Perry Powers Into
World's Top Three

Madeline Perry leaps three places to a career-high No3 in the latest Women's World Squash Rankings to become the highest-ranked Irish woman of all-time in the April list.

The list is headed by Nicol David, the Malaysian who marks her 60th month as world number one, with England's Jenny Duncalf celebrating her 13th successive month in second place.

But making the world top three is a remarkable achievement for Perry, the 34-year-old from Banbridge, near Belfast, who suffered a career-threatening head injury in October 2007 in Milan.

Winner of a twelfth Irish national title in December, Perry boasts eight Tour titles from 20 final appearances. After picking up her biggest title at the Australian Open last August, the new world number three reached her latest final at last month's CIMB KL Open in Malaysia where, seeded seven, she ultimately went down to local favourite Nicol David.

The New Zealand hierarchy changes for the third time in three months as Joelle King overtakes Auckland's Jaclyn Hawkes to reach a career-equalling-high No14.

And US teenager Amanda Sobhy moves up a single place to a best-ever No17. The 17-year-old left-hander from New York, the highest-ranked North American woman who became world junior champion last year, has already reached three Tour quarter-finals this year - and made the Harrow Greenwich Open semi-finals in January as a qualifier.

Also celebrating a career-high ranking in the new list is England's Sarah Kippax. The 27-year-old from Halifax has already made the quarter-finals of two WISPA World Tour events this year unseeded.

April top 20 (inc. points average):

Matthew Extends
World Number One Lead

Title success in his third PSA event of the year last month has extended Englishman Nick Matthew's lead at the top of the Dunlop PSA Men's World Squash Rankings, according to the April list .

The world champion from Sheffield successfully defended his ISS Canary Wharf Classic crown on home soil in London to bring up the 20th Tour title of his career.

In an unchanged top ten, Matthew leads Egyptian rival Ramy Ashour, with fellow Egyptian Karim Darwish - winner of last month's CIMB KL Open - in third place, and England's James Willstrop at No4.

The first riser in the new list is David Palmer, the illustrious Australian who is a two-time World Open and four-time British Open champion. The US-based 34-year-old reached two Tour finals in North America in March, winning the Rocky Mountain Open in Calgary to secure his 27th career Tour title. Palmer moves up two places to No11.

Hisham Ashour, the 28-year-old Egyptian who beat Palmer to lift the National Bank Financial Group Open title in Canada, rises to a career-high No14 - reducing the gap behind his second-placed younger brother Ramy Ashour.

But Pakistan's Nasir Iqbal will be celebrating his 17th birthday today in style after rocketing 133 places to a career-high world No 149 following his sensational title victory this week in the PSF-CDA Pakistan International Circuit No1 in Islamabad where, unseeded, he knocked out the fourth, second and top seeds to win his first Tour title.

April 2011 top 20 (inc. points average):