WORLD SQUASH NEWS

Beachill Celebrates World No1 Debut

England's Lee Beachill makes his debut as the world's number one squash player according to the new October Dunlop PSA Men's World Squash Rankings, announced today (4 October) by the Professional Squash Association (PSA).

The 26-year-old Yorkshireman from Pontefract has enjoyed a sensational run on the PSA Tour since winning the Qatar Classic, a PSA Tour Super Series event, last December.  He went on to lift the Bermuda Open crown in March and the English Open trophy in August.

Last month, however, Beachill swept through to the final of the US Open for the first time, and beat defending champion Peter Nicol, then the world No1, to clinch his seventh PSA Tour title.

"Beating Peter to win the US Open and become No1 in the world rankings is a dream come true," said Beachill on his official website www.LeeBeachill.com after his historic success in Boston.  "My goal as a professional has always been to be No1 in the world and this is the culmination of years of hard work that would not have been possible without the support of those closest to me, in particular my parents, my partner Nicola and coach Malcolm Willstrop."

Beachill has become the fourth player to head the PSA world rankings in 2004 - a year which has already featured more changes at the top than any previous year in the history of the men's rankings.

Beachill's predecessor and compatriot Peter Nicol slips to three in the new list as Frenchman Thierry Lincou moves up to second place.

Australian David Palmer remains at four while England's Nick Matthew rises three places to a career-high world No5 - giving England three players in the top five for the first time ever.

Two other players boast career-best positions in the new list:  Englishman Adrian Grant moves up three places to a best-ever No13, while France's Renan Lavigne claims a career-high No17 position.


1 [2] Lee Beachill ENG
2 [3] Thierry Lincou FRA
3 [1] Peter Nicol ENG
4 [4] David Palmer AUS
5 [8] Nick Matthew ENG
6 [5] Amr Shabana EGY
7 [7] John White SCO
8 [9] Karim Darwish EGY
9 [6] Jonathon Power CAN
10 [10] Joseph Kneipp AUS
11 [11] Gregory Gaultier FRA
12 [12] James Willstrop ENG
13 [16] Adrian Grant ENG
14 [13] Anthony Ricketts AUS
15 [14] Omar Elborolossy EGY
16 [15] Mohammed Abbas EGY
17 [19] Renan Lavigne FRA
18 [20] Dan Jenson AUS
19 [17] Graham Ryding CAN
20 [18] Mark Chaloner ENG


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