Tour victory over his senior compatriot.

His 2007 campaign began disappointingly with indifferent results in the Canadian Classic and Windy City Open followed by an ankle injury which forced his withdrawal from the Tournament of Champions in New York in February.

But, in June, he secured his fourth successive European Championship title and went on the reach the final of the Super Series Finals in his debut in the PSA's flagship event.

Seeded three in the British Open, Greg made his breakthrough in the semi-finals where he beat top seed Amr Shabana. It was an emotional final which eventually saw Gaultier prevail against Lincou, winning 11-4, 10-11 (0-2), 11-6, 11-3 in just over an hour.

"Winning the British was, with the World Open title, a dream of mine - it's my biggest win ever," said Gaultier afterwards. In paying tribute to his opponent, Greg added: "Thierry was a big boost for my career, throughout my whole career, and I'm grateful for what he brought into my life. I'm very happy."

4david palmer

David Palmer has been Australia's top squash player for most of this decade. The 31-year-old from Lithgow in New South Wales topped the world rankings for the first time in September 2001, two months after becoming the first Australian for twenty years to win the British Open title. A world top ten player since September 2000, Palmer has amassed 21 titles from 45 PSA Tour final appearances since September 1995 - his latest victory in the Dutch Open in September 2007 extending his lead ahead of Frenchman Thierry Lincou (with 18 titles) as the current player with the most Tour trophies to his name.

He claimed his first PSA title, the Ecuador Open, in August 1997 - and went on to bring his tally to four titles by the end of the year.

In 2002, Palmer won the World Open crown in dramatic style in his adopted home town of Antwerp in Belgium, where he fought back from two games down to beat Scotland's John White in the final. It was in 2004 that he joined a select band of three-times British Open champions when he successfully defended his 2003 title, defeating the then world champion Amr Shabana in the final in Nottingham.

After his World Open success in 2002, history repeated itself four years later when Palmer, in his third World Open final, again recovered from a two-game deficit to defeat Gregory Gaultier in the 2006 climax in Egypt. After winning the singles silver medal in the Commonwealth Games in 2006, Palmer took time off in his homeland to be with his wife Melinda for the birth of their first child, daughter Kayla, in June.

Palmer's 2007 campaign began with a runners-up finish in the Canadian Classic in Toronto in January, when he lost to rising Egyptian star Ramy Ashour in the final. The following month, he brushed aside all opposition in Linköping to win the Swedish Open to mark up his 20th trophy success.

In April, he reached the final of the Qatar Classic for the fourth time - and again went down to Ashour in a 66-minute final.

5 JAMES WILLSTROP

James Willstrop, England's most successful junior player of all time, became the world's top-ranked Englishman just two years after becoming a 'senior'. In December 2005, after reaching a career-high world No2, he led England to victory - for the first time in eight years - in the World Team Championships in Pakistan.

After a disappointing 2006 - in which he was hospitalised with food poisoning in Cairo on the eve of the World Open in Egypt - the 23-year-old Yorkshireman struck back with a vengeance this year, first winning the British National Championship for the first time, then claiming his first PSA Tour title for more than 16 months at the Canary Wharf Classic in London.

It was not only a confidence-boosting Tour triumph, but one he achieved after finally ending a career-long tally of 12 defeats by Lee Beachill, beating his Pontefract and England team-mate - and close friend - in a five-game quarter-final.

But Willstrop's new-found form gathered pace after signing a new racquet contract with Prince in August: In the inaugural English Grand Prix in Birmingham, coincidentally sponsored by the brand, fourth seed Willstrop forced himself into the final after overcoming favourite David Palmer in a 95-minute five-game semi-final - then clinched the trophy when he beat third-seeded Frenchman Thierry Lincou 11-8, 11-8, 9-11, 7-11, 11-3 in 77 minutes to claim his seventh PSA Tour title. Palmer avenged the defeat in the quarter-finals of the British Open shortly afterwards - but James went on to score his best ever success in the US Open in October. He made his breakthrough in the quarter-finals in New York, beating the recently-crowned British Open champion Gregory Gaultier - a repeat of his first ever win over the Frenchman in August's Super Series Finals - before going on to down Karim Darwish in 98 minutes to make his 11th Tour final. Clearly feeling the effects of his marathon semi-final encounter, Willstrop went down in straight games to England team-mate Nick Matthew.

Willstrop, coached throughout his life by his illustrious father Malcolm Willstrop, enjoyed a glittering junior career.

It was in his final junior year - 2002 - that he won his first PSA Tour title, the Swiss Open, in March, followed by the Santa Barbara Open in October. The following year, he became one of the youngest players ever to play for the senior England team.

6 nick matthew

Despite first achieving a world top five ranking in October 2004, it was in 2006 that Nick Matthew made an indelible mark on squash history when the Englishman, seeded six, upset third-seeded Frenchman Thierry Lincou in the final of the British Open in Nottingham to become the first home-grown champion of the world's most prestigious event for 67 years! Lincou twice levelled the match after the local hero forged game leads - but Matthew bravely stuck to his task and fought back from behind in the decider to claim a sensational 11-8, 5-11, 11-4, 9-11, 11-6 victory after 82 minutes.

"This has to be the pinnacle of my achievements," said the Yorkshireman who had become the first true English champion since Jim Dear won the title in 1939.

The triumph rounded off a sensational year for the 27-year-old from Sheffield, which began when he won the British National title for the first time - later becoming the only person to hold the National and Open titles simultaneously. It also included a final berth in the Tournament of Champions at Grand Central Station in New York, where he made his breakthrough in the quarter-finals after upsetting No2 seed and former champion Jonathon Power - in what transpired to be the colourful Canadian's farewell PSA Tour match when he then announced his retirement! Matthew's 2007 campaign started disappointingly when he suffered a serious ankle injury in his first match of the year at the Canadian Classic in Toronto. Intense treatment for the torn ligament in his right ankle enabled him to make a comeback at the KL Open in Malaysia - where he reached the semi-finals.

Later, in the Canary Wharf Classic in London, Matthew made it through to the semi-finals before losing to England team-mate James Willstrop - who went on to win the title.

He was a surprise semi-finalist too in April's Qatar Classic, where he again went down to the ultimate champion when he lost in a five-game marathon to Egypt's rising star Ramy Ashour.

The disappointment of failing to retain his British Open title in September - when he lost out to world number one Amr Shabana in the quarter-finals - was tempered by his achievement in New York City two weeks later when he won his maiden Super Series crown.

Seeded six in the US Open, Matthew made his breakthrough in the quarter-finals when he upset Thierry Lincou in five games. In the semis, he avenged his Qatar Classic defeat by beating the event's second seed Ramy Ashour in four games, before celebrating his historic triumph in a straight games win over compatriot James Willstrop.

Matthew enjoyed a promising junior career - in which he represented England in both the European and World Team Championships and was runner-up in the 1998 European Junior Open and winner of the 1999 British Junior Open.

7 thierry lincou

Since becoming world number one for the first time January 2004 - confirming his status as the most successful French squash player of all-time - Thierry Lincou has continued to assert himself as a major force on the international squash circuit. Four PSA titles in 2006, culminating with a successful defence of his Pakistan Open crown in November, brought the 31-year-old from Marseille's career Tour tally to 18 titles - and reaching his second successive British Open climax this year lifts his appearances in PSA finals to 34.

It was after a sensational run in 2003, when he reached the semi-finals in nine successive PSA Tour events and went on to contest five finals, that Lincou first topped the world rankings.

Despite keeping his first world No1 ranking for only the first two months of 2004, Lincou went on to capture four major titles: the Super Series Finals in London, the Hong Kong Open, and the Canadian Classic in Toronto (beating home hero Jonathon Power in the final).

Seeded to reach the World Open final in Qatar in December, Lincou did just that - but went one better by beating top seed Lee Beachill to become world champion for the first time.

This success led to Lincou returning to the top of the PSA rankings in January 2005 - a position he held throughout the year! Lincou first stepped onto the winner's rostrum in 2006 when he clinched the Canary Wharf Classic title in February, upsetting favourite Anthony Ricketts in the final - but, perhaps more significantly, ending a ten-year run of defeats by Peter Nicol by beating the Englishman he calls his 'role model' in the semi-finals! He went on to win the inaugural Liverpool 08 Open in England in May, then clinched the English Open crown in Sheffield in August after defeating compatriot Gregory Gaultier in the first all-French PSA Tour final outside France. He reached his first British Open final in September - doing so by ending Palmer's two-year reign as champion in the semi-finals - then beat fellow countryman Gaultier in the Pakistan Open final in Islamabad.

After winning his ninth French National title early in 2007, Thierry went on defend his Canary Wharf Classic title in London - but bowed out in a dramatic semi-final, losing to John White in a 95-minute marathon.

After this, a calf injury caused his withdrawal from both the Qatar Classic and Kuwait Open - but the stylish Frenchman bounced back in the new English Grand Prix in Birmingham, upsetting the now higher-seeded Gaultier to reach the final. And just two weeks later, Lincou was again in action in a final, contesting the British Open climax for the second year - but finishing as runner-up again after this time losing to Gaultier.

Away from the squash court, Thierry took time out in July 2006 to marry long-time partner Celine, mother of his daughter Jade - and, in July this year, the couple celebrated the birth of their second daughter Paolo.

10 JOHN WHITE

The Australian-born Scot, widely-known as the hardest-hitter of the ball, has enjoyed a highly successful career on the international circuit. Runner-up in the British Open and World Open in 2002, John White went on to top the world rankings in March 2004. Since relocating in the USA in March 2005, he has reached eight PSA Tour finals in his new adopted home country - winning four of them! His 2007 campaign included a return to the British National Championship final for the second time. White boasts 12 PSA Tour titles and his courageous appearance in the climax of the Canary Wharf Classic in London in March marked his 30th Tour final.

White went full-time in 1991, but not until April 98 did he break into the top twenty, before enjoying a great run at the top of the game in the new millennium which led to him topping the world rankings at the beginning of March 2004.

"Becoming number one in the world is one of the major goals of anyone's career, so I am delighted to have achieved this," said White at the time.

Born and raised in Queensland, Australia, where his parents owned a squash club, he moved to Belgium in the late nineties and, after a spell in The Hague in the Netherlands, moved to Nottingham in England in 2000. In September 98, he changed his allegiance to Scotland (his father was born in Edinburgh) and, after winning the Scottish Nationals in December, represented his new country the following year in the European Championships, the World Cup and the World Team Championships.

After living in Nottingham for five years, where he trained at the University Sports Centre under its Director Vaughan Williams, White moved in March 2005 to the USA, where he and his wife and four young children established a new base in Philadelphia.

White confirmed his credentials as the game's hardest-hitter in 2005 when a ball struck by his racket was clocked at 172 mph - a world record which has yet to be surpassed! (The attempt was made following revelations that Andy Roddick had established a record of 150mph in tennis!).

Four PSA Tour title wins in 2006 - the Dayton Open, Virginia Pro Championship, Motor City Open and Baltimore City Open - saw White return to the world top ten at eight in the New Year.

Seeded four, he made it into the final of the Dayton Open in January 2007 - then in March established a personal record when he reached the final of the Canary Wharf Classic in London after enduring four successive five-game battles in the tournament. He courageously took a 2/1 lead over James Willstrop in the climax, but ultimately went down in five in an exhilarating match which earned the pair a prolonged standing ovation from the sell-out crowd.

In May, White clocked up his 31st PSA Tour final - and the eighth on his new 'home soil' since moving to the USA in 2005 - when he reached the climax of the North American Open in San Francisco.

11 WAEL EL HINDI

A PSA member since 1999, Wael El Hindi has long been regarded as one of Egypt's most talented players - first making his mark in the USA in 1998 when he reached the final of the World Junior Championship as a ? seed. Steady progress on the Tour has seen the 27-year-old from Giza - who currently divides his time between Egypt and England - rise to a career-high world No10 position in the world rankings in May this year after securing five PSA Tour titles from 10 final appearances.

El Hindi reached his first Tour final in Spain at the Trofeo Aquarius Open in October 1999 - but it was a further two years later, in the same country, that he claimed his maiden title at the Spanish Open in Tenerife, in September 2001.

Early the following year, he won his first trophy on home soil at the El Ahly Open in Cairo.

In 2004, El Hindi began a love-affair with Malaysia where he won the Kuala Lumpur Open in February - then went on to reach the final of the Malaysian Open later in the year, and again in 2005, in both cases exceeding his seeding! His standout achievements in 2006 included home country success in the Heliopolis Open in August 2006 - when he made his breakthrough after beating Finland's No2 seed Olli Tuominen in the quarter-finals.

The following month, unseeded, he burst into the last eight of the World Open - also in Egypt - after beating seeded compatriot Karim Darwish and England's Nick Matthew.

El Hindi began his 2007 campaign by again beating higher-seeded Darwish en-route to a semi-final berth in the Canadian Classic in January. In April, he produced impressive performances in both the Kuwait Open and Qatar Classic (in Doha featuring upsets over Anthony Ricketts and Lee Beachill) which saw him leap four places to make his top ten debut in May.

In July, he successfully defended his Heliopolis Open crown after overcoming fellow Egyptians in each round - Mohd Ali Anwar Reda, Omar Elborolossy, Mohammed Abbas, then Karim Darwish in the final! El Hindi credits his recent success to working on his fitness with British squash legend Jonah Barrington in England.

12 lee beachill

With a world number one ranking to his name, plus nine PSA Tour titles including two at the US Open, two Commonwealth Games gold medals, three British National Championship titles and three successful World Team Championship campaigns for England, there is little more that Lee Beachill has to prove in squash.

True to the characteristic of a Yorkshireman, Beachill is a determined young man. But the 29-year-old achieved everything he has in the sport after a serious road accident in December 1997 in which he broke his back in two places! Despite being told that he would spend at least four months on his back - and would never play squash again - he was back on court after some eight weeks and made his tournament comeback at the 1998 British Open, in which he won six qualifying matches before being drawn to play favourite (and the eventual winner) Peter Nicol in the first round! In 2001, Beachill became the lowest seed ever to capture the British National title - a year afterwards, becoming the first man in history to successfully defend the crown. After winning his third title in 2005, he went on the following year to become the first player ever to reach the final six years in a row.

In the 2002 Commonwealth Games in England, Beachill partnered Peter Nicol in the Men's Doubles and collected England's only gold medal of the Games. Four years later in Melbourne, the pair become the first players ever to successfully defend any squash title, beating the same Australians Stewart Boswell and Anthony Ricketts for the second successive time in the final.

Three major PSA titles in 2004 - the Bermuda Open, English Open and the US Open - gave Beachill his long-awaited reward in October when he reached No1 in the Dunlop PSA world rankings. He ended the year reaching the World Open final, for the first time, in Qatar.

In 2006, he reached the Super Series Finals final for the first after beating Anthony Ricketts, Thierry Lincou and England team-mate Peter Nicol en-route. But he lost to Ricketts in his second meeting in the event - then avenged this defeat by beating the top seeded Australian as he fought through to the final of the Hungarian Open in October.

Beachill began his 2007 campaign by reaching the climax of the Virginia Pro Championship in the USA. Two months later, he exceeded his seeding by reaching the Kuwait Open quarter-finals.

The 29-year-old ended his two-year title drought at the Wolverhampton Open in September when he triumphed over Australian Cameron Pilley in the final of the new Tour event in England - success which brought his career PSA title tally to nine.

Later, Beachill bettered his seeding in the US Open to make it to the quarter-finals of the Super Series event in New York.