Tuesday, December 10, 2024

WISPA: Grinhams rise in rankings

The Grinham sisters

Grinhams Rise In New WISPA Rankings

While Australia’s Rachael Grinham returns to the top three in the new May Women’s World Squash Rankings published by the Women’s International Squash Players’ Association (WISPA), her younger sister Natalie Grinham also bounces back into the top 20 after the birth of her first child last year.

Malaysian Nicol David extends her lead at the top of the list after winning the Cayman Islands Open crown for the third successive year last month – and boosting her career WISPA Tour haul to 52 titles.

But though England’s Jenny Duncalf, runner-up in Grand Cayman, holds onto second place, Rachael Grinham leapfrogs Ireland’s Madeline Perry to take over the third spot – and celebrate her 100th consecutive month in the world’s top five!

Winner of the World Junior title in 1993, 34-year-old Grinham senior made her first appearance in the WISPA rankings in July 1994 and went on to win her first Tour title in 1998. The Amsterdam-based Queenslander topped the world rankings for 16 unbroken months from August 2004 – and won her 31st Tour title in the USA last month at the Texas Open.

Natalie Grinham was out of action for almost a year following the birth of son Kieran in May last year – but the 33-year-old former world No2 from the Netherlands bounced back to celebrate a triumphant month in April, not only winning the Atwater Cup in Canada but also reaching the quarter-finals of both the Cayman Islands Open and Texas Open unseeded.

Grinham junior leaps 15 places to No17 in the May rankings.

Hong Kong’s Annie Au also has cause for celebration after reaching a career-high No10. The 22-year-old left-hander delighted her national fans last month by winning the Buler Challenge Cup on home soil – a triumph which marked her tenth Tour title.

In a good month for left-handers, Australian Donna Urquhart continues her rapid rise by jumping three places to a best-ever No13 ranking. After despatching two top-five ranked opponents to reach the Cayman Islands Open semi-finals as a qualifier, the 24-year-old from New South Wales went on to claim a final berth in the Buler Challenge – then picked up her sixth WISPA Tour title at the Indian Challenger in Chennai.

May top 20 (inc. points average):

1    [1]    Nicol David    MAS    3348
2    [2]    Jenny Duncalf    ENG    1654
3    [4]    Rachael Grinham    AUS    1251
4    [3]    Madeline Perry    IRL    1147
5    [5]    Alison Waters    ENG    1132
6    [6]    Kasey Brown    AUS    1021
7    [7]    Laura Massaro    ENG    978
8    [8]    Omneya Abdel Kawy    EGY    956
9    [9]    Camille Serme    FRA    788
10    [11]    Annie Au    HKG    771
11    [10]    Vanessa Atkinson    NED    757
12    [12]    Raneem El Weleily    EGY    669
13    [16]    Donna Urquhart    AUS    594
14    [14]    Joelle King    NZL    579
15    [13]    Low Wee Wern    MAS    564
16    [15]    Jaclyn Hawkes    NZL    536
17    [32]    Natalie Grinham    NED    514
18    [20]    Nour El Tayeb    EGY    486
19    [18]    Sarah Kippax    ENG    450
20    [17]    Amanda Sobhy    USA    433
For the complete WISPA ranking list, see www.wispa.net

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