Thierry Lincou

Thierry Lincou
Nickname(s)"titi"
Country France
Born (1976-04-02) 2 April 1976 (age 48)
ResidenceBoston, USA
Height1.8 m (5 ft 11 in)
Weight78 kg (172 lb)
Turned pro1994
Retired2012
PlaysRight handed
Coached byPaul Sciberras
Franck Carlino
Racquet usedTecnifibre
Websitewww.thierry-lincou.com
Men's singles
Highest rankingNo. 1 (January, 2004)
Title(s)23
Tour final(s)44
World OpenW (2004)
Medal record
Men's squash
Representing  France
World Games
Silver medal – second place 2005 Duisburg Singles
World Championships
Gold medal – first place 2004 Doha Singles
Silver medal – second place 2003 Lahore Singles
Bronze medal – third place 2006 Doha Singles
World Team Championships
Silver medal – second place 2003 Vienna Team
Silver medal – second place 2009 Odense Team
Bronze medal – third place 2005 Islamabad Team
Bronze medal – third place 2007 Chennai Team
Bronze medal – third place 2013 Mulhouse Team
Updated on 2 July 2012.

Thierry Lincou (born 2 April 1976, in La Réunion) is a retired professional squash player from France. He reached the World No. 1 ranking in January 2004. That year, Lincou won the World Open title, the Hong Kong Open and the Super Series Finals. He has been known as one of the greatest lateral movers in the game, as well as being one of the fittest players in the history of squash. His nickname, "titi", was coined by a former competitor, Amr Shabana. He called Thierry "titi-tight," because of his precision and tight shots.[citation needed]

Career overview

Lincou has enjoyed considerable success at the elite level of the game, rising steadily through the ranks since joining the professional squash circuit in 1994. He has beaten all of the world's top squash players including Peter Nicol, Jonathon Power, David Palmer, Lee Beachill, and many others. Lincou has been one of the most consistent players on the circuit – reaching the semi-finals of nine successive PSA events in 2003, and holding the World No. 1 ranking throughout 2005.

In 2003, Lincou was a member of the French team which finished runners-up to Australia at the World Team Squash Championships.

In 2004, he reached the PSA World Ranking Number 1 and became the first Frenchman to top the world rankings. In December, he won the 2004 World Open Squash Championship in Doha in Qatar against Lee Beachill 5–11, 11–2, 2–11, 12–10, 11–8. He became the first Frenchman to win the World Championship. In the same year, he won the Hong Kong Open against Nick Matthew in the final.

In 2006, he won 4 PSA World Tour titles including the Canary Wharf Squash Classic in London and the prestigious Pakistan Open in Islamabad.

He was runner-up of the prestigious British Open in 2006 against Nick Matthew and in 2007 against Grégory Gaultier.

He won 11 titles of the French Nationals and was one of only five players to have maintained themselves in the top 10 without interruption for 10 years at the PSA World Tour.

In October 2012, Thierry retired at the age of 36 after winning the Bluenose Squash Classic, the 23rd PSA World Tour title of his career.

He is currently coaching the Massachusetts Institute of Technology varsity squash team.

World Open final appearances

1 title & 1 runner-up

Outcome Year Location Opponent in the final Score in the final
Runner-up 2003 Lahore, Pakistan Egypt Amr Shabana 15–11, 11–15, 15–8, 15–14
Winner 2004 Doha, Qatar England Lee Beachill 5–11, 11–2, 2–11, 12–10, 11–8

Major World Series final appearances

British Open: 2 finals (0 titles, 2 runner-up)

Outcome Year Opponent in the final Score in the final
Runner-up 2006 England Nick Matthew 11–8, 5–11, 11–4, 9–11, 11–6
Runner-up 2007 France Grégory Gaultier 11–4, 10–12, 11–6, 11–3

Hong Kong Open: 2 finals (1 title, 1 runner-up)

Outcome Year Opponent in the final Score in the final
Runner-up 2001 Australia David Palmer 15-13, 15-6, 15-9
Winner 2004 England Nick Matthew 11-8, 11-4, 13-11

Pakistan International: 2 finals (2 titles, 0 runner-up)

Outcome Year Opponent in the final Score in the final
Winner 2005 Australia David Palmer 11-9, 8-11, 11-1, 4-11, 11-7
Winner 2006 France Grégory Gaultier 11-8, 6-11, 11-5, 11-5

Career statistics

Singles performance timeline (since 1999)

Terms
W–L Win–loss NWS Not a World Series event
NG50 Not an international event NH Not held
A Absent LQ/#Q Lost in qualifying draw and round number
RR Lost at round robin stage #R Lost in the early rounds
QF Quarterfinalist SF Semifinalist
SF-B Semifinalist, won bronze medal F Runner-up
F Runner-up, won silver medal W Winner

To prevent confusion and double counting, information in this table is updated only once a tournament or the player's participation in the tournament has concluded.

Tournament 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 Career SR Career W-L
PSA World Tour Tournaments
World Open 2R Not Held QF F W QF SF QF 2R QF QF 3R A 1 / 11 30–10
British Open 2R 2R A SF A SF A F F SF 2R Not Held A 0 / 8 19–8
Hong Kong Open 1R 1R F QF NH W NH 2R SF SF QF QF 1R A 1 / 11 21–10
Qatar Classic Not Held QF QF SF NH SF A QF SF QF QF 2R A 0 / 9 20–9
PSA Masters NH QF 2R QF F SF QF SF Not Held QF QF A NH 0 / 9 21–9
Tournament of Champions NA 1R 1R 2R F QF F QF QF Absent QF A 1R 0 / 10 17-10
North American Open Not Held Not World Series Absent QF QF QF A 2R 0 / 4 7–4
Kuwait PSA Cup Not Held 1R A NH A SF NH QF 3R NH 0 / 4 6–4
US Open A 1R NH SF SF 1R A QF QF NH A QF SF A 0 / 8 13–8
Saudi International Not Held SF QF QF QF QF Not Held 0 / 5 11–5
Pakistan International SF Not Held 2R NH A W W NH NWS Not Held 2 / 4 14–2
Win Ratio 0 / 4 0 / 5 0 / 4 0 / 8 0 / 5 2 / 7 1 / 6 1 / 8 0 / 7 0 / 7 0 / 7 0 / 8 0 / 5 0 / 2 4 / 81
(4,9 %)
NA
Win–loss 5 / 4 3 / 5 7 / 4 16 / 8 18 / 5 17 / 5 19 / 5 21 / 7 17 / 7 17 / 7 16 / 7 15 / 8 7 / 5 1 / 2 NA 179 / 79
(69,4 %)

[1] Note: NA = Not Available

See also

References

  1. ^ "PSA-World Tour | Rankings | Player Profile | Thierry Lincou". Archived from the original on 30 May 2011.
Sporting positions
Preceded by World No. 1
January 2004 – February 2004
January 2005 – December 2005
Succeeded by
Awards and achievements
Preceded by
PSA Player of the Year
2005
Succeeded by