Nicol moves to third on all-time ranking list

Nicol David celebrates another glorious milestone in her illustrious Squash career by moving into her 41st month as world number one in the September Women's World Rankings - thus surpassing her mentor Sarah Fitz-Gerald as the player with the third longest ever reign at the top of the women's rankings.

Now just 26, the Malaysian superstar first topped the WISPA list for three months from January 2006 – then regained pole position in August, holding it unchallenged until today.

With New Zealand legend Susan Devoy boasting a total of 105 months as world number one, and Australian Michelle Martin holding second place in the all-time list with 58 months, Nicol has now finally got the better of her regular Australian training partner Fitz-Gerald, who achieved 40 months ((not forgetting Heather McKay, who was of course undisputed world number one for 16 years, before the world rankings were established)

David added to her remarkable WISPA World Tour title tally in August, winning both the CIMB Malaysian Open and CIMB Singapore Masters – dropping only three games over both WISPA Gold events. The Penangite hopes to claim the 40th Tour title of her career at this month's British Open in Manchester, where she is seeded to win the sport's prestigious title for the fourth time in five years.

In an unchanged world top ten, USA star Natalie Grainger retains her second position, ahead of Dutch number one Natalie Grinham at No3, and her older sister Rachael Grinham, who represents Australia, in fourth place.

The highest mover is Australia's Kasey Brown, who rises to a career-best No11 – while New Zealander Jaclyn Hawkes also celebrates a career-high ranking at No14. Brown, from New South Wales, reached the Malaysian Open quarter-finals unseeded, while Hawkes also achieved an unseeded quarter-final berth in the Cayman Islands Open earlier in the year.

But France's Camille Serme maintains her upward momentum in fine style by establishing a firm footing in the top 20 at a best ever No18. The 20-year-old from Creteil picked up her third Tour title of the year at the Alexandria Sporting Club Open – claiming victory as the eighth seed – and is consistently closing in on her French rival Isabelle Stoehr, the world No12.