Willstrop Extends Men's World Ranking Lead
by Howard Harding
2 April 2012 - England's James Willstrop has extended his lead at the top of the new April Dunlop PSA Men's World Squash Rankings, published by the Professional Squash Association, after reaching the final of the PSA International 50 Canary Wharf Classic last month in London.
The 28-year-old from Leeds is celebrating his third month in pole position after first topping the rankings in January.
Despite successfully defending the London event title, fellow countryman Nick Matthew still remains in third place in the list, just behind Frenchman Gregory Gaultier.
A trio of Egyptians occupy the next three places - Karim Darwish, a semi-finalist in last month's CIMB Nicol David KL Open, at four; Ramy Ashour at five; and Amr Shabana in sixth place.
But a sensational, and unexpected, title triumph in the PSA International 50 Bluenose Classic in Canada, has seen Frenchman Thierry Lincou bounce back into the top at ten after a four-month absence - on his 36th birthday!
It was in April 2000 that Lincou first debuted in the world top ten - a status he went on to maintain for ten unbroken years, during which decade he became world number one and world champion.
Unseeded in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Lincou defeated event favourite Amr Shabana before overcoming fourth seed Daryl Selby in a marathon final to notch up the 23rd PSA Tour title of his career.
Twin title success in March for Omar Mosaad has led to the Egyptian recording a career-high world No12 ranking. After winning the inaugural HKFC Meco Invitational in Hong Kong, the 24-year-old from Cairo beat England's Adrian Grant in a five-game KL Open final to win his eighth Tour title.
And England's Tom Richards also marks a career-best ranking this month - leaping five places to No15. In the best win of his career, the 25-year-old from Surrey brushed aside both the top seed and second seed in Canada en-route to becoming the Open de Squash Banque Nationale Groupe Financier champion in Montreal.
April 2012 top 20 (inc. points average):
1 [1] James Willstrop ENG 1,569
2 [2] Gregory Gaultier FRA 1,296
3 [3] Nick Matthew ENG 1,261
4 [4] Karim Darwish EGY 930
5 [5] Ramy Ashour EGY 872
6 [6] Amr Shabana EGY 643
7 [7] Peter Barker ENG 627
8 [8] Mohamed El Shorbagy EGY 599
9 [9] Laurens Jan Anjema NED 478
10 [12] Thierry Lincou FRA 445
11 [11] Daryl Selby ENG 431
12 [13] Omar Mosaad EGY 426
13 [10] Mohd Azlan Iskandar MAS 389
14 [15] Cameron Pilley AUS 340
15 [20] Tom Richards ENG 336
16 [14] Hisham Mohd Ashour EGY 335
17 [16] Adrian Grant ENG 335
18 [18] Simon Rosner GER 319
18 [17] Alister Walker BOT 319
20 [19] Tarek Momen EGY 310
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