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Darwish reclaims top
spot
After losing his world
number one ranking last month to Gregory Gaultier
for the first time this year, Egypt's Karim Darwish
has reclaimed the title from the Frenchman in the new
December Dunlop PSA Men's World Squash Rankings.
The
28-year-old from Cairo first topped the world rankings in
January - and held onto the position until Gaultier took
over in November. But victory in the PSA Super Series
Sky Open in his home
city in September, and the 27th Tour final appearance of his
career at the Qatar Classic last month, boosted Darwish's
ranking points tally to see him overtake his French rival.
Heading the final PSA ranking list of the year rounds
off a magnificent 2009 for Darwish who was also voted the
'PSA Player of the Year' at the World Squash Awards in
London last weekend.
Amr Shabana
might have expected to see out the year as world number one
after becoming world champion for the fourth time last month
after winning the Kuwait
World Open title in style. But the left-hander,
whose 33-month reign as world number one was ended by
compatriot Darwish in January, sustained a shoulder injury
in Kuwait and was forced to withdraw from the
Qatar Classic.
Shabana slips to three, just ahead of England's Nick
Matthew, winner of the Qatar Classic, who holds
onto fourth place.
Two players make six-place leaps
in the top 20 – Egyptian Wael El Hindi to
No10 and Englishman Daryl Selby to a
career-high No11. After an indifferent first half of
the year, El Hindi made it through to the quarter-finals of
both the Sky Open and World Open against the seedings – and
is now just two places away from his highest-ever ranking.
Selby, who began the year outside the top 30, has
enjoyed an impressive recent run – reaching the
quarter-finals of both the British Open and
Hong Kong Open unseeded, and last
week lifted the
Dutch Open crown in Rotterdam as the fourth seed.
The 27-year-old from Essex now becomes the fourth
highest-ranked Englishman for the first time.
Egyptian teenager Mohamed El Shorbagy
re-stakes his claim as the youngest player in the top 20 by
re-entering the elite group at 20. The talent of the
18-year-old from Alexandria was recognised in London this
weekend when El Shorbagy won the PSA Young Player of the
Year award.
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David Stays Top, But Duncalf
Soars Into Second Place
Two rare defeats in November have not removed Malaysia's
Nicol David from the world number one slot she has held
uninterrupted since August 2006 - but her English conqueror
Jenny Duncalf leaps four places to a career-high No2
in the new December Women's World Squash Rankings.
 It
was following 18 defeats in a row over the previous ten
years that Duncalf beat David for the first time in the
Carol Weymuller US Open in New York early in November -
and went on to win the title as the fourth seed.
But the 27-year-old from Harrogate was to repeat her
achievement only two weeks later in the
Qatar Classic, the WISPA Gold
championship in Doha, where she recovered from 1/2 down to
defeat the Malaysian superstar in five - and again go on to
win the title, the biggest of her career.
The Qatar Classic success rounded of a sensational month for
Duncalf, who netted three WISPA Tour titles in all,
including the Soho Square
Championship in Egypt at the beginning of November.
Natalie Grinham, who revealed that she is expecting
her first child next year, holds onto third place in the new
list, ahead of older sister Rachael Grinham at four - while
USA's Natalie Grainger and England's Alison Waters
slip to five and six, respectively.
Fresh from receiving her WISPA Most Improved Player of the
Year award at the World Squash Awards in London at the
weekend, Camille Serme moves up a single place to
No13. The position not only marks a career-best ranking for
the 20-year-old from Creteil, but makes Serme the
highest-ranked Frenchwoman for the first time, ahead of
career-long rival Isabelle Stoehr.
But the biggest leap in the top 20 is claimed by Egypt's
Engy Kheirallah. The 27-year-old from Cairo's
quarter-final berth in the Qatar Classic and runner-up
finish in last week's Sharm El Sheikh Open - both against
the seedings and both including upsets over her
higher-ranked fellow countrywoman Omneya Abdel Kawy -
see Kheirallah jump seven places to No14. |
TOP
20 WISPA