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Ramy Ashour Confirmed As
New World Number One
As
expected, Egypt's 22-year-old Ramy Ashour heads the new January 2010
Dunlop PSA Men's World Squash Rankings for the first time – becoming the
youngest player to top the list produced by the Professional Squash
Association since legendary Pakistanis Jahangir Khan and Jansher
Khan in the eighties.
Ashour becomes the 15th men's world number one since the rankings were first
introduced in the mid-seventies – and the third Egyptian in the past 14 months.
After
becoming the youngest ever Men's World Junior (U19) Champion in August 2004 at
the age of 16, Ramy Ashour went on to become the first to win it a second time
two years later in New Zealand.
The
teenager's impact on the senior circuit was no less dramatic: He lifted the
trophy in the first PSA World Tour event he participated in – the
Athens Open in Greece – and clinched the World Open title last year
in only his third appearance in the sport's most prestigious event.
His
exemplary 2009 campaign included appearances in six Tour finals, with title
successes in four - including the final two Super Series events of the
year last month at the Punj Lloyd PSA Masters in India and the Saudi
International in Saudi Arabia.
It
was Nick Matthew that the Cairo King had to overcome in both the December
finals – Ashour surviving the longest battle of his career in a dramatic
110-minute climax in Saudi – and the Englishman also celebrates a career-high
world number two ranking next month.
The
29-year-old from Sheffield has enjoyed a remarkable return to form since
spending most of last year on the sidelines after undergoing shoulder surgery.
In addition to winning the British National title and the World Games
gold medal this year, Matthew notched up eight Tour final appearances – in all
but one case against expectations – securing his first Qatar Classic
crown and his second British Open trophy. The Yorkshireman's new ranking
is all the more stunning considering that he was ranked outside the top ten at
the beginning of 2009!
Three
former world number ones occupy the positions behind Ashour and Matthew –
Egyptians Amr Shabana and Karim Darwish at three and five,
respectively, and Frenchman Gregory Gaultier at No4.
But
Englishman Peter Barker has much to celebrate in the New Year in a
career-best sixth place. The left-hander from London clinched the 13th Tour
title of his career at the Santiago Open in Spain in November – but, more
pertinently, achieved unexpected semi-final berths in the end-of-the-year
Qatar Classic and PSA Masters.
England team-mate Adrian Grant, also from London, rises two places to
No10 to begin a New Year in the top ten for the first time after celebrating his
first Super Series semi-final appearance – at his 48th attempt – in the Saudi
International.
Pakistan will now be represented in the top 20 in the New Year following
teenager Aamir Atlas Khan's four-place leap to No19. The 19-year-old
from Peshawar celebrated surprise quarter-final finishes in both the Qatar
Classic and Saudi International.
January top 20 (inc. points average):
|
|
|
Rank |
Prev |
Player |
Pts |
Ctry |
|
1é |
[5] |
Ramy Ashour |
1184 |
Egy |
|
2é |
[4] |
Nick
Matthew |
1078 |
Eng |
|
3 |
[3] |
Amr
Shabana |
951 |
Egy |
|
4ê |
[2] |
Gregory
Gaultier |
791 |
Fra |
|
5 |
[1] |
Karim
Darwish |
721 |
Egy |
|
6é |
[9] |
Peter Barker |
557 |
Eng |
|
7 |
[6] |
James
Willstrop |
555 |
Eng |
| 8ê |
[8] |
David Palmer
|
513 |
Aus |
|
9 |
[9] |
Thierry Lincou |
478 |
Fra |
|
10é |
[12] |
Adrian Grant |
397 |
Eng |
| 11ê |
[10] |
Wael El Hindi |
354 |
Egy |
| 12ê |
[13] |
Alister Walker |
336 |
Eng |
|
13é |
[11] |
Daryl Selby |
327 |
Eng |
|
14 |
[14] |
Laurens Jan Anjema |
310 |
Ned |
|
15 |
[20] |
Mohamed El Shorbagy |
309 |
Egy |
|
16é |
[18] |
Stewart Boswell |
281 |
Aus |
|
17é |
[16] |
Azlan Iskandar |
277 |
Mas |
|
18ê |
[15] |
Cameron Pilley |
276 |
Aus |
| 19é |
[23] |
Aamir Atlas Khan |
250 |
Pak |
|
20ê |
[19] |
Ong Beng Hee |
248 |
Mas |
|
|
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