Nicol David marches on at the top after British Open triumph
By HOWARD HARDING – Squash Mad Correspondent
With victory in last month’s Allam British Open helping Malaysian Nicol David to extend her lead at the top of the June Women’s World Squash Rankings, US number one Amanda Sobhy jumps three places to a career-high No13 in the latest list published by the Women’s Squash Association (WSA).
David avenged her defeat in the 2013 British Open final when she overcame home hero Laura Massaro in last month’s climax in Hull to win the prestigious trophy for a fifth time since 2005.
Massaro marks her 15th successive month as the world No2, ahead of Egypt’s third-placed Raneem El Welily and New Zealander Joelle King at No4.
But student Sobhy, unable to compete in the British Open due to commitments at Harvard University, romped through the field in last month’s HKFC WSA 25 in Hong Kong to win the WSA Silver 25 title without dropping a game – a triumph which extended the 20-year-old from New York’s remarkable record to 12 title wins from 13 WSA Tour final appearances!
England now boasts six players in the world top 20 after Sarah Kippax leapt from 22 to 18 to celebrate a best ranking for two and a half years.
The Chester-born 31-year-old won her 10th Tour title at the CourtCare Open on home soil in April – then became the only unseeded player to make the quarter-finals of the British Open to mark her first ever appearance in the event’s last eight.
WSA Rankings, June top 20 (inc. points average):
1 [1] Nicol David MAS 3,533
2 [2] Laura Massaro ENG 2,379
3 [3] Raneem El Welily EGY 1,754
4 [4] Joelle King NZL 1,171
5 [5] Camille Serme FRA 1,107
6 [6] Alison Waters ENG 1,036
7 [8] Low Wee Wern MAS 995
8 [7] Nour El Sherbini EGY 906
9 [11] Annie Au HKG 760
10 [10] Dipika Pallikal IND 750
11 [9] Madeline Perry IRL 648
12 [13] Omneya Abdel Kawy EGY 637
13 [16] Amanda Sobhy USA 598
14 [12] Jenny Duncalf ENG 575
15 [15] Rachael Grinham AUS 572
16 [14] Kasey Brown AUS 509
17 [17] Sarah-Jane Perry ENG 468
18 [22] Sarah Kippax ENG 465
19 [19] Nicolette Fernandes GUY 463
20 [20] Emma Beddoes ENG 448
For the complete WSA ranking list, see www.wsaworldtour.com
Â
Picture from Squash Mad archive