Egyptian and American aces hit top form to book places in world top 10
By HOWARD HARDING – Squash Mad Correspondent
A remarkable 14-day run in which Nour El Tayeb reached two WSA World Series finals from the position of 16th seed has seen the 21-year-old Egyptian leap a mighty 17 places to No8 in the latest women’s world rankings published today (September 1).
After progressing no further than the second round in all World Series appearances over the previous three years, El Tayeb swept through last month’s CIMB Malaysian Open field in Kuala Lumpur – despatching the second, eighth and 10th seeds before falling to third-seeded compatriot Raneem El Welily in the final.
Days later in Hong Kong, the former world junior champion again ousted England’s world champion Laura Massaro, and also the event’s fourth and fifth seeds, before reaching the Cathay Pacific Sun Hung Kai Financial Hong Kong Open final for the first time.
Here it was defending champion Nicol David that proved to be one hurdle too many to overcome.
David, who claimed a remarkable 10th successive title in Hong Kong – and a 75th WSA World Tour trophy at the same time – extends her lead at the top of the September rankings.
Massaro holds on to second place, whilst El Welily reduces the gap in third place, and New Zealander Joelle King – who is currently out-of-action while recovering from an Achilles rupture – remains at No4.
US number one Amanda Sobhy also has much to celebrate after jumping five places to make her debut in the world top 10 at 10.
Taking full advantage of the summer break from her studies, the 21-year-old Harvard University student exceeded her seedings in the Malaysian and Hong Kong Opens to make the semi-finals in both.
The young left-hander boasts an impressive record in WSA Tour finals, with 12 titles out of 13 appearances!
September top 20 (inc. points average):
1 [1] Nicol David MAS 3,666
2 [2] Laura Massaro ENG 2,310
3 [3] Raneem El Welily EGY 2,030
4 [4] Joelle King NZL 1,171
5 [5] Camille Serme FRA 1,091
6 [6] Alison Waters ENG 1,026
7 [7] Low Wee Wern MAS 970
8 [25] Nour El Tayeb EGY 944
9 [8] Nour El Sherbini EGY 906
10 [15] Amanda Sobhy USA 806
11 [9] Annie Au HKG 795
12 [10] Dipika Pallikal IND 750
13 [11] Madeline Perry IRL 691
14 [12] Omneya Abdel Kawy EGY 647
15 [14] Rachael Grinham AUS 619
16 [13] Jenny Duncalf ENG 591
17 [17] Sarah-Jane Perry ENG 570
18 [16] Kasey Brown AUS 509
19 [18] Sarah Kippax ENG 465
20 [20] Emma Beddoes ENG 463
For the complete WSA ranking list, see www.wsaworldtour.com
Pictures courtesy of WSA