WORLD SQUASH NEWS
Palmer Rises To Two In New World Rankings
While England's Peter Nicol maintains his grip on the No1 position in the new
April Dunlop PSA Men's World Rankings, announced today (02 April) by the
Professional Squash Association (PSA), Australia's David Palmer leapfrogs
Canadian Jonathon Power to take up the No2 position.
Palmer, the Belgian-based 26-year-old from Lithgow in New South Wales,
secured his eighth successive PSA Tour semi-final berth in February's
Tournament of Champions in New York, where he lost to Nicol. He crowned his
most successful year on the circuit last December when he won the World Open
title for the first time - in his adopted home town of Antwerp.
Australia's Stewart Boswell stays at No4, behind third-placed Jonathon Power,
while Scotland's John White consolidates his position at No5.
In a relatively unchanged top twenty, Egypt's former world junior champion
Karim Darwish moves up one place to a career-high world No9, while Pakistan's
Mansoor Zaman, the left-handed son of former British Open champion Qamar
Zaman, records a best-ever world No14 ranking in the new list.
The reigning European Junior Champion and two former champions register
career-best positions in the April rankings. France's Gregory Gaultier,
champion in 2000 and 2001, moves up four places to 22 to become the second
highest-placed Frenchman for the first time, while England's Adrian Grant,
the 1999 champion, also takes a four-place leap to a best-ever 27. His
compatriot James Willstrop, the 19-year-old title-holder who is also World
Junior Champion, moves up a single place to 37.
1 [1] Peter Nicol ENG
2 [3] David Palmer AUS
3 [2] Jonathon Power CAN
4 [4] Stewart Boswell AUS
5 [5] John White SCO
6 [6] Thierry Lincou FRA
7 [7] Anthony Ricketts AUS
8 [8] Lee Beachill ENG
9 [10] Karim Darwish EGY
10 [9] Ong Beng Hee MAS
11 [12] Mark Chaloner ENG
12 [14] Joseph Kneipp AUS
13 [11] Martin Heath SCO
14 [15] Mansoor Zaman PAK
15 [16] Alex Gough WAL
16 [13] Amr Shabana EGY
17 [18] Simon Parke ENG
18 [19] Nick Taylor ENG
19 [20] Omar Elborolossy EGY
20 [17] Chris Walker ENG