Egyptians on the march as Hong Kong champion Mohamed Elshorbagy closes gap at the top
By Squash Mad Reporter
Tarek Momen, the 26-year-old Egyptian who reached the semi-final stage of the recent PSA World Series Cathay Pacific Sun Hung Kai Financial Hong Kong Squash Open, has broken into the top 10 for the first time in his career to occupy the No.9 slot in the September PSA World Tour Rankings.
Momen has occupied a position in the top 15 since October 2012 but finally makes his breakthrough into the prestigious top 10 at the expense of compatriot Karim Darwish, who’s disappointing first round exit in Hong Kong sees him fall out of the top 10 for the first time since October 2007.
Momen secured his three-position rise courtesy of an impressive run in Hong Kong which saw him dispatch first James Willstrop, the former World No.1 who drops one position in the September rankings to No.7 after that defeat saw him fail to progress past the first round of a tour event for the first time since the 2006 World Championship, before getting the better of German national champion Simon Rösner in a thrilling 3-2 encounter in the quarter-finals which ended the German man’s own hopes to breaking into the top 10.
Hong Kong Open champion Mohamed Elshorbagy (right), the 23-year-old from Alexandria, Egypt, maintains his No.3 ranking but has closed the gap on current top two Gregory Gaultier, the man he beat to to the trophy, and current No.2 Nick Matthew while Egyptian stars Ramy Ashour and Amr Shabana complete an unchanged top five.
Spain’s highest ever ranked player Borja Golan leapfrogs Willstrop to occupy the No.6 ranking while elsewhere in the top 20 there is a mass of movement with Hong Kong’s Max Lee securing the biggest leap, moving up five places to occupy the No.20 slot and what is his highest ever ranking.
PSA World Tour Rankings – September
RANK NAME NATION POINTS UP/DOWN
1 Gregory Gaultier FRA 1549.000 =
2 Nick Matthew ENG 1368.500 =
3 Mohamed Elshorbagy EGY 1336.500 =
4 Ramy Ashour EGY 821.500 =
5 Amr Shabana EGY 758.500 =
6 Borja Golan ESP 660.455 ↑1
7 James Willstrop ENG 628.000 ↓1
8 Peter Barker ENG 523.000 =
9 Tarek Momen EGY 474.545 ↑3
10 Daryl Selby ENG 468.182 =
11 Karim Darwish EGY 463.000 ↓2
12 Simon Rösner GER 447.727 ↓1
13 Miguel Angel Rodriguez COL 411.000 ↑1
14 Omar Mosaad EGY 409.545 ↓1
15 Laurens Jan Anjema NED 314.500 =
16 Saurav Ghosal IND 313.636 =
17 Marwan Elshorbagy EGY 302.727 =
18 Karim Abdel Gawad EGY 285.000 =
19 Mathieu Castagnet FRA 282.000 =
20 Max Lee HKG 270.000 ↑5
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