01-Aug-07:
Nicol David Extends Grip On
World Number One Ranking
Malaysia's Nicol David moves into her 16th month as world
number one, according to the new August Women's World Squash
Rankings published today by the Women's International Squash
Players' Association (WISPA).
Victory in last month's CIMB Malaysian Open on home soil has
extended the 23-year-old from Penang's lead ahead of
second-placed Australian Natalie Grinham, a surprise
semi-final casualty in Kuala Lumpur
David's KL triumph marked her 20th WISPA Wold Tour title -
and her 14th successive Tour final since reaching her first
World Open climax in Hong Kong in December 2005.
The world number one will join her WISPA colleagues in their
ongoing pursuit of Tour silverware at the inaugural CIMB
Singapore Masters which gets underway today
Natalie Grinham's older sister Rachael Grinham is at three
in the new list, ahead of England's Tania Bailey - runner-up
in KL - at four, and USA's Natalie Grainger at number five
New Zealand's Shelley Kitchen leaps three places to a
career-high No10 in the new list. The 27-year-old from
Auckland, winner of the bronze medal in the 2006
Commonwealth Games in Melbourne, clinched the titles in the
two most recent WISPA Tour events in which she competed -
the North Shore Open in her homeland in June and the
Australian Open last month
Compatriot Jaclyn Hawkes is also enjoying a best-ever
ranking this month after moving to 19 following an
impressive Tour run which included a surprise final berth in
the Irish Open in April.
1 [1] Nicol David MAS
2 [2] Natalie Grinham AUS
3 [3] Rachael Grinham AUS
4 [4] Tania Bailey ENG
5 [5] Natalie Grainger USA
6 [6] Vicky Botwright ENG
7 [7] Omneya Abdel Kawy EGY
8 [8] Madeline Perry IRL
9 [9] Vanessa Atkinson NED
10 [13] Shelley Kitchen NZL
11 [12] Laura-Jane Lengthorn ENG
12 [10] Jenny Duncalf ENG
13 [11] Alison Waters ENG
14 [14] Rebecca Chiu HKG
15 [15] Engy Kheirallah EGY
16 [16] Kasey Brown AUS
17 [17] Annelize Naude NED
18 [19] Sharon Wee MAS
19 [20] Jaclyn Hawkes NZL
20 [18] Isabelle Stoehr FRA
Shabana Holds Onto World No1 Ranking
In a relatively unchanged list, Egypt's Amr Shabana holds
onto his number one position in the new August Dunlop PSA
Men's World Squash Rankings, announced today by the
Professional Squash Association.
The 28-year-old from Cairo is ahead of compatriot Ramy
Ashour at No2; Australia's World Open champion David Palmer
at three; and Frenchmen Gregory Gaultier and Thierry Lincou
in fourth and fifth place, respectively.
Australian Stewart Boswell, runner-up in last month's CIMB
Malaysian Open, rises to 11.
Englishman Peter Barker also moves up a single slot, to
celebrate a career-high No15 ranking in the new list.
PSA Tour veteran Alex Gough also has much to celebrate - a
return to the top 20 for the first time this year. The
36-year-old Welshman, who reached a career-high No5 in July
1998, won the Irish Open in April - his first PSA Tour
trophy for three years.
1 [1] Amr Shabana EGY
2 [2] Ramy Ashour EGY
3 [3] David Palmer AUS
4 [4] Gregory Gaultier FRA
5 [5] Thierry Lincou FRA
6 [6] Anthony Ricketts AUS
7 [7] James Willstrop ENG
8 [8] Nick Matthew ENG
9 [9] John White SCO
10 [10] Wael El Hindi EGY
11 [12] Stewart Boswell AUS
12 [11] Karim Darwish EGY
13 [13] Lee Beachill ENG
14 [14] Mohammed Abbas EGY
15 [16] Peter Barker ENG
16 [15] Adrian Grant ENG
17 [19] Mohd Azlan Iskandar MAS
18 [17] Olli Tuominen FIN
19 [18] Ong Beng Hee MAS
20 [21] Alex Gough WAL
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