Abdelfattah Amr () (14 February 1909 – 23 November 1988), better known as "F.D. Amr Bey" or simply "Amr Bey", was an Egyptian diplomat and squash player. He won the British Open men's title six consecutive times (1933–38), and is considered the first truly dominant squash player in the sport.
Name
Amr's full legal name in Arabic is Abdelfattah Amr. "Bey" is not a name but a nobiliary title, similar to the British title of "sir". On 20 November 1943, Amr was given the higher-ranking title of "pasha", one of the most important in monarchical Egypt. The title of "Pasha" supersedes that of "Bey", which is why Amr is sometimes referred to by the pseudonym Amr Pasha.
Squash career
Amr was born into a prominent family from Abu Tij in Asyut Governorate, which is situated in Upper Egypt. He moved to England in 1928 as an Egyptian diplomat. He had never practiced squash before, his main sports at the time being tennis and polo. He represented Egypt in tennis at the Davis Cup. Amr was introduced to squash while in the United Kingdom, and he took to the game quickly.
The British Open men's title was only recently inaugurated at the time Amr emerged on the scene, but it quickly became the most significant title in the game and came to be viewed by many to be the equivalent to a world championship for the sport. The men's final at the time was played under a "challenge" system, with a challenger taking on the defending champion in a best-of-three-legs match-up, with matches being played at both the two players' respective squash clubs. In 1933, Amr took on Don Butcher, who had won the title in 1931 and 1932. The first match of the tie was played at Butcher's club, the Conservative Club, with Amr winning 9–0, 9–7, 9–1. The second leg was played at Amr's club, the Bath Club, which Amr won 9–5, 6–9, 9–2, 9–1 to capture the title.
No challenger emerged to take on Amr in the British Open final in 1934, so he retained the title by default. Butcher challenged Amr again in the 1935 final, with Amr again winning in two matches – 9–4, 8–10, 10–8, 9–0 and 9–6, 6–9, 9–2, 0–9, 9–5.
In 1936–38, Amr faced Jim Dear in three consecutive British Open finals, with Amr winning on all three occasions in two straight matches.
In addition to his six British Open titles, Amr won the British Amateur Championship six times (in 1931–3 and 1935–7), an exploit which is recognized by the Guinness Book of Records. Along with Jonah Barrington, Amr is the only player to win both the British Open and British Amateur titles in the same year, a feat he accomplished five times.
Amr is widely considered to have raised the level of the sport of squash to a new heights through both his outstanding shot-making ability, and his exceptional speed and fitness.
British Open
Amr won the British Open Men's Championships six consecutive times.
Diplomatic career
Amr retired from squash in 1938 while still the top player in the game in order to pursue his career as a diplomat. He served as Egypt's ambassador to the United Kingdom from 1945 to 1952. At the time, King Farouk of Egypt was eager to improve Egypt's relations with the United Kingdom. Since Amr was known to be on good terms with the British authorities, the king appointed him on 11 November 1944 as minister plenipotentiary at the Egyptian Embassy in London, where Amr had previously held the post of honorary counselor. Amr replaced Hassan Pasha Nashaat, who was removed from his position after marrying a non-Egyptian. Amr was promoted to the rank of ambassador in August 1945, and always tried to influence King Farouk's decisions in favour of British interests. This led famed intellectual Taha Hussein to state that Amr was "more suited to be Britain's ambassador in Egypt than Egypt's ambassador in Britain."