A legend of the future conquered a legend of the present in the Virtual Spectator Bermuda Masters on Saturday night when Amr Shabana beat Peter Nicol in five magical games to claim the coveted title.

In front of a capacity crowd at BHS, the week-old tournament came to a thrilling, edge-of-the-seat conclusion as the Englishman battled back from two games to one down before narrowly succumbing in the fifth 8-11.

The final score read 9-11, 11-6, 11-7, 2-11, 11-8 to the current world champion and world number one.

The lead-up to the final was charged with energy as the Gombeys performed live on court and master of ceremonies Robert Edwards revved up the crowd with his passionate commentary.

Saturday?s final was the last Nicol will ever play in Bermuda given his planned retirement later this year after 15 years at the very top of professional squash.

To mark the occasion, the great man was honoured with a standing ovation when he made his grand entrance into the Jessie Vesey Sports Centre, while Edwards, who has been a friend of his for many years and watched his career from the very beginning, fought to hold back the tears.

But it was then down to the serious business and the question on everybody?s lips was did Nicol really have the desire within him for one last push for glory?

All week he had reminded spectators that the Commonwealth Games ? where he won two gold medals ? was what he had been building towards for the past 18 months while admitting to being ?mentally and emotionally exhausted?.

But against David Palmer in the quarters and to a lesser extent against Gregory Gaultier in the semis, Nicol looked fresh and relaxed while the quality of his squash was simply too good for opponents several years his junior.

This trend continued in the opening game, where his silky movement, precise length and early volleying put Shabana under enormous pressure.

As he had done the previous night against Thierry Lincou, however, the Egyptian emerged after the break between games like a man possessed, firing his way into a 7-2 lead with a succession of winners.

Not to be outdone, the veteran lefthander clawed his way back to take the score to 8-6, although a couple of fortuitous nicks from his opponent in the back corners gave Shabana the game.

In contrast to the rest of the match, the third was a fairly scrappy, error-strewn affair which was not in keeping with the generally high quality nature of the match.

Three consecutive tins from Shabana at the outset gave Nicol the impetus as he fought his way to a 6-3 lead ? but the world champion?s phenomenal skill on the volley, particularly on the forehand side, came to the fore at precisely the right moment as he won the next eight out of nine points to claim the game.

At two games to one down, the odds on a Nicol comeback were long indeed.

But the 33-year-old had defied expectations all week, and when, in the following game, he found himself 10-0 up ? ultimately winning the fourth 11-2 ? all his many supporters in the crowd dared to dream that he was about to pull off a miracle.

An incredibly long rally at the beginning of the fifth and final game, however, which ended rather frustratingly in a let, seemed to take its toll on the previously tireless Englishman and all of a sudden he was 7-1 down.

Yet Nicol just does not know when he is beaten, and he somehow summoned the strength to force his way back into the match, bringing the score to 9-7 and whipping the crowd into a frenzy.

The world champion held his nerve when he most needed to, taking the score to 10-8 before a sumptuous forehand volley kill ended the titanic struggle and brought the crowd to their feet to herald the efforts of two champions of the sport.

Afterwards, a modest Shabana, who has now further cemented his world number one ranking thanks to winning what is the second most prestigious event in world squash, paid tribute to Nicol in glowing terms.

?I am running out of words to describe him,? the ?Prince of Cairo? said. ?He is one of the legends of the game and has raised the bar for all of us players over the years and I have an enormous amount of respect for him.

?I?ve really enjoyed this week. This is one of if not the best organised tournament in the world and it is a real pleasure to play in front of you. It has been a tough week and I?ve had some very hard matches. But I?ve been playing well and I felt good. I?m so proud to have won.?

Nicol, meanwhile, was far from disappointed with losing out in the final.

?It was a great game and I thoroughly enjoyed playing in it,? he said.

?It was played in a very good spirit ? I think there were only a handful of lets and strokes ? which is how the game should be played. Amr played unbelievably well and just had a bit too much for me in the end.

?I fought hard, but he has an unbelievable forehand which I kept hitting it to! He?s going to be the top player for quite a few years yet and he fully deserves to be where he is.?