Egypt's Ramy Ashour received the PSA Player of the Year award for the first time at the World Squash Awards in Rotterdam.
At a star-studded dinner held during the PSA World Open in the Dutch 'city of sport', the 24-year-old world number two from Cairo pipped fellow countryman Mohamed El Shorbagy, Dutch star Laurens Jan Anjema, and 2010 winner Nick Matthew, the world No1 from England, to the title.
Nicolas Mueller also became the first Swiss player to win a World Squash Award when he received the PSA Young Player of the Year award.
Ashour, one of the youngest players in the world top 20, is enjoying a distinguished career on the PSA World Tour. Twice a winner of the PSA Young Player of the Year award, the record two-time world junior champion rapidly made his mark on the senior tour. He first topped the world rankings in January 2010 after bursting into the top 10 just two years after turning pro - and has already picked up three PSA World Series titles this year.
Mueller, a 22-year-old from Hirzel, near Zurich, has made rapid strides on the Tour since joining the PSA in 2005. He qualified for three World Series events this year, and at the Qatar Classic in Doha celebrated his first quarter-final berth after the best win of his career, over four-time world champion Amr Shabana. Muller celebrated a career-high world No22 ranking this month.
"Ramy is one of the most exciting players on the Tour and a major draw wherever he plays," said PSA CEO Alex Gough. "He was the board's unanimous vote as our player of the year.
"It's always special when a player from one of the sport's less well-known countries bursts through - and Nicolas Mueller of Switzerland is one of our latest breakthrough stars. He has already shown his promise and will undoubtedly be one of the game's top players in the near future."
The World Squash Awards were founded in 2005 by Eventis Sports Marketing.
For all the latest Tour news: www.psaworldtour.com