Serme surges up to career-high number five in new world rankings

By Michael Catling

Camille Serme’s victory on home soil at the Monte Carlo Classic last month has seen the 24-year-old rise to a career-high fifth in the WSA world rankings this month.

Serme, who beat Laura Massaro in the final of her home tournament, also reached the final of the Carol Weymuller Open in October, knocking out the English trio of Jenny Duncalf, Alison Waters and Massaro en route.

The French star’s new ranking surpasses her previous high of world number six and will give her added confidence heading into the Hong Kong Open this week.

Serme (pictured above) has been drawn to face English youngster Emily Whitlock in the opening round and is seeded to meet her Carol Weymuller Open final conqueror, Nicol David, in the last 16.

Elsewhere, former world number two Duncalf and Low Wee Wern both move up one place to number seven and eight respectively.

US number one Amanda Sobhy’s victory at the Harrow LA Open – her fourth success this year – sees the 19-year-old rise two places to number 18, while a special mention is reserved for 16-year-old Nouran Ahmed Gohar who advances to a career-high 38th after progressing to the semi-finals of the Monte Carlo Classic.

The top-four remain unchanged with David making it an incredible 89 consecutive months at the top of the world rankings.

December 2013 (inc. points average):

Rank	(Prev)	Player		Points
1	[1]	Nicol David	MAS	3,499.38
2	[2]	Laura Massaro	ENG	2278.94
3	[3]	Raneem El Weleily	EGY	1,656.25
4	[4]	Alison Waters	ENG	1,185.94
5	[7]	Camille Serme	FRA	1,071.88
6	[5]	Joelle King	NZL	1,040.29
7	[8]	Jenny Duncalf	ENG	952.94
8	[9]	Low Wee Wern	MAS	904.71
9	[6]	Natalie Grinham	NED	902.29
10	[10]	Madeline Perry	IRL	867.58
11	[11]	Kasey Brown	AUS	715.16
12	[12]	Dipika Pallikal	IND	670.83
13	[13]	Abdel Kawy	EGY	631.88
14	[14]	Rachael Grinham	AUS	544.7
15	[15]	Nour El Sherbini	EGY	500.63
16	[17]	Annie Au	HKG	466.53
17	[16]	Sarah-Jane Perry	ENG	449.56
18	[20]	Amanda Sobhy	USA	395.62
19	[19]	Nicolette Fernandes	GUY	385.85
20	[18]	Line Hansen	DEN	373.61