April PSA Rankings: Ashour Reaches Historic Heights
by Howard Harding
1 April 2013 - Egypt's Ramy Ashour heads the April Dunlop PSA Men's World Squash Rankings, published today by the Professional Squash Association, with the highest points average ever recorded.
Final appearances in all nine PSA World Tour events in which he has appeared over the past twelve months - with title triumphs in eight, including last month's PSA World Series North American Open and Kuwait PSA Cup - take the 25-year-old from Cairo's points average to 1,872.50, more than 700 above his nearest rival!
Unbeaten since losing the British Open final to England's Nick Matthew last May, Ashour celebrated his 36th win in a row two weeks ago when he defeated Englishman James Willstrop 6-11, 11-8, 11-3, 11-3 in the Kuwait PSA Cup climax.
"The latest PSA World Tour rankings certainly reflect the remarkable consistency Ramy is showing on the PSA World Tour," said PSA COO Lee Beachill. "For any player to put together an unbeaten run of 36 matches in the era is incredible, particularly given the very high standard and depth currently on the Tour.
"His attitude on and off the court is very endearing and he is a fantastic role model for our sport," added Beachill, also a former world number one.
Matthew retains his second position in the new list, while Willstrop - winner of last month's Canary Wharf Classic in London - moves up to third place, pushing Frenchman Gregory Gaultier down to No4.
Success by Karim Darwish in Sunday's final of the CIMB KL Open in Malaysia for the second time in three years takes the Egyptian up to five in the April rankings, while fellow countryman Mohamed El Shorbagy, the runner-up, slips to No6.
Borja Golan, the top-ranked Spaniard who was out of the game for almost a year following major knee surgery, has completed his remarkable recovery by marking a career-high world No9 ranking this month.
"I am very proud of this achievement because every position I reach is like climbing a mountain," said the 30-year-old from Santiago de Compostela who notched up his 28th Tour title at the Windy City Open in Chicago in February.
"Every player around me is so good that I have to push over the limit to get to my points," added Golan. "It is very hard but also very emotional and good for the game."
Tarek Momen makes his top ten debut and becomes the fifth highest-ranked Egyptian after rising to a best-ever No10. The 25-year-old from Cairo reached the KL Open quarter-finals unseeded and boasts three titles on the PSA Tour.
South African Stephen Coppinger continues his march up the rankings by moving up two places to a career-high 18. The 28-year-old from Cape Town reached the Canary Wharf Classic quarter-finals unseeded and celebrated his 14th Tour final appearance in February's Windy City Open.
April 2013 top 20 (inc. points average):
1 [1] Ramy Ashour EGY 1,872
2 [2] Nick Matthew ENG 1,140
3 [4] James Willstrop ENG 1,085
4 [3] Gregory Gaultier FRA 1,001
5 [6] Karim Darwish EGY 722
6 [5] Mohamed El Shorbagy EGY 681
7 [7] Amr Shabana EGY 589
8 [8] Peter Barker ENG 584
9 [10] Borja Golan ESP 426
10 [11] Tarek Momen EGY 424
11 [9] Omar Mosaad EGY 406
12 [16] Simon Rosner GER 338
13 [14] Alister Walker BOT 328
14 [15] Daryl Selby ENG 321
15 [12] Tom Richards ENG 315
16 [13] Laurens Jan Anjema NED 311
17 [18] Cameron Pilley AUS 284
18 [20] Stephen Coppinger RSA 270
19 [19] Saurav Ghosal IND 261
20 [17] Adrian Grant ENG 260
COMPLETE RANKINGS
Back To Main
