Tarek Momen Makes World Top 20
1 November 2011
By HOWARD HARDING
While Nick Matthew extends his grip on the world number one ranking into an 11th successive month, the Englishman’s recent surprise conqueror Tarek Momen leaps seven places to make his top 20 debut in the November Dunlop PSA Men’s World Squash Rankings, published today by the Professional Squash Association.
Matthew’s remarkable run of ten successive PSA World Tour final appearances since last December came to a dramatic end in the second round of the Qatar Classic in Doha last month when 23-year-old Egyptian Momen despatched the event favourite in straight games.
Momen, now focussing on the PSA Tour after gaining a degree in Electronic Engineering in Cairo, is celebrating a career-high world ranking of 19.
Egypt’s Ramy Ashour maintains his position behind Matthew at No2, while Englishman James Willstrop moves for the first time this year up to third place – boosted by a surprise Qatar Classic final berth.
And the winners of the two PSA World Series events last month also celebrate significant rises: Amr Shabana, the 32-year-old Egyptian who is hoping to win a fifth World Open title this week in Rotterdam, clinched the Delaware Investments US Open crown in Philadelphia to move up to No4 – and Frenchman Gregory Gaultier, the surprise Qatar Classic champion, rises to No5 in the new list, his highest place this year.
Laurens Jan Anjema was another October Tour title winner – of the PSA International 35 NetSuite Open in California, USA. The Dutchman’s reward is a rise to 11th place.
And veteran Australian Stewart Boswell is rewarded for his surprise unseeded Qatar Classic semi-final berth by moving up to 16 – his highest ranking since the beginning of 2010.
November 2011 top 20 (inc. points average):
| 1 | [1] | Nick Matthew | ENG | 1,515 |
| 2 | [2] | Ramy Ashour | EGY | 1,177 |
| 3 | [4] | James Willstrop | ENG | 969 |
| 4 | [5] | Amr Shabana | EGY | 942 |
| 5 | [6] | Gregory Gaultier | FRA | 875 |
| 6 | [3] | Karim Darwish | EGY | 849 |
| 7 | [7] | Peter Barker | ENG | 601 |
| 8 | [8] | Mohamed El Shorbagy | EGY | 527 |
| 9 | [9] | David Palmer | AUS | 475 |
| 10 | [10] | Thierry Lincou | FRA | 435 |
| 11 | [12] | Laurens Jan Anjema | NED | 415 |
| 12 | [11] | Daryl Selby | ENG | 404 |
| 13 | [14] | Mohd Azlan Iskandar | MAS | 396 |
| 14 | [15] | Hisham Mohamed Ashour | EGY | 369 |
| 15 | [13] | Omar Mosaad | EGY | 351 |
| 16 | [19] | Stewart Boswell | AUS | 348 |
| 17 | [17] | Adrian Grant | ENG | 338 |
| 18 | [16] | Cameron Pilley | AUS | 332 |
| 19 | [26] | Tarek Momen | EGY | 260 |
| 20 | [20] | Alister Walker | BOT | 260 |
For full list – see www.psaworldtour.com