WORLD SQUASH NEWS
Nicol Strengthens Grip on World No1 Ranking
Victory in last week's Harrisdirect Tournament of Champions in New York has
strengthened Englishman Peter Nicol's grip on the No1 position in the new
March Dunlop PSA Men's World Rankings, announced today (03 March) by the
Professional Squash Association (PSA).
The 29-year-old former Scot survived four-game battles in the final three
rounds of the first PSA Super Series event of the year to lift the
prestigious title for the second time at Grand Central Station. In moving
into his 15th consecutive month as world No1, Nicol has extended the gap
ahead of arch rival Jonathon Power, the Canadian who failed to reach his
sixth successive final in New York when beaten 3-1 in the semi-finals by
France's Thierry Lincou.
Australia's David Palmer, who suffered his first loss since winning the World
Open title in December when he went down to Nicol in the New York
semi-finals, holds onto the world No3 slot, while compatriot Stewart Boswell
rises to a career-high-equalling No4, pushing Scotland's John White down to
five, ahead of Frenchman Thierry Lincou, Tournament of Champions runner-up,
who stays at No6.
Former world junior champion Karim Darwish rises to a career-high world No10
to become the first Egyptian in the world top ten since Ahmed Barada in April
2001. Darwish's compatriot Amr Shabana also boasts a best-ever position in
the new list, up one place to 13.
Three players have attained their best-ever rankings in this month's top 40:
England's Nick Matthew rises two places to 22; compatriot Adrian Grant moves
up one place to 31; and another Englishman James Willstrop, the 19-year-old
world junior champion, takes three steps to a career-high No38 after reaching
the second round of the Tournament of Champions as a qualifier.
1 [1] Peter Nicol ENG
2 [2] Jonathon Power CAN
3 [3] David Palmer AUS
4 [5] Stewart Boswell AUS
5 [4] John White SCO
6 [6] Thierry Lincou FRA
7 [7] Anthony Ricketts AUS
8 [8] Lee Beachill ENG
9 [9] Ong Beng Hee MAS
10 [11] Karim Darwish EGY
11 [10] Martin Heath SCO
12 [13] Mark Chaloner ENG
13 [14] Amr Shabana EGY
14 [16] Joseph Kneipp AUS
15 [15] Mansoor Zaman PAK
16 [17] Alex Gough WAL
17 [12] Chris Walker ENG
18 [18] Simon Parke ENG
19 [19] Nick Taylor ENG
20 [20] Omar Elborolossy EGY