Egypt’s Ali Farag has moved into the world’s top four for the first time
in his career after the PSA Men’s World Rankings were released today
(November 1).
Farag, a 25-year-old Harvard-graduate, lifted his maiden PSA World
Series title last month at the U.S. Open Presented by Macquarie
Investment Management, shortly after his wife, Nour El Tayeb, won her
first World Series title on the same night in Philadelphia, ensuring
that they became the first married couple in sporting history ever to
win the same major sports title on the same day.
A week later, Farag made it to the final of the Channel VAS
Championships at St George’s Hill, however he fell to the man he beat in
the U.S. Open final, Mohamed ElShorbagy, who stays at No.3 but cuts the
points gap between himself and World No.2 Karim Abdel Gawad.
Farag and ElShorbagy will meet for the third tournament in a row when
they go head-to-head in the first of tonight's Qatar Classic
quarter-final fixtures, with their match scheduled to take place at
17:00 local time (GMT+3) on SQUASHTV and Eurosport Player.
Frenchman Gregory Gaultier stays at World No.1, while three-time World
Champion Nick Matthew drops a place to No.5 - his lowest World Ranking
in 12 months.
Egyptian trio Marwan ElShorbagy, Tarek Momen and Fares Dessouky take the
No.6, No.7 and No.8 spots, respectively, with Dessouky sitting at a
career-high ranking. New Zealand’s Paul Coll also moves up a spot to a
career-high No.9 ranking, while England’s James Willstrop falls three
places to close out the top 10.
Egypt’s Ramy Ashour stays at No.11 ahead of Simon Rösner (No.12) and
Mohamed Abouelghar (No.13), with Peru’s Diego Elias and England’s Daryl
Selby swapping places to sit at No.14 and No.15, respectively.
Elsewhere in the top 20, Mexico’s Cesar Salazar moves up two places to
occupy No.17 - a career-best ranking - trading places with Australia’s
Cameron Pilley, who falls to No.19.
Former World No.3 Omar Mosaad claims the last place in the top 20 at the
expense of compatriot Zahed Mohamed after his semi-final finish at the
U.S. Open - his first World Series semi-final since March 2016 - saw his
ranking increase by 11 places.
