Malaysia has two players in top five for the first time
By HOWARD HARDING – Squash Mad Correspondent
Just days after helping her country achieve gold in the Asian Games in South Korea, Low Wee Wern leaps two places to a career-high No5 in the Women’s World Squash Rankings to join illustrious compatriot Nicol David in the first ever Women’s Squash Association (WSA) list to feature two Malaysians in the top five.
Laid low by Dengue fever in July, Wee Wern confirmed her return to top form last month by winning the WSA Gold 50 China Open for the third time in four years.
Seeded three, the 24-year-old from Penang upset top seed Camille Serme in the final – clinching her 11-8, 11-6, 8-11, 8-11, 12-10 victory in 102 minutes, her longest ever match win on the WSA World Tour!
Wee Wern, the only Malaysian squash international to base herself in her home country, now boasts seven WSA World Tour titles from 17 final appearances.
Meanwhile David (right), double gold medallist in the Incheon Asian Games, is now just one month away from celebrating 100 unbroken months as the world’s number one woman squash player.
The 31-year-old Penangite, winner of her 75th World Tour title at the WSA World Series Hong Kong Open in August, continues to hold off second-placed English rival Laura Massaro; third-placed Egyptian Raneem El Welily and New Zealand’s No4 Joelle King.
Hong Kong’s Annie Au eases back into the top ten at No10, while England’s Sarah Kippax also moves up a single slot, from 19 to 18, after securing a quarter-final berth in the China Open.
There is a notable surge of young Egyptians making waves lower in the October rankings – including 17-year-old Nouran Gohar rising two places to a career-high No24 and 18-year-old Salma Hany Ibrahim leaping nine places to a best-ever No31, both after making the China Open semi-finals as qualifiers; and 15-year-old Habiba Mohamed Ahmed jumping seven places to a career-high No27 to become the youngest player in the world top 30.
October top 20 (inc. points average):
1 [1] Nicol David MAS 3,486
2 [2] Laura Massaro ENG 2,287
3 [3] Raneem El Welily EGY 1,878
4 [4] Joelle King NZL 1,153
5 [7] Low Wee Wern MAS 1,133
6 [5] Camille Serme FRA 1,116
7 [6] Alison Waters ENG 1,024
8 [8] Nour El Tayeb EGY 991
9 [9] Nour El Sherbini EGY 906
10 [11] Annie Au HKG 818
11 [10] Amanda Sobhy USA 806
12 [12] Dipika Pallikal IND 775
13 [13] Madeline Perry IRL 707
14 [14] Omneya Abdel Kawy EGY 646
15 [15] Rachael Grinham AUS 618
16 [16] Jenny Duncalf ENG 577
17 [17] Sarah-Jane Perry ENG 514
18 [19] Sarah Kippax ENG 511
19 [18] Kasey Brown AUS 495
20 [20] Emma Beddoes ENG 478
For the complete WSA ranking list, see www.wsaworldtour.com
Pictures courtesy of WSA