Matthew Holds Off Ashour At World Number One
England’s Nick Matthew maintains his position as world number one in the new February Dunlop PSA Men’s World Squash Rankings, published today by the Professional Squash Association – ahead of second-placed Ramy Ashour, the Egyptian rival to whom he lost in last week’s final of the JP Morgan Tournament of Champions in New York.
Matthew ended 2010 in some style – following his title triumph in the Saudi PSA World Open in Saudi Arabia in December by clinching the Punj Lloyd PSA Masters crown in India.
After a hamstring injury in Saudi caused Ashour to pull out of the PSA Masters, the 23-year-old from Cairo marked his Tour return last month at Grand Central Terminal, where he wowed the packed crowd with his dazzling display against Matthew to win the first PSA World Series event of the year.
In an unchanged world top ten, Egypt’s Karim Darwish retains his third position, ahead of England’s James Willstrop at four, and Egyptian Amr Shabana in fifth place.
Egypt’s Mohamed El Shorbagy, the youngest player in the world top 20, strengthens his position at No9 after winning this week’s Suburban Collection Motor City Open in Michigan. The 20-year-old from Alexandria overcame Australia’sDavid Palmer in the semi-finals before defeating compatriot Omar Mosaad in the final. Palmer moves up to 15 in the new list, while Mosaad slips to 16.
The only player to record a career-high ranking in the top 20 is Hisham Mohd Ashour – who moves up to 17 to become the seventh Egyptian in the top 17.
February 2011 top 20 (inc. points average):
| 1 | [1] | Nick Matthew | ENG | 1,498 |
| 2 | [2] | Ramy Ashour | EGY | 1,337 |
| 3 | [3] | Karim Darwish | EGY | 994 |
| 4 | [4] | James Willstrop | ENG | 874 |
| 5 | [5] | Amr Shabana | EGY | 807 |
| 6 | [6] | Gregory Gaultier | FRA | 790 |
| 7 | [7] | Thierry Lincou | FRA | 580 |
| 8 | [8] | Peter Barker | ENG | 551 |
| 9 | [9] | Mohamed El Shorbagy | EGY | 483 |
| 10 | [10] | Daryl Selby | ENG | 431 |
| 11 | [12] | Laurens Jan Anjema | NED | 394 |
| 12 | [11] | Cameron Pilley | AUS | 369 |
| 13 | [14] | Mohd Azlan Iskandar | MAS | 366 |
| 14 | [13] | Wael El Hindi | EGY | 353 |
| 15 | [16] | David Palmer | AUS | 338 |
| 16 | [15] | Omar Mosaad | EGY | 338 |
| 17 | [18] | Hisham Mohd Ashour | EGY | 307 |
| 18 | [17] | Adrian Grant | ENG | 293 |
| 19 | [19] | Stewart Boswell | AUS | 280 |
| 20 | [20] | Alister Walker | ENG | 272 |
For full list – see www.psa-squash.com