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Vanessa Atkinson Becomes World No.1 as
World Open underway
After 11
months in second place behind Australia's Rachael Grinham, Dutch
star Vanessa Atkinson has finally overtaken her long-time rival to
become world number one for the first time in her career in the new
December Women's World Squash Rankings, announced today (30th
November) by the Women's International Squash Players' Association (WISPA).
Whilst
the 29-year-old from The Hague becomes the eleventh woman to head
the world list since the inaugural WISPA rankings in 1983, Atkinson
is the first ever world number one from the Netherlands.
Atkinson, born in England and raised in
the Netherlands, has enjoyed a sensational two years on the WISPA
World Tour since winning the Kuala Lumpur Open in February last
year. The eight-times Dutch national champion went on to pick
up eight Tour titles in 2004 - being successful in all the finals
she reached and rounding off the year by clinching the World Open
title in Malaysia.
In addition to adding the European
Individual title to her collection this year, Atkinson has also made
it through to six further WISPA finals - claiming four more
trophies, including last week in Doha the richest of them all, the
Qatar Classic.
If Atkinson retains her World Open
crown in Hong Kong this week, she will join squash greats Susan
Devoy, Michelle Martin and Sarah Fitz-Gerald as the only players who
have successfully defended the sport's most prized title.
Rachael Grinham slips to No.2 in the
new list, while Malaysia's Nicol David remains at three, and
Rachael's younger sister Natalie Grinham stays at four.
A notable breakthrough in women's
squash is achieved by Vicky Botwright, who rises to a career-high
No.5 to become England's highest-ranked player for the first
time. The 28-year-old from Manchester, who only netted her
first WISPA title last year, has reached four Tour finals in 2005 -
most notably upsetting the first and third seeds in last week's
Qatar Classic to celebrate her maiden appearance in a WISPA Grand
prix final.
Two further English players boast
best-ever rankings in December: Londoner Alison Waters - a
quarter-finalist in the British Open as a qualifier, and a surprise
semi-finalist in this month's Monte Carlo classic in Monaco - rises
to No.12, while Lancashire's Laura-Jane Lengthorn, also a qualifier
who reached the lst eight of the British Open, leaps two places to
16. With three WISPA Tour
titles to her name since August, including the Atlanta Masters in
the USA this month, Egypt's Engy Kheirallah makes her top twenty
debut at 20. |
