LJ Celebrates Birthday In World Top Ten

Laurens Jan Anjema has good reason to celebrate his 28th birthday today: The Dutchman has leapt two places to a career-high No9 in the new December Dunlop PSA Men's World Squash Rankings published today by the Professional Squash Association.

The new rankings come on the eve of the Saudi PSA World Open, the richest event in history which gets underway in Saudi Arabia - where it is being held for the first time - tomorrow (2 December).

Egypt's Ramy Ashour is top of the list, marking his fourth successive month as world number one after strengthening his position following title success in last month's PSA Super Series Kuwait Open.

The 23-year-old from Cairo is ahead of second-placed Englishman Nick Matthew and third-placed compatriot Karim Darwish.

But it is five PSA World Tour final appearances this year, including title successes in three, which have contributed to Laurens Jan Anjema's top ten debut. In October, the third-seeded Dutchman reached the final of the US Open against expectation - and last month notched up his 25th Tour final appearance on home soil at the Dutch Open in Rotterdam.

France's Gregory Gaultier moves up to four in the new list to mark his highest placing since January. The 27-year-old from Aix-en-Provence reached the semi-finals in last month's Kuwait Open and Qatar Classic.

Egypt's 19-year-old Mohamed El Shorbagy - the youngest player in the world top 40 - returns to a best-ever tenth place.

December top 20 (inc. points average):

For full list - see www.psa-squash.com