January 2009:
Darwish is New
World Number One
 Egypt's
Karim Darwish is number one for the first time in the new
January Dunlop PSA Men's World Squash Rankings, ending the 33-month
reign of his illustrious compatriot Amr Shabana.
Darwish, 27, from Cairo, is the 13th player in history to top the
men's world list, but only the second Egyptian.
After winning no events at all in 2006, Darwish claimed a single PSA
Tour title the following year. But it was in 2008, which he began
ranked eight in the world, that the former world junior champion -
hitherto largely overshadowed by fellow countrymen like Shabana and
Ramy Ashour - made his mark: Darwish reached six finals (including
the World Open in England in October) and secured three titles,
including his first Super Series crowns at the Qatar Classic and
Saudi International.
 It
was his victory in last month's Saudi International - the richest
event of all time, in which he scored his second win of the year
over Shabana - that clinched Darwish's world-ranking breakthrough.
"This is the greatest moment of my career," said Darwish after
winning the Saudi title which guaranteed his world number one
status. "I've been working really hard all my life to reach this
moment - thank God I should do it in this, the richest tournament
ever."
Shabana slips to two in the new list - but World Open champion
Ramy Ashour remains at No3, thus maintaining Egypt's unique hold
on the top three ranking positions in the world!
Frenchman Gregory Gaultier, runner-up to Darwish in the Saudi
International, holds onto fourth place, with England's James
Willstrop at No5 and Australia's British Open champion at six.
Malaysia's Ong Beng Hee begins 2009 in the top ten after
moving up two places from 12.
Three players boast career-best rankings in the lower half of the
top twenty - Pakistan teenager Aamir Atlas Khan rising to a
best-ever 15, and Australian Cameron Pilley also moving up a
single place to claim a first-time 17th place. But Botswana-born
Englishman Alister Walker - outside the top thirty a year ago
- celebrates his maiden appearance in the top twenty by jumping
three places to No18. |
 TOP
20 PSA
JAN 2009 |
|
Rank |
Prev |
Player |
Pts |
Ctry |
| 1é |
[2] |
Karim
Darwish |
1110 |
Egy |
| 2ê |
[1] |
Amr
Shabana |
973 |
Egy |
|
3 |
[3] |
Ramy Ashour |
935 |
Egy |
|
4 |
[4] |
Gregory
Gaultier |
811 |
Fra |
|
5 |
[5] |
James
Willstrop |
771 |
Eng |
| 6 |
[6] |
David Palmer |
636 |
Aus |
| 7 |
[7] |
Thierry Lincou |
601 |
Fra |
| 8 |
[8] |
Wael El Hindi |
506 |
Egy |
| 9 |
[9] |
Peter Barker |
449 |
Eng |
|
10é |
[12] |
Ong Beng Hee |
409 |
Mas |
|
11 |
[11] |
Adrian Grant |
404 |
Eng |
| 12ê |
[10] |
Nick
Matthew |
378 |
Eng |
|
13 |
[13] |
Azlan Iskandar |
372 |
Mas |
| 14 |
[14] |
Borja Golan |
352 |
Esp |
| 15é |
[16] |
Aamir Atlas Khan |
304 |
Pak |
| 16é |
[17] |
Laurens Jan Anjema |
304 |
Ned |
|
17é |
[18] |
Cameron Pilley |
304 |
Aus |
| 18 |
[21] |
Alister Walker |
273 |
Eng |
|
19 |
[17] |
Stewart Boswell |
271 |
Aus |
| 20 |
[22] |
Olli Ttuominen |
256 |
Fin |
|
|
 |
