SquashTalk>News >Jan 1 2001 Womens World Rankings [last update was 4-jan-01 ]

Leilani Joyce Retains #1 Spot Sarah Fitz-Gerald climbs back up to #3.

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LEILANI JOYCE CONSOLIDATES WORLD No1 STATUS
New Zealand's British Open champion Leilani Joyce, winner of eight WISPA World Tour titles in 2000, begins the new year as No1 in the January women's world rankings, announced today (2nd January) by the Women's International Squash Players' Association (WISPA).

FITZ GERALD IN BIG COMEBACK
Joyce, 26, from Hamilton, retains her lead over Australia's world No2 Carol Owens, the 29-year-old from Melbourne, now also based in New Zealand, who beat her in November's World Open final in Edinburgh. At No3 is Australia's three-times former world champion Sarah Fitz-Gerald, who began 2000 at 38 after almost a year off with injury, then clinched seven WISPA titles in a magnificent comeback year which climaxed in victory over Carol Owens in December's final of the UniversalSportsClub Classic in London.

ENGLAND CROWDS SECOND SIX
Despite not being represented in the world top three for the first time since September 1999, England - winners of the world team title in November for the first time in ten years - boast six players in the top ten. Led by Sussex's world No4 Linda Charman, the sextet features Lincolnshire's former world junior champion Tania Bailey, 21, from Stamford, who rises to a career-high world No5; Manchester-born Natalie Grainger at 6; Gloucester's Fiona Geaves, winner of this month's Monte Carlo Classic, at 7; Suzanne Horner, aged 37, from Wakefield, at 8; and Kent's Stephanie Brind, who clinched the world team title for England in the final against Australia, at No9.

England's notable success is all the more remarkable in that it does not feature Cassie Campion, the 1999 world champion from Norfolk who led the world rankings for most of 2000 before undergoing back surgery in November. Campion, based in Halifax, Yorkshire, has dropped to 12 in the latest list. Completing the top ten is Dutch champion Vanessa Atkinson, who rises to a career-best No10.

WISPA players registering their highest-ever rankings in the January top thirty list include: Scotland's Pamela Nimmo, from Edinburgh, who rises two places to 16; England's Manchester-based Vicky Botwright who makes her top twenty debut at 19; and France's Isabelle Stoehr, from Tours, who jumps three positions to 23.

WORLD TOP 20 [LAST MONTHS RANKINGS IN BRACKETS]
1 [1] Leilani Joyce NZL
2 [2] Carol Owens AUS
3 [5] Sarah Fitz-Gerald AUS
4 [3] Linda Charman ENG
5 [6] Tania Bailey ENG
6 [7] Natalie Grainger ENG
7 [10] Fiona Geaves ENG
8 [8] Suzanne Horner ENG
9 [13] Stephanie Brind ENG
10 [12] Vanessa Atkinson NED
11 [9] Rachael Grinham AUS
12 [4] Cassie Campion ENG
13 [15] Rebecca Macree ENG
14 [14] Sabine Schoene GER
15 [11] Sue Wright ENG
16 [18] Pamela Nimmo SCO
17 [17] Jenny Tranfield ENG
18 [16] Claire Nitch RSA
19 [23] Vicky Botwright ENG
20 [19] Maha Zein EGY