Matthew regains exclusive rights to world number one crown as Ramy leapfrogs Mo into third
Triple world champion Nick Matthew has reclaimed sole ownership of the world number one spot in the March PSA World Rankings, following his victory at the Swedish Open last month.
Matthew, who has won four titles since November, was joined at the top of the summit by Frenchman Gregory Gaultier last month – the first time in PSA history that two men have held the number one ranking simultaneously.
Gaultier drops back to second in the rankings following his semi-final exit in Linköping, while Egyptian Ramy Ashour leapfrogs compatriot Mohamed Elshorbagy into third following his return from a hamstring injury.
Tournament of Champions winner Amr Shabana rise two places to seventh in the roster after reaching back-to-back semi-finals at the Motor City Open and Swedish Open, while Spanish number one Borja Golan maintains his career high number six ranking.
“Last year was a great year for me and probably the best year of my career but it is very tough to maintain this position in the rankings,” said Golan.
“There are so many guys behind me who are fighting so hard to move up the rankings and who play at really high levels so it is difficult. “My aim is just to keep playing at the level I am currently and try to challenge the players above me at every opportunity.
“I had good results in Qatar and Hong Kong last year, and I think I played one of my best ever games to beat Greg (Gaultier) in Qatar so I’m very motivated for 2014 and I think it will be a good year, added the 33-year-old.”
Elsewhere, Motor City Open runner-up Peter Barker falls two positions to ninth in the rankings, while Dutch champion Laurens Jan Anjema drops down to number 17 with Egyptian Karim Abdel Gawad rising one place to a career-high 16 in the new world rankings.
Further down the pecking order, Swiss number one Nicolas Mueller moves up three places to 25th, former world number 12 Tom Richards slips two places to 28th and Christopher Gordon (48) overtakes Julian Illingworth (49) as the new American number one.
PSA World Rankings (March 2014)
| Rank | Name | Country | Average | Played |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 [1] | Nick Matthew | England | 1339.500 | 10 |
| 2 [1] | Gregory Gaultier | France | 1239.000 | 11 |
| 3 [4] | Ramy Ashour | Egypt | 1066.500 | 9 |
| 4 [3] | Mohamed Elshorbagy | Egypt | 1009.500 | 12 |
| 5 [5] | James Willstrop | England | 845.500 | 10 |
| 6 [6] | Borja Golan | Spain | 659.500 | 13 |
| 7 [9] | Amr Shabana | Egypt | 610.500 | 10 |
| 8 [8] | Karim Darwish | Egypt | 607.500 | 12 |
| 9 [7] | Peter Barker | England | 591.500 | 13 |
| 10 [10] | Daryl Selby | England | 485.000 | 13 |
| 11 [11] | Simon Rosner | Germany | 438.500 | 13 |
| 12 [12] | Tarek Momen | Egypt | 411.500 | 13 |
| 13 [13] | Omar Mosaad | Egypt | 377.273 | 14 |
| 14 [14] | Miguel Angel Rodriguez | Colombia | 363.500 | 13 |
| 15 [15] | Cameron Pilley | Australia | 341.000 | 13 |
| 16 [17] | Karim Abdel Gawad | Egypt | 318.500 | 12 |
| 17 [16] | Laurens Jan Anjema | Netherlands | 317.273 | 14 |
| 18 [18] | Saurav Ghosal | India | 297.000 | 12 |
| 19 [19] | Alister Walker | Botswana | 290.455 | 14 |
| 20 [20] | Adrian Grant | England | 253.182 | 14 |
| 21 [21] | Mathieu Castagnet | France | 248.000 | 13 |
| 22 [22] | Chris Simpson | England | 241.818 | 14 |
| 23 [23] | Stephen Coppinger | South Africa | 232.000 | 13 |
| 24 [25] | Marwan Elshorbagy | Egypt | 231.500 | 12 |
| 25 [28] | Nicolas Mueller | Switzerland | 225.000 | 15 |
| 26 [24] | Olli Tuominen | Finland | 221.818 | 14 |
| 27 [27] | Ong Beng Hee | Malaysia | 218.000 | 13 |
| 28 [26] | Tom Richards | England | 207.273 | 14 |
| 29 [29] | Adrian Waller | England | 202.000 | 12 |
| 30 [30] | Omar Abdel Meguid | Egypt | 198.500 | 13 |
| 31 [34] | Joe Lee | England | 190.500 | 13 |
| 32 [31] | Gregoire Marche | France | 186.818 | 14 |
| 33 [32] | Max Lee | Hong Kong | 179.500 | 12 |
| 34 [33] | Mohd Nafiizwan Adnan | Malaysia | 177.727 | 15 |
| 35 [36] | Mazen Hesham Ga Sabry | Egypt | 169.500 | 13 |
| 36 [37] | Ryan Cuskelly | Australia | 168.000 | 13 |
| 37 [35] | Henrik Mustonen | Finland | 164.000 | 13 |
| 38 [38] | Alan Clyne | Scotland | 160.909 | 14 |
| 39 [39] | Abdullah Al Muzayen | Kuwait | 159.000 | 12 |
| 40 [40] | Leo Au | Hong Kong | 152.000 | 13 |
| 41 [42] | Cesar Salazar | Mexico | 144.500 | 13 |
| 42 [43] | Mohd Ali Anwar Reda | Egypt | 144.000 | 13 |
| 43 [41] | Campbell Grayson | New Zealand | 139.091 | 14 |
| 44 [45] | Nasir Iqbal | Pakistan | 129.000 | 13 |
| 45 [49] | Omar Abdel Aziz | Egypt | 128.182 | 14 |
| 46 [46] | Karim Ali Fathi | Egypt | 128.000 | 13 |
| 47 [44] | Jonathan Kemp | England | 124.500 | 10 |
| 48 [48] | Christopher Gordon | USA | 121.364 | 14 |
| 49 [47] | Julian Illingworth | USA | 116.667 | 16 |
| 50 [50] | Martin Knight | New Zealand | 115.833 | 16 |
Click here to view the entire PSA World Tour World Rankings list.