Gawad returns to top three in Men’s World Rankings
Egypt’s Karim Abdel Gawad has overtaken Tarek Momen to return to the top three of the PSA Men’s World Rankings for the first time since November 2017.
Gawad, a former World #1, won two titles during November as he continued his 100 per cent record in front of the iconic Great Pyramid of Giza, beating current World #1 Ali Farag to lift the inaugural CIB Egyptian Squash Open trophy on 1st November.
Despite a disappointing defeat to England’s James Willstrop in the PSA Men’s World Championship two weeks later in Qatar, Gawad bounced back to take the honours at the Channel VAS Championships, downing World #2 Mohamed ElShorbagy to ensure he rises above compatriot Momen.
Momen captured the first major title of his career in Qatar as he won the World Championship, but still falls a spot to #4, where he sits a place ahead of the man he beat in the final, Paul Coll.
Germany’s Simon Rösner (#6), Peru’s Diego Elias (#7) and Mohamed Abouelghar (#8) retain their places, while Marwan ElShorbagy rises to #9, switching places with Miguel Rodriguez, who drops to #10.
Egypt’s Fares Dessouky rises two places to #11, which is his highest ranking since November 2017. Welshman Joel Makin stays at #12, while Saurav Ghosal falls two places to #13.
Zahed Salem rises two spots to return to a joint career-high of #14, while Frenchman Gregoire Marche drops to #15. Omar Mosaad falls to No.16 ahead of Willstrop at No.17, while Mazen Hesham, Adrian Waller and Mostafa Asal make up the rest of the top 20. For Asal, it’s the first time he has ever featured inside the top 20.
England’s Joe Lee is the biggest mover on the men’s tour, moving up 361 places to World No.249 after he appeared at the Channel VAS Championships last week.
El Hammamy breaks into top ten in Women’s World Rankings
Egypt’s Hania El Hammamy has broken into the top 10 of the PSA Women’s World Rankings following her run to the semi-finals of the CIB PSA Women’s World Championship last month in front of the iconic Great Pyramid of Giza.
19-year-old El Hammamy, the reigning World Junior Champion, came back from two games down to stun World #5 Camille Serme as she reached the last four of the biggest tournament in women’s squash before she was halted by eventual winner Nour El Sherbini.
El Sherbini, who captured her fourth World Championship trophy on her 24th birthday last month, moves up two places to #.2 as she sits behind runner-up Raneem El Welily, who completes a calendar year at World #1.
U.S. Open champion Nouran Gohar drops a spot to #3, while Nour El Tayeb is the fourth Egyptian to feature in the top five after falling a place to #4.
New Zealand’s Joelle King stays at #6, while Amanda Sobhy moves up a place to #7, her highest ranking since April 2017, which came a month after she suffered a torn achilles in Colombia.
As a result, Sarah-Jane Perry drops a place to #8, her lowest ranking since October 2018, while Tesni Evans stays at #9 ahead of El Hammamy.
Hong Kong’s Annie Au drops out of the top 10 to #11, while Joshna Chinappa, Alison Waters, Salma Hany and Victoria Lust complete the top 15.
Yathreb Adel moves up to a joint career-high ranking of #16, with Olivia Blatchford Clyne rising two places to #17. Nele Gilis stays at #18, while Nadine Shahin reaches a career-high ranking of #19. Hong Kong’s Joey Chan drops four spots as she completes the top 20.
The biggest mover on the women’s tour is South Korea’s Mingyeong Heo, who rises 80 places to World No.246 after reaching the Pacific Toyota Cairns Squash International quarter-finals.
