Farag at two and Momen five in April PSA rankings
By ALAN THATCHER and SEAN REUTHE
Egypt’s Ali Farag has overtaken Frenchman Gregory Gaultier to reach a career-high World Ranking of No.2, while compatriot Tarek Momen has moved into the world’s top five for the first time after the PSA Men’s World Rankings were released today (April 1).
Farag, the 25-year-old Harvard-graduate from Cairo, has lifted two PSA World Tour titles so far this season at the U.S. Open and Swedish Open, while a semi-final finish at last month’s Canary Wharf Classic was enough to see him move a place up the rankings to sit behind current World No.1 Mohamed ElShorbagy.
Gaultier, whose struggles with a partial rupture of his adductor have restricted him to just one PSA tournament appearance since January, drops to No.3. He is one place ahead of World Championship runner-up Marwan ElShorbagy and Momen, the latter of whom beat Farag en route to reaching the final of the recent Canary Wharf Classic, where he lost to world No.1 Mohamed ElShorbagy.
Germany’s Simon Rösner moves up to No.6 and is followed by 2016 World Champion Karim Abdel Gawad, who drops out of the top five for the first time since September 2016.
Three-time World Champion Ramy Ashour’s title victory at last month’s Grasshopper Cup sees him move up two places to No.8, while New Zealand’s Paul Coll sits behind the Egyptian, ending a three-month hiatus from the top 10.
Egypt’s Mohamed Abouelghar rounds out the top 10 ahead of Peruvian Diego Elias in No.11, while England’s three-time World Champion Nick Matthew drops four places to No.12 – marking the first time since November 2005 that the Yorkshireman has not featured inside the top 10.
Meanwhile, India’s Saurav Ghosal rises a place to a career-high No.13, with James Willstrop (No.14) and Ryan Cuskelly (No.15) also moving up.
Colombia’s Miguel Angel Rodriguez stays at No.16, while Egypt’s Fares Dessouky, who drops five places to No.17, Switzerland’s Nicolas Mueller, England’s Daryl Selby and Australia’s Cameron Pilley complete the top 20.
PSA Men’s World Rankings Top 20 – April 2018:
Pictures and graphic courtesy of PSA