By ALAN THATCHER – Squash Mad Editor
Egypt’s Hania El Hammamy has reached a career-high ranking of World No.4 after the release of the November PSA Women’s world rankings. Closer to home, England’s Georgina Kennedy has reached the top 30 after a year of phenomenal success.
El Hammamy, 21, reached the final of the U.S. Open last month and she overtakes France’s Camille Serme, who drops to No.5.
Nour El Sherbini stays at World No.1 for the 13th month in succession ahead of U.S. Open champion Nouran Gohar at No.2 and USA’s Amanda Sobhy at No.3.
Elsewhere, Nour El Tayeb falls four places to No.9, with England’s Sarah-Jane Perry (No.6), New Zealand’s Joelle King (No.7) and Egypt’s Salma Hany (career-high No.8 ranking) all rising a place as a result. Rowan Elaraby completes the top 10.
Olivia Clyne and Joshna Chinappa stay at No.11 and No.12, respectively, while USA’s Olivia Fiechter has moved up seven places off the back of her sensational run to the U.S. Open semis and now sits at No.13. Nadine Shahin and Nele Gilis round out the top 15.
Wales’ Tesni Evans falls three spots to No.16, while Canada’s Hollie Naughton stays at No.17. Emily Whitlock rises four places to No.18 to sit ahead of Danielle Letourneau (No.19), while USA’s Sabrina Sobhy returns to the top 20.
Amazing to have 4 US players in the Top 20 of the @PSAWorldTour rankings & 3 of us in the Top 15 now! Time to keep building & improving💪🏽💪🏽🔥🔥 @USSQUASH @benghee https://t.co/XolaEsWwbd
— Amanda Sobhy (@itssobhytime) November 1, 2021
Big sister Amanda Tweeted her delight at seeing four American players in the top 20 for the first time.
Kent girl Kennedy will be looking for more success in the London Open and the Black Ball Open in Cairo as she gains the rewards of a rankings rise from 51 to 30.
Having recently beaten Joelle King in Detroit, she has shown herself capable of challenging the very best players in the world and, being a highly intelligent Harvard graduate, she will already be processing the lessons learned from her experiences in the final against Gohar.
Kennedy plays a similar game to Gohar, but the Egyptian takes the ball earlier, injects even more pace, and produces the kind of pressure that few opponents can live with.
Gina told the PSA website:“I was so excited to have the opportunity to play Nouran, as on current form she is probably the No.1 in the world. But if you don’t go on court backing yourself to win then you won’t have a chance and I have to be honest and admit that I didn’t have the confidence I would be able to get close to Gohar in that match.
“Based on the form she has been in, part of me was a bit starstruck to be honest and Gohar really showed me why she is winning all these events at the moment.
“Nouran is so relentless, she hits the ball so hard, and I don’t think she made any errors in the whole match. She was just quality, and I was just so happy that I got the chance to share a court with her. But that match just taught me what is required to get to the top.”
Canadian duo Samantha Cornett and Molly Chadwick are the biggest risers on the women’s tour. They have both moved up 122 places to sit at joint No.295 following quarter final finishes at the Oxford Properties Canadian Senior Championships.
PSA Women’s World Rankings Top 20 – November 2021.
Pictures courtesy of PSA