Monte Carlo triumph gives Massaro a boost
By SEAN REUTHE
England’s Laura Massaro and America’s Amanda Sobhy have moved up to World No.7 and World No.11, respectively, after the PSA Women’s World Rankings for January were released today.
Massaro defeated Wales’ Tesni Evans to win the Monte-Carlo Squash Classic, PSA Challenger Tour event last month to lift her first PSA title since the British Open in May 2017.
Meanwhile, Sobhy has risen two places to No.11 – her highest ranking since October 2017 – and the Boston-based Harvard-graduate will look to break back into the top 10 when she competes on home soil later this month at the J.P. Morgan Tournament of Champions in New York.
Egypt’s Raneem El Welily will begin the new year at World No.1 ahead of previous incumbent Nour El Sherbini, while Nour El Tayeb stays at No.3. New Zealand’s Joelle King and Camille Serme take the other two spots in the top five.
Sarah-Jane Perry stays at No.6 ahead of compatriot Massaro, while Egypt’s Nouran Gohar drops to No.8. England’s Alison Waters rises a place to No.9, switching places with Evans, who rounds out the top 10.
Sobhy’s rise up the rankings means Hong Kong’s Annie Au and Malaysia’s Nicol David fall to No.12 and No.13, respectively, while India’s Joshna Chinappa moves up a place to No.14, swapping places with England’s Victoria Lust.
Salma Hamy stays at No.16, while Hania El Hammamy moves up three places to a career-high No.17 ranking. The Egyptian shares that spot with Hong Kong’s Joey Chan due to their equal points average.
Meanwhile, United States No.2 Olivia Blatchford Clyne drops two places to No.19, ahead of Yathreb Adel, who moves up two places to a career-high ranking of World No.20.
PSA Women’s World Rankings Top 20 – January 2019 (top six unchanged).
1 Raneem El Welily EGY 1,653.333 points
2 Nour El Sherbini EGY 1,491.667
3 Nour El Tayeb EGY 1,083.333
4 Joelle King NZL 869.444
5 Camille Serme FRA 775.556
6 Sarah-Jane Perry ENG 775.000
7 Laura Massaro ENG 616.667 (↑1)
8 Nouran Gohar EGY 607.778 (↓1)
9 Alison Waters ENG 465.556 (↑1)
10 Tesni Evans WAL 442.222 (↓1)
11 Amanda Sobhy USA 428.333 (↑2)
12 Annie Au HKG 421.111 (↓1)
13 Nicol David MAS 359.444 (↓1)
14 Joshna Chinappa IND 338.889 (↑1)
15 Victoria Lust ENG 325.000 (↓1)
16 Salma Hany EGY 310.000 (=)
17= Hania El Hammamy EGY 296.667 (↑3)
17= Joey Chan HKG 296.667 (=)
19 Olivia Blatchford Clyne USA 291.111 (↓2)
20 Yathreb Adel EGY 286.667 (↑2)
Pictures courtesy of PSa