He was the first Egyptian man to be crowned world champion when he claimed the initial of four global titles as a 20-year-old but, as he assessed Mostafa Asal’s chances of following in his footsteps in Chicago, Amr Shabana reckons his young compatriot will have a target on his back.

Shabana, arguably the game’s ever greatest left-hander, described Asal, who is returning from a six-week PSA ban for dangerous play this week, as a bit of a “cartoon character” due to his penchant for the melodramatic. The former World No.1 reckons this has made him an idol with the young back in Egypt and around the squash globe.

Reflecting on those who have gone before and dared not only to walk the line but cross it when it comes to gamesmanship, Shabana warned that at some point in the Windy City  there will come a point when all this will come into play – perhaps decisively.

The four-time world champion told Squash Mad: “I don’t know Asal personally and I haven’t seen him play live before but what I’m hearing he is a bit like (Ahmed) Barada (former World No.2 and World Open runner-up), he is a very physical player and he gets into people’s heads.

“It is also similar to Barada in that I know all the youngsters idolise him as he is a bit of a cartoon character in the way he goes about his business and is very dramatic in how he does things and the kids love that.

“But that doesn’t go smoothly with the older players, the guys who are trying to keep it together day in and day out.

“So it is a tricky situation as you need to use your gamesmanship to get through matches and you have the likes of (Jonathon) Power who did that very well but there is a certain line that if you cross it you put a target on your back.

“For me I think that is where Asal is right now and it will be really interesting to see how he balances it as at some stage this will be an issue during this World Championship and Asal has a fine line to walk.”

Shabana added: “Ramy Ashour was a year outside of squash and managed to come back but they are two different players so I just don’t know he will react but I believe this World Championships is the most open for years.

“One thing Asal has going for him is that he is young and has a lot of drive but on the flip side I think he is the no.1 target for many of the other players now and so it depends on how he perceives himself.”

Shabana, who became the lowest ever ranked world champion when he claimed his first title from a No.9 seeding berth in Lahore, Pakistan, in 2003, believes that 20 years after his first world title triumph an outsider could be ready to emulate him.

The Maestro waxed: “It’s totally open. The Worlds is a tournament above all others that is most about mentality and keeping it together on the day.

“You need to gain confidence in the first few rounds and get through them without being scarred physically and if you make the quarters and have kept it together you have a chance.

“Then it is about keeping it abstract but at the same time focussing on each point so you need to have a balance between both, thinking outside the box but staying in it.

“So, I think there are maybe half a dozen players outside the top 10 who have a chance this year as especially the lower-ranked players have more passion and drive to improve themselves, they have something to prove.

“Iif I managed to do it being outside the top eight, especially players like Fares Dessouky and Mazen Hesham, this could be their year.”

This week on SM: On the 20^th anniversary of his first world success ‘The Maestro’ will reflect on his epic dark-horse run to global glory, including the day he won the match he describes as “the toughest of my squash career”