LONDON: While Nicol David extends her reign at the top of the new February Women’s World Squash Rankings, published on Thursday by the Women’s International Squash Players’ Association (WISPA), it is Isabelle Stoehr who grabs the headlines after becoming the first French player to claim a place in the top ten.
The 29-year-old from Montpelier enjoyed a highly successful year in 2008, beginning by winning a record-equalling 11th French National title, then going on to add two further WISPA World Tour titles — at the Des Pyramides Open and Sannois International — to bring her career tally to eight.
Nicol David heads an otherwise unchanged top ten, with Natalie Grinham (Netherlands) at two; her older sister Rachael Grinham (Australia) in third place; Natalie Grainger, of the USA, at number four; and England’s Jenny Duncalf at five.
Australian Kasey Brown also marks a career-best ranking in the list. The 23-year-old from New South Wales moves up a single place to No 12.
Furthermore, Mexican Samantha Teran celebrates a career-high ranking this month. The 27-year-old from Mexico City rises to 15 after collecting no fewer than five WISPA Tour titles in 2008.
Nicol David Strengthens Grip On World Number One Ranking
With an unprecedented lead over her nearest rival, Nicol David tops the January 2009 Women's World Squash Rankings, published today (Wednesday) by the Women's International Squash Players' Association (WISPA) – thus moving into her 30th successive month as the world’s number one player.
The 25-year-old Malaysian celebrated the best year of her career in 2008, not only winning 10 WISPA Tour titles but also extending her unbeaten Tour record to 53 matches since October 2007. Off-court, David became the youngest Malaysian to be conferred a Datukship - the equivalent of a British knighthood.
David heads an unchanged top four, with Natalie Grinham (Netherlands) at two; her older sister Rachael Grinham (Australia) in third place; and Natalie Grainger, of the USA, at number four.
The honour of being England’s highest-placed player has changed for the third time in three months as Jenny Duncalf leap-frogs Londoner Alison Waters to reclaim fifth place.
Lower down the list, their compatriot Tania Bailey – the former England number one who was out of action for much of 2008 following knee surgery - returns to the top 20 at 18 after her first and only month outside the elite group this decade.
Samantha Teran is the only player in the top twenty to celebrate a career-best position in the new list: The 27-year-old Mexican, who boasts five WISPA Tour title successes in 2008, rises a single place to 16.
1 [1] Nicol David MAS
2 [2] Natalie Grinham NED
3 [3] Rachael Grinham AUS
4 [4] Natalie Grainger USA
5 [6] Jenny Duncalf ENG
6 [5] Alison Waters ENG
7 [7] Omneya Abdel Kawy EGY
8 [8] Laura Lengthorn-Massaro ENG
9 [9] Madeline Perry IRL
10 [10] Shelley Kitchen NZL
11 [11] Vanessa Atkinson NED
12 [12] Isabelle Stoehr FRA
13 [13] Kasey Brown AUS
14 [14] Vicky Botwright ENG
15 [15] Rebecca Chiu HKG
16 [17] Samantha Teran MEX
17 [16] Jaclyn Hawkes NZL
18 [21] Tania Bailey ENG
19 [18] Lauren Briggs ENG
20 [19] Raneem El Weleily EGY
Successes in last month's Hi-Tec World Open in England and the Qatar Classic in Doha have stretched Nicol David's lead as world number one in the new November Women's World Squash Rankings published by the Women's International Squash Players' Association (WISPA).
The 25-year-old Malaysian recaptured her world title in Manchester after beating local star Vicky Botwright in the final - then later in the month moved into her second year without defeat on a squash court when she lifted her third successive Qatar Classic crown after despatching Dutch number one Natalie Grinham in the climax.
With 11 successive Tour title wins under her belt since November 2007, David has notched up 48 WISPA matches without defeat!
Natalie Grinham retains her position as world number two, but her older sister Rachael Grinham slips to four as US star Natalie Grainger rises to third place - her highest position for more than four years.
Vicky Botwright's remarkable run in Manchester - on her 'home' court at the National Squash Centre in her final event before retiring from the WISPA World Tour - has catapulted the 31-year-old to seventh place in the new list, only two positions lower than her career-best ranking.
Lower in the list, New Zealand's Jaclyn Hawkes celebrates a career-best No16 ranking. The 25-year-old from Auckland achieved one of the best runs of her career in last month's World Open, dismissing two higher-ranked opponents to reach her maiden quarter-finals.
Hong Kong teenager Annie Au is poised to become the youngest player in the top 20 after leaping seven places to No21. The 19-year-old became the only qualifier to reach the last sixteen after upsetting Mexico's world No18 Samantha Teran.
1 [1] Nicol David MAS
2 [2] Natalie Grinham NED
3 [4] Natalie Grainger USA
4 [3] Rachael Grinham AUS
5 [5] Jenny Duncalf ENG
6 [6] Alison Waters ENG
7 [12] Vicky Botwright ENG
8 [7] Omneya Abdel Kawy EGY
9 [9] Laura Lengthorn-Massaro ENG
10 [8] Vanessa Atkinson NED
11 [16] Madeline Perry IRL
12 [10] Shelley Kitchen NZL
13 [13] Kasey Brown AUS
14 [15] Isabelle Stoehr FRA
15 [14] Rebecca Chiu HKG
16 [18] Jaclyn Hawkes NZL
17 [11] Tania Bailey ENG
18 [17] Samantha Teran MEX
19 [19] Engy Kheirallah EGY
20 [20] Lauren Briggs ENG
Nicol David's position as world No 1 may look untenable, but the fight for second is hotting up with the World Open in Manchester approaching.
The latest rankings show that Natalie has reclaimed second spot after older sister Rachael overtook the recently-turned Dutch national last month. It is the third time in successive months the pair have changed ranking.
USA's Natalie Grainger retains fourth, ahead of England's Jenny Duncalf. Harrogate-based Duncalf, seeded five for Manchester, heads four English players who have been seeded for the women's event.
They include reigning National Champion Alison Waters, who has raced up the rankings in recent months.
Waters was in 11th two months ago, but now sits high in sixth after the 24-year-old claimed a surprise semi-final berth in the Dutch Open afterbeating Rachael Grinham.
Meanwhile, the World Open draw sees David top-seeded to win her third title. She will be desperately keen to avoid her blip in Madrid last year when she lost to New Zealand’s Shelley Kitchen in the last 16.
It was the first time she had failed to make the quarter finals of a WISPA tour event since April 2004.
An IOC delegate is expected to attend the event in Manchester as squash begins a year of frantic activity to get on the Olympic agenda ahead of a vote in Copenhagen next October.
The global appeal is clearly evident in the women's event with the top 16 seeds represented by 11 countries.
Nicol David Overtakes Sarah Fitz-Gerald In World Ranking Records
Labels: Awards and Honours, Latest News, Off the T, What's New, WISPA, World Rankings
A month after completing her second full year as world number one, Malaysia's Nicol David now marks her 25th successive month at the top of the August Women's World Squash Rankings - thereby overtaking Australia's Sarah Fitz-Gerald to establish the third-longest unbroken run in the history of the Women's International
Fitz-Gerald, the record five-time World Open champion from Melbourne, topped the rankings unchallenged for 24 months from November 1996 to October 1998 - and went on to achieve a total of 40 months as world number one before retiring five years ago.
Nicol David now has only New Zealander Susan Devoy and
The 24-year-old from
"Nicol reaching this milestone is a sign of the champion she is and a hint of the champion yet to come," said Sarah Fitz-Gerald on hearing the Malaysian's latest achievement.
David heads an unchanged top four, with Natalie Grinham at two; her older sister Rachael Grinham at three and USA's Natalie Grainger at four.
However,
Malaysia's Nicol David rounds off her second complete year as world number one in the July Women's World Squash Rankings published by the Women's International Squash Players' Association.
The 24-year-old from Penang scored a notable victory last month in Korea where she won the Seoul Open in convincing style. The triumph not only marked her sixth successive title on the WISPA World Tour, but it also brought her career title total to 28 - ahead of all her Tour rivals for the first time!
After first topping the world rankings in January 2006, Nicol David began her unbroken two-year reign as world No1 in August 2006.
David heads an unchanged top seven, with Natalie Grinham at two; her older sister Rachael Grinham at three; USA's Natalie Grainger at four; England's Tania Bailey and Jenny Duncalf at five and six, respectively; and New Zealander Shelley Kitchen at No7.
03 June 2008
http://www.wispa.net/NM/anmviewer.asp?a=933&z=1
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Malaysia's Nicol David has stretched her lead at the top of the June Women's World Squash Rankings following her convincing victory in last month's Dunlop British Open, according to the list published today (Tuesday) by the Women's International Squash Players' Association (WISPA).
David heads an unchanged top five, with Natalie Grinham at two; her older sister Rachael Grinham at three; USA's Natalie Grainger at four; and England's Tania Bailey at five.
But Jenny Duncalf jumps two places to a career-equalling-high No6 after her maiden British Open runners-up finish, as fifth seed.
Duncalf's England team-mate Laura Lengthorn-Massaro also has much to celebrate - after leaping three places to a best-ever ninth place in the list. The 24-year-old from Lancashire, who followed her surprise quarter-final British Open finish by making it to the Texas Open final last month, overtakes her county colleague Vicky Botwright, who slips to 11, for the first time.
Another three-place riser is Isabelle Stoehr, who moves to 15 and celebrates her highest ranking for more than two years. The 28-year-old from France enjoyed one of the best runs of her career in Liverpool when she reached the British Open semi-finals as a qualifier.
A runners-up finish in May's Subway Goshen Open in the USA - her second WISPA Tour final appearance of the year - sees the return to the top 20 of Malaysia's Sharon Wee, at 19.
1 [1] Nicol David
2 [2] Natalie Grinham
3 [3] Rachael Grinham
4 [4] Natalie Grainger
5 [5] Tania Bailey
6 [8] Jenny Duncalf
7 [7] Shelley Kitchen
8 [6] Omneya Abdel Kawy
9 [12] Laura Lengthorn-Massaro
10 [9] Vanessa Atkinson
http://www.sportsfeatures.com/index.php?section=pp&action=show&id=46584
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Abdel Kawy Up To Six In New World Rankings
While Malaysia's Nicol David maintains her grip on pole position in the May Women's World Squash Rankings, Egyptian Omneya Abdel Kawy leaps three places to No6 in the list published today (Friday) by the Women's International Squash Players' Association (WISPA).
[2] Natalie Grinham NED
[3] Rachael Grinham AUS
[4] Natalie Grainger USA
[5] Tania Bailey ENG
[6] Omneya Abdel Kawy EGY
[7] Shelley Kitchen NZL
[8] Jenny Duncalf ENG
[9] Vanessa Atkinson NED
[10] Vicky Botwright ENG
For the complete WISPA ranking list, see http://www.wispa.net/
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