Lee Beachill Keeps #1 Spot

Dec 1, 2004 by Howard Harding © 2004
match sequence © 2004 Debra Tessier

[top Americas players]

Lee Beachill (l) keeps #1 and David Palmer is still #4 coming into the British Open photo © 2004 Debra Tessier

England's Lee Beachill celebrates his third month at the top of the Dunlop PSA Men's World Squash Rankings, according to the new December list revealed by the Professional Squash Association at the beginning of the month.

The 27-year-old Yorkshireman from Pontefract has maintained a lead ahead of his great rival Thierry Lincou, the in-form Frenchman whose victory in November's Pace Credit Union Canadian Classic has narrowed the gap behind the Englishman.

Beachill's compatriot Peter Nicol holds onto third place in the list, ahead of Australian David Palmer at four.

Egypt's 2003 world champion Amr Shabana moves back to No5, while Scotland's John White and England's Nick Matthew slip to six and seven, respectively.

Lincou is rejoined in the top ten by fellow Frenchman Gregory Gaultier, who moves up one place from 11.

Adrian Grant is the only player to boast a career-high position in the December list. The 24-year-old Englishman rises to a best-ever 12 after a successful run on the PSA Tour which included a quarter-final appearance in the Hong Kong Open in September and a semi-final berth in the Hungarian Open in October - both against the seedings.

1 [1] Lee Beachill ENG
2 [2] Thierry Lincou FRA
3 [3] Peter Nicol ENG
4 [4] David Palmer AUS
5 [7] Amr Shabana EGY
6 [5] John White SCO
7 [6] Nick Matthew ENG
8 [8] Karim Darwish EGY
9 [9] Jonathon Power CAN
10 [11] Gregory Gaultier FRA
11 [10] Joseph Kneipp AUS
12 [13] Adrian Grant ENG
13 [12] James Willstrop ENG
14 [14] Anthony Ricketts AUS
15 [16] Mohammed Abbas EGY
16 [15] Omar Elborolossy EGY
17 [18] Ong Beng Hee MAS
18 [17] Dan Jenson AUS
19 [20] Graham Ryding CAN
20 [19] Renan Lavigne FRA

[complete rankings for December]

Other Players from the Americas in the top 100 (Dec 1 2004):

32 (32) Shahier Razik CAN
52 (61) Viktor Berg CAN
66 (67) Matthew Giuffre CAN
68 (73) Eric Galvez MEX
77 (76) Rafael Alarcon BRA
78 (87) Nick Kyme BER
89 (83) Shawn DeLierre CAN
92 (86) Ian Power CAN
99 (88) David Phillips CAN

and the top Americans:
103 (104) Christoper Gordon USA
119 (128) Beau River USA
128 (136) Dylan Patterson USA
133 (135) Preston Quick USA
138 (139) Michael Puertas
142 (132) Julian Illingworth USA

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