Record number of nations represented in February WSA world rankings
A record-breaking 13 nations are represented in the top 20 of the WSA February World Rankings, with seven-time World champion Nicol David topping the list for the 91st consecutive month – the longest ever unbroken reign as world number one.
The top five remains unchanged with England’s Laura Massaro maintaining her lead over Egyptian Raneem El Welily in second, while British National champion Alison Waters and New Zealander Joelle King round off the top five.
Macau Open champion Dipika Pallikal consolidates her position as the top-ranked Indian by moving up to a career-equalling-high tenth – the only change in the top ten.
Guyana’s Nicolette Fernandes is rewarded with her recent strong form by rising two places to a career-high 19th and gives a further multinational feel to the top 20 with the likes of Ireland, Denmark and the Netherlands all represented.Â
“This is a wonderful indication of the spread of top women’s squash talent around the world – and gives us great optimism as we look to expand both the membership and calendar of women’s events,” said newly-elected WSA President Kasey Brown, the world number 13 from Australia.
“It is also highly encouraging to look further down the rankings and see our stars of the future like Misaki Kobayashi, a career-high world number 29 and already the highest-ranked Japanese player of all-time; 21-year-old Welsh player Tesni Evans at a best-ever number 36; 23-year-old Samantha Cornett leading the way for Canada just outside the top 30; and Czech players like Lucie Fialova making great progress,” added Brown.
Elswewhere, Natalie Grinham and Kasey Brown drop two places to 12th and 13th respectively, while 18-year-old Egyptian Nour El Sherbini slips nine places to 25th – her lowest ranking since January 2012.
WSA World Rankings (February 2014)
| Rank | Name | Country | Average | Played |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 [1] | Nicol David | Malaysia | 3143.12 | 9 |
| 2 [2] | Laura Massaro | England | 2092.06 | 8 |
| 3 [3] | Raneem El Weleily | Egypt | 1672.19 | 9 |
| 4 [4] | Alison Waters | England | 1243.44 | 9 |
| 5 [5] | Joelle King | New Zealand | 1184.71 | 10 |
| 6 [6] | Low Wee Wern | Malaysia | 820.882 | 10 |
| 7 [7] | Madeline Perry | Ireland | 817.353 | 10 |
| 8 [8] | Camille Serme | France | 800.938 | 8 |
| 9 [9] | Jenny Duncalf | England | 741.176 | 10 |
| 10 [12] | Dipika Pallikal | Netherlands | 627.5 | 9 |
| 11 [13] | Annie Au | Hong Kong | 623.588 | 10 |
| 12 [10] | Natalie Grinham | Netherlands | 574.625 | 8 |
| 13 [11] | Kasey Brown | Australia | 567.941 | 10 |
| 14 [14] | Omneya Abdel Kawy | Egypt | 540.0 | 9 |
| 15 [15] | Rachael Grinham | Australia | 501.944 | 11 |
| 16 [17] | Sarah-Jane Perry | England | 499.294 | 10 |
| 17 [18] | Amanda Sobhy | USA | 433.765 | 10 |
| 18 [19] | Line Hansen | Denmark | 361.944 | 11 |
| 19 [21] | Nicolette Fernandes | Guyana | 358.583 | 11 |
| 20 [20] | Joshana Chinappa | India | 347.062 | 9 |
| 21 [23] | Joey Chan | Hong Kong | 332.235 | 10 |
| 22 [22] | Donna Urquhart | Australia | 313.875 | 9 |
| 23 [25] | Emma Beddoes | England | 311.889 | 11 |
| 24 [24] | Sarah Kippax | England | 311.75 | 9 |
| 25 [16] | Nour El Sherbini | England | 296.688 | 5 |
| 26 [26] | Emily Whitlock | England | 290.471 | 10 |
| 27 [27] | Nour El Tayeb | Egypt | 257.812 | 6 |
| 28 [28] | Aisling Blake | Ireland | 249.861 | 11 |
| 29 [32] | Latasha Khan | USA | 249.029 | 10 |
| 30 [30] | Victoria Lust | England | 235.188 | 8 |
| 31 [29] | Misaki Kobayashi | Japan | 230.722 | 11 |
| 32 [31] | Yathreb Adel | Egypt | 223.0 | 8 |
| 33 [34] | Siyoli Waters | South Africa | 221.905 | 14 |
| 34 [35] | Nouran Ahmed Gohar | Egypt | 221.0 | 9 |
| 35 [33] | Samantha Cornett | Canada | 220.625 | 9 |
| 36 [36] | Tesni Evans | Wales | 219.0 | 10 |
| 37 [37] | Delia Arnold | Malaysia | 193.312 | 8 |
| 38 [38] | Coline Aumard | France | 190.944 | 11 |
| 39 [39] | Heba El Torky | Egypt | 181.594 | 8 |
| 40 [40] | Salma Hany Ibrahim | Egypt | 170.188 | 9 |
| 41 [48] | Samantha Teran | Mexico | 162.25 | 8 |
| 42 [42] | Lisa Aitken | England | 147.875 | 8 |
| 43 [45] | Liu Tsz-Ling | Hong Kong | 146.421 | 12 |
| 44 [46] | Amanda Landers-Murphy | New Zealand | 146.25 | 9 |
| 45 [41] | Lisa Camilleri | Australia | 145.8 | 13 |
| 46 [43] | Lucie Fialova | Czech Republic | 140.55 | 13 |
| 47 [57] | Sabrina Sobhy | USA | 139.0 | 11 |
| 48 [44] | Kylie Lindsay | New Zealand | 137.056 | 11 |
| 49 [50] | Megan Craig | New Zealand | 136.125 | 9 |
| 50 [51] | Deon Saffery | Wales | 127.444 | 11 |
Click here to view the entire WSA World Tour World Rankings list.
Picture by Steve Cubbins (SquashSite)