Nicol David moves into her 17th successive month at the top of the Women's World Squash Rankings, according to the December list published today (Tuesday) by the Women's International Squash Players' Association (WISPA) - thus establishing the longest unbroken run as world number one since Sarah Fitz-Gerald's two-year reign ended in November 1998.
The 24-year-old Malaysian completes her first full calendar year as No1 after the best year of her career, in which she won eight WISPA World Tour titles from ten final appearances.
Australia's Grinham sisters occupy the next two positions - Netherlands-based Natalie Grinham at two, and the 2007 British Open and World Open champion Rachael Grinham, based in Cairo, in third place.
Natalie Grainger, winner of the Carol Weymuller US Open title at the weekend, consolidates her position at No4. Since becoming a US citizen at the beginning of this year, the 30-year-old from Washington DC has 'rewarded' her new home country by becoming not only the US National and US Open champion - but also the Pan American Games gold medallist.
Grainger's Carol Weymuller success in New York brought her tally of WISPA World Tour titles on home soil this year to five!
English players are converging on the top position - with Manchester's Vicky Botwright rising one place to No6, behind Lincolnshire's Tania Bailey at No5 - and Yorkshire's Jenny Duncalf leaping three places to No7 after reaching the quarter-finals of last month's Cathay Pacific Hong Kong Open and the final of the Carol Weymuller US Open.
New Zealand's Jaclyn Hawkes moves to a career-high world No18 in the new list. The 25-year-old from Auckland was a surprise finalist in both the Dayton Open and Irish Open earlier this year.
1 [1] Nicol David MAS 2 [2] Natalie Grinham AUS 3 [3] Rachael Grinham AUS 4 [4] Natalie Grainger USA 5 [5] Tania Bailey ENG 6 [7] Vicky Botwright ENG 7 [10] Jenny Duncalf ENG 8 [8] Vanessa Atkinson NED 9 [6] Omneya Abdel Kawy EGY 10 [9] Shelley Kitchen NZL 11 [14] Alison Waters ENG 12 [12] Laura Lengthorn-Massaro ENG 13 [11] Madeline Perry IRL 14 [13] Rebecca Chiu HKG 15 [15] Kasey Brown AUS 16 [16] Engy Kheirallah EGY 17 [17] Isabelle Stoehr FRA 18 [19] Jaclyn Hawkes NZL 19 [18] Dominique Lloyd-Walter ENG 20 [20] Sharon Wee MAS
For the complete WISPA ranking list, see www.wispa.net
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| Issued by Howard Harding on behalf of WISPA Women’s International Squash Players' Association Tel: (+44) 1737-243333; Mobile: (+44) 7773-325130; Email: [email protected] WISPA: Tel: (+44) 20 7222 1667; Email: [email protected] WSQ 4243 4 December 2007 |
