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02/08/2006
WOMEN'S AUGUST RANKINGS
Nicol David Reclaims World Number One Ranking
Victories in both the Qatar Airways Challenge and CIMB Malaysian Open last month have taken Malaysia's Nicol David back to number one in the new August Women’s World Squash Rankings, published today (Tuesday) by the Women's International Squash Players' Association (WISPA).
After winning seven WISPA World Tour titles in 2005, crowning the year by securing the World Open title for the first time, the 22-year-old from Penang became world number one for the first time in January.
Three months later, however, Vanessa Atkinson reclaimed the title after two successive final wins over the Malaysian. The Dutch star lost her unbeaten record in 2006 at last week's Malaysian Open, and now slips to No2 behind David.
Australian sisters Rachael Grinham and Natalie Grinham stay at three and four, respectively, in the new list – while English players Jenny Duncalf and Vicky Botwright hold onto fifth and sixth positions.
England's Tania Bailey, who scored a notable straight games upset over Atkinson en-route to a surprise appearance in the Malaysian Open final, moves up to No7 – the 26-year-old from Lincolnshire's highest ranking for three years.
While the now-retired Linda Elriani slips out of the top ten for the first time since January 1999, England maintains its record of having four players in the world top ten: Londoner Alison Waters rises to a career-high No10 after reaching the Malaysian Open quarter-finals against the seedings.
Egypt's Engy Kheirallah is also rewarded for a successful run - which included a runners-up berth in April's Texas Open and qualification in the Malaysian Open – by a two-place jump to a career-best No14.
1 [2] Nicol David MAS
2 [1] Vanessa Atkinson NED
3 [3] Rachael Grinham AUS
4 [4] Natalie Grinham AUS
5 [5] Vicky Botwright ENG
6 [6] Jenny Duncalf ENG
7 [8] Tania Bailey ENG
8 [7] Madeline Perry IRL
9 [9] Omneya Abdel Kawy EGY
10 [11] Alison Waters ENG
11 [10] Linda Elriani ENG
12 [12] Laura-Jane Lengthorn ENG
13 [13] Shelley Kitchen NZL
14 [16] Engy Kheirallah EGY
15 [14] Natalie Grainger USA
16 [15] Annelize Naude NED
17 [18] Rebecca Chiu HKG
18 [19] Isabelle Stoehr FRA
19 [17] Fiona Geaves ENG
20 [20] Pamela Nimmo SCO
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