Coll Replaces Ashour in Top 10 of Men’s World
Rankings
Greymouth-born Paul Coll has become the first male New Zealander
since Ross Norman in 1995 to reach the top 10 of the PSA Men’s World
Rankings after the 25-year-old claimed his place amongst the world’s
elite at the expense of Ramy Ashour today (September 1).
Coll - who is now the third-highest ranked Kiwi man ever -
experienced a breakthrough campaign during the 2016/17 season with a
landmark title victory at the Channel VAS Championship in December
of last year, and his rise into the top 10 this month comes after
Ashour lost the ranking points he won en route to capturing the
title at the Hong Kong Open last August.
Former World No.1 Ashour suffered an injury-ravaged 2016/17 season
and he falls six places to No.14, with the three-time World Champion
currently sitting at his lowest ranking since September 2006.
Frenchman Gregory Gaultier stays at World No.1 for a fourth
successive month and 15th month overall, eclipsing the reign of
compatriot Thierry Lincou who topped the rankings for 14 months
between 2004-2005. World Champion Karim Abdel Gawad follows at No.2,
while the rest of the top five is completed by Mohamed ElShorbagy,
Nick Matthew and Ali Farag.
Marwan ElShorbagy leapfrogs newly crowned European Champion James
Willstrop, moving up a place to sit at No.6, while Tarek Momen and
Dessouky sit at No.8 and No.9 ahead of Coll.
Simon Rösner stays at No.11, one place ahead of Daryl Selby, while
Mohamed Abouelghar and Ryan Cuskelly sit either side of Ashour.
Borja Golan remains at No.16, with Diego Elias moving up two places
to a career-high No.17 ranking. Cameron Pilley, Stephen Coppinger
and Zahed Mohamed round off the top 20, with Mohamed reaching a
career-high ranking.
Hong Kong’s Max Lee, meanwhile, falls out of the top 20 for the
first time since November 2014.
