Egyptians dominate PSA men’s rankings for January 2018
By SEAN REUTHE
The release of the PSA Men’s World Rankings today (January 1) has seen Egypt’s Mohamed ElShorbagy cut the gap between himself and current World No.1 Gregory Gaultier to just 43 points after his PSA World Championship triumph earlier this month in Manchester.
ElShorbagy, who held the World No.1 ranking for 28 months between 2014-2017, took a step closer to reclaiming top spot after he defeated Gaultier en route to lifting the biggest title on the Men’s Tour a fortnight ago, beating younger brother Marwan in a historic final victory to finally get his hands on the coveted World Championship trophy.
ElShorbagy will have the chance to surpass Gaultier at the J.P. Morgan Tournament of Champions later this month, with the duo set to meet in a blockbuster final clash inside New York’s stunning Grand Central Terminal.
ElShorbagy sits one place ahead of compatriot Ali Farag, with 2016 World Champion Karim Abdel Gawad and Marwan completing the top five.
Nick Matthew and Tarek Momen come next at No.6 and No.7, respectively, with Germany’s Simon Rösner rising a place to No.8. Egypt’s Mohamed Abouelghar moves into the top 10 for the first time in his career to take the No.9 spot as New Zealand’s Paul Coll drops two places to No.10.
Peru’s Diego Elias is on the rise to a career-high No.11 ranking as Fares Dessouky also rises a spot to No.12.
Former World No.1 James Willstrop slips out of the top 10 for the first time in 12 months as he drops to No.13, with Ramy Ashour moving up three spots to No.14. Ryan Cuskelly rounds off the top 15, dropping from No.14.
Meanwhile, Saurav Ghosal holds his place at No.16 as Daryl Selby (No.17), Borja Golan (No.18), Cameron Pilley (No.19) and Omar Mosaad take the final spots inside the top 20.
PSA Men’s World Rankings Top 20 – January 2018:
Picture by PATRICK LAUSON. Graphic courtesy of PSA