# Thierry Lincou

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.

## 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 | Amr Shabana | 15–11, 11–15, 15–8, 15–14 |
| Winner | 2004 | Doha, Qatar | 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 | Nick Matthew | 11–8, 5–11, 11–4, 9–11, 11–6 |
| Runner-up | 2007 | 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 | David Palmer | 15-13, 15-6, 15-9 |
| Winner | 2004 | 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 | David Palmer | 11-9, 8-11, 11-1, 4-11, 11-7 |
| Winner | 2006 | 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 | 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 | 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 | 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 | Not Held | QF | QF | A | NH | 0 / 9 | 21–9 |
| Tournament of Champions | NA | 1R | 1R | 2R | F | QF | F | QF | QF | Absent | Absent | QF | A | 1R | 0 / 10 | 17-10 |
| North American Open | Not Held | Not Held | Not Held | Not Held | Not Held | Not World Series | Not World Series | Absent | Absent | QF | QF | QF | A | 2R | 0 / 4 | 7–4 |
| Kuwait PSA Cup | Not Held | Not Held | Not Held | Not Held | 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 | Not Held | Not Held | Not Held | Not Held | Not Held | SF | QF | QF | QF | QF | Not Held | Not Held | Not Held | 0 / 5 | 11–5 |
| Pakistan International | SF | Not Held | Not Held | 2R | NH | A | W | W | NH | NWS | Not Held | Not Held | Not Held | 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 %) |
Note: NA = Not Available