Malaysian Nicol David has
created a new world record for the length of time a squash player has
topped the world rankings after marking her 106th month as world number
one in the February Women's
World Squash Rankings published
by the Women's Squash
Association.
The 31-year-old from Penang, who first headed the WSA
list in January 2006, overtakes the 105-month record set in February
1993 by Susan Devoy,
the four-timeWorld Champion and
eight-time British Open champion
from New Zealand.
David's phenomenal achievement is the latest milestone in
a glittering career which has included a record eight World
Championship titles, two Commonwealth
Gamesgold medals and four (quadrennial) Asian
Games gold medals. This
month also sees Datuk David extend her unbroken reign at the top of the
world rankings to 103 months since August 2006 - 45 months ahead of her
nearest rival, Dame Devoy!
The record was saluted at last month's JP
Morgan Tournament of Champions in
New York, where Tournament Chairman John
Nimick and Associate
Director Beth Rasinpresented
David with a congratulatory poster signed by the rest of the world's top
players.
"Nicol's accomplishments place her among the greatest
athletes in history, and she has certainly elevated our sport," said
Nimick (pictured above with David and Rasin) as he identified other No.1
record holders, including golfer Tiger
Woods (138 months), 400
metre hurdler Edwin Moses (132
months); snooker's Stephen
Hendry(108 months) and tennis player Steffi
Graf (94 months). "Nicol's
passion for the game and her desire to always be the best she can be
inspires us all."
WSA Chief Executive Tommy
Berden praised the Tour's
biggest star: "To
become number one in the world is a unique and outstanding performance
in itself, but to hold the top spot for 106 months is simply
astonishing.
"It's a fabulous accomplishment that deserves to be
recognised and I am delighted that the Tournament of Champions took the
liberty to put Nicol in the limelight for yet another one of her
remarkable achievements!"
Amr Shabana,
the four-time world champion from Egypt who headed the men's world
rankings for 33 months between 2006 and 2008, noted: "I
have known Nicol since she was 11 years old and, even then, I knew she
was special. What she has done in squash is amazing ..... and she isn't
done yet!"
David herself was characteristically modest: "Being
number one is something you have to earn every day," said the Malaysian
superstar. "For me, it is really about playing the tournaments.
Everything else is a bonus."
Whilst Raneem
El Welily (Egypt), Laura
Massaro (England), Nour
El Sherbini(Egypt) and Alison
Waters (England) retain
positions two to five, respectively, 21-year-old Egyptian Nour
El Tayeb jumps two places
to a career-high No.6 in the February WSA rankings.
England's 29-year-old Emma
Beddoes, who notched her 15th WSA World Tour final appearance in
2014, is also rewarded with a best-ever ranking of 15.
February 2015 top
20 (inc. points average):
|
Rank |
Prev |
Player |
Pts |
Ctry |
1 |
[1] |
Nicol David |
3,446 |
MAS |
2 |
[2] |
Raneem El Welily |
2,580 |
EGY |
3 |
[3] |
Laura Massaro |
2,145 |
ENG |
4 |
[4] |
Nour El Sherbini |
1,548 |
EGY |
5 |
[5] |
Alison Waters |
1,538 |
ENG |
6 |
[8] |
Nour El Tayeb |
1,182 |
EGY |
7 |
[6] |
Camille Serme |
1,158 |
FRA |
8 |
[7] |
Low Wee Wern |
1,063 |
MAS |
9 |
[9] |
Omneya Abdel Kawy |
944 |
EGY |
10 |
[11] |
Amanda Sobhy |
764 |
USA |
11 |
[10] |
Annie Au |
763 |
HKG |
12 |
[13] |
Rachael Grinham |
657 |
AUS |
13 |
[14] |
Dipika Pallikal |
632 |
IND |
14 |
[15] |
Madeline Perry |
683 |
IRL |
15 |
[18] |
Emma Beddoes |
555 |
ENG |
16 |
[16] |
Sarah-Jane Perry |
542 |
ENG |
17 |
[19] |
Jenny Duncalf |
540 |
ENG |
18 |
[17] |
Nouran Gohar |
528 |
EGY |
19 |
[20] |
Sarah Kippax |
520 |
ENG |
20 |
[21] |
Nicolette
Fernandes |
490 |
GUY |
|
|