Women’s Rankings : Kennedy reaches top ten
England’s Georgina Kennedy has reached the top 10 of the PSA Women’s World Rankings after she got the better of compatriot Sarah-Jane Perry in last night’s Cleveland Classic final.
London-born Kennedy, who was ranked at No.167 this time last year, has had a meteoric rise up the rankings over the past 12 months and her win over World No.5 Perry saw her lift the ninth PSA title of her career.
The 24-year-old has risen seven places to a career-high ranking of No.10 and it’s the first time since Laura Massaro retired in May 2019 that there have been two English players inside the top 10 at the same time.
The rankings are once again topped by Nour El Sherbini, who extends her reign as World #1 to a 16th successive month. The Egyptian is followed by Nouran Gohar, Hania El Hammamy, Amanda Sobhy and Perry .
The rest of the top 10 is made up of Joelle King, Salma Hany, Camille Serme and Rowan Elaraby.
USA’s Olivia Fiechter stays at #11 and she is followed by fellow American Olivia Clyne at #12. Meanwhile, Belgium’s Nele Gilis rises a place to #13, swapping places with Wales’ Tesni Evans.
India’s Joshna Chinappa falls five spots to #15, while Nadine Shahin and Hollie Naughton also drop due to Kennedy’s rise. Emily Whitlock stays at #18, while both Melissa Alves and Danielle Letourneau move up to #19 and #20.
It’s a career-high ranking for Alves and comes after Nour El Tayeb fell from #19 to #81 due to her points for the 2020 Manchester Open and CIB Egyptian Open expiring. El Tayeb gave birth to a baby girl in July of this year and ended a 14-month spell on the sidelines in December, 2021 as she reached the quarter finals of the CIB Squash Open Black Ball.
USA’s Caroline Fouts is the biggest riser on the women’s tour, moving up 114 places to #.238. The 16-year-old appeared at the Cleveland Classic last month where she fell to Sobhy’s younger sister, Sabrina, in the last 24.
MEN’S RANKINGS : Hesham breaks into top ten
Egypt’s Mazen Hesham has broken into the top 10 of the PSA Men’s World Rankings for the first time following his run to the final of the Houston Open in January.
The 27-year-old has struggled with a number of injury problems in recent years – even dropping out of the top 50 in 2017 after previously reaching a career-high of #13 two years prior – but was in magnificent form to reach a first PSA World Tour Gold final last month in Houston, and he has been rewarded with a three-place rise to #10.
The man he lost out to in the Houston final – fellow Egyptian Ali Farag – stays at #1 for a sixth consecutive month and a 26th month in total and he is followed by Paul Coll. Coll will usurp Farag at the summit of the World Rankings on 1st March, with Farag set to lose ranking points from the 2020 Qatar Classic and the 2020 CIB Black Ball Squash Open at the end of this month.
Mohamed ElShorbagy stays at #3 ahead of his return to the court at the Squash on Fire Open later this month following a four-month hiatus. Meanwhile, Mostafa Asal has risen above former World Champion Tarek Momen to reach a career-high ranking of #4 after he reached the semi finals in Houston.
Peru’s Diego Elias – who lifted the Motor City Open title last week – stays at #6, while Marwan ElShorbagy, Joel Makin and Fares Dessouky complete the top 10.
Hesham’s rise has seen Miguel Rodriguez , Gregoire Marche and Karim Abdel Gawad all fall, while Mohamed Abouelghar stays at #14. Saurav Ghosal rises a place to with Youssef Soliman moving up two places to a career-high ranking of #16.
Youssef Ibrahim falls two spots to #17, while Malaysia’s Eain Yow Ng drops to #18. Baptiste Masotti retains his #19 ranking, while Germany’s Raphael Kandra returns to the top 20 at the expense of Masotti’s fellow Frenchman Victor Crouin.
The biggest mover on the men’s tour this month is Malaysia’s Shamiel Haeyzad. The 17-year-old has risen 284 places to #370. Sri Lanka’s Ravindu Laksiri has also enjoyed a big rise in his ranking this month, moving up 156 spots to #498 after winning the Sri Lanka Senior National Squash Championship in January.
