Tight at the top as Elshorbagy stays in front and world champion Ramy Ashour closes in on top four
By Squash Mad Reporter
The 23-year-old Egyptian Mohamed Elshorbagy maintains his place at the top of the official PSA World Tour rankings for a second consecutive month, with the 2014 Qatar PSA World Championship runner-up keeping Frenchman Gregory Gaultier at bay with a slender advantage.
In an unchanged top five, 2014 World Championship winner Ramy Ashour has closed the gap on compatriot Amr Shabana in fourth position while England’s Peter Barker has risen to World No.6, his highest ranking since reaching World No.5 in December 2012.
Barker’s compatriot James Willstrop, the Yorkshire man who has been ruled out of competitive action until 2015, has fallen to World No.8, his lowest ranking since 2009, while Tarek Momen and Simon Rösner round-out the top ten.
After reaching the third round of the 2014 World Championship, Hong Kong’s Max Lee moves up to a career high of World No.16 while Swiss national champion Nicolas Mueller continues his recent resurgence, rising to a new high of World No.17.
Elsewhere in the top 20, Australian Cameron Pilley rises two places to No.18 with Egyptian Karim Abdel Gawad and Dutch champion Laurens Jan Anjema both falling to round out the top 20.
PSA World Rankings Top 20 – December 2014:
1 Mohamed Elshorbagy EGY 1385.000 =
2 Gregory Gaultier FRA 1322.000 =
3 Nick Matthew ENG 970.500 =
4 Amr Shabana EGY 878.500 =
5 Ramy Ashour EGY 872.500 =
6 Peter Barker ENG 573.500 ↑2
7 Borja Golan ESP 570.909 =
8 James Willstrop ENG 532.500 ↓2
9 Tarek Momen EGY 504.545 =
10 Simon Rösner GER 484.091 =
11 Omar Mosaad EGY 435.000 ↑1
12 Miguel Angel Rodriguez COL 422.500 ↑1
13 Daryl Selby ENG 356.500 ↓2
14 Marwan Elshorbagy EGY 347.727 =
15 Mathieu Castagnet FRA 307.000 =
16 Max Lee HKG 300.500 ↑5
17 Nicolas Mueller SUI 289.000 ↑2
18 Cameron Pilley AUS 286.364 ↑2
19 Karim Abdel Gawad EGY 280.000 ↓2
20 Laurens Jan Anjema NED 276.500 ↓4
Picture courtesy of  PSA