El Welily Cuts Gap on El Sherbini in Women’s World Rankings
By SEAN REUTHE- PSA World Tour
Raneem El Welily’s title win at the inaugural women’s El Gouna International last week has cut the gap between her and current World No.1 Nour El Sherbini to under 250 points after the PSA Women’s World Rankings for May were released today (May 1).
An imperious display inside the all-glass showcourt held on El Gouna’s marina saw El Welily defeat El Sherbini 3-1 in the title decider with the points gap between the two now at its lowest since January of this year.
El Sherbini, El Welily and their compatriot Nour El Tayeb make up an all-Egyptian women’s top three which, after Marwan ElShorbagy joined older brother Mohamed and U.S. Open champion Ali Farag in the top three of the men’s World Rankings, means that the top ranking spots in both the men’s and women’s rankings are taken up by an Egyptian trio for the first time in history.
New Zealand’s Joelle King is the only non-Egyptian in the top five as she stays at No.4, a place ahead of Nouran Gohar, who remains at No.5.
The rest of the top 10 is unchanged as Camille Serme (No.6), Laura Massaro (No.7), Sarah-Jane Perry (No.8), Nicol David (No.9) and Alison Waters take up the final spots inside.
Hong Kong’s Annie Au stays at No.11, with Tesni Evans (No.12), Olivia Blatchford (No.13), Joshna Chinappa (No.14) and Victoria Lust completing an unchanged top 15.
Egypt’s Salma Hany is one of the few movers in the top 20 as she moves up to a career-high No.16 ranking, switching places with Australia’s Donna Urquhart, while India’s Dipika Pallikal Karthik stays at No.18.
Hong Kong’s Joey Chan moves up three places to No.19, while 17-year-old Egyptian Hania El Hammamy – who in March 2015 became the first player born in the 21st century to win a PSA World Tour title – rises into the top 20 for the first time in her career.
Pictures by: PSA World Tour