Mansoor to 27, Ritwik into top 60, Gordon to 80

June 1, 2005 by Ron Beck © 2005
photo © 2005 Stephen J Line

[top Americas players]

Stewart Boswell jumped 54 ranking positions this month! photo © 2005 Debra Tessier.

Lincou Celebrates Sixth Month As World Number One

In an inactive month for the top players, France's Thierry Lincou celebrates his sixth successive month as world number one in the new June Dunlop PSA Men's World Squash Rankings, announced today (03 June) by the Professional Squash Association.

There was more movement in the mid range of the rankings pyramid, as several mid range tournaments were played out around the world.

Stewart Boswell, a former top-five player, jumped from 137 to 83 on the strength of four satellite tourney victories, while American Chris Gordon vaulted to #80. Mansoor Zaman edged closer to the top 20, as he reached #27 while Ritwik Bhattacharya became the highest ranking Indian player ever at 59.

Bhattacharya is now aimiing higher, he told the press in Delhi: ‘‘Once I decided I wanted to be the top ranked player in India, it took me five years to reach that spot. My aim then was to make it to the top 50. Now the goals have changed. Now I want to be the number one in the world. And I am confident of making it in the next few years,’’ he said on the eve of the Delhi Open Squash Championship. ‘‘If I don’t believe I can do it, there is no sense in my continuing to play, is there,’’ Bhattacharya's short term target is the top 30 by year end.

Lincou, 29, heads an almost unchanged top twenty, ahead of England's Lee Beachill at two; Australian David Palmer at three; and Canada's Jonathon Power at number four. Power and Lincou contested last month's final of the Brit Insurance Super Series Finals in London, the non-ranking PSA Tour event which was won by the Canadian.

Malaysia's Mohd Azlan Iskandar is the only upward mover in the top twenty, rising a single place to No18, aided by an unexpected second round berth in April's PSA Masters in Bermuda.

Outside the top twenty, England's Bradley Ball celebrates a career-high world No 24 ranking. The 28-year-old from Ipswich in Suffolk reached the final of the Virginia Professional Championship in January to record his 16th PSA Tour final appearance.

Frenchman Stephane Galifi also celebrates a career-best ranking of 41, following his surprise victory in last month's Grant Thornton Atlanta Open in the USA.

But perhaps the most notable ranking rise has been made by Australia's former world No4 Stewart Boswell, who returned to the PSA Tour two months ago after a two-year layoff caused by a mystery back ailment. At 216 in April, the 26-year-old from Canberra began his comeback in New Zealand - and last weekend won his fourth successive event (three as a qualifier) when he lifted the WA Open trophy in Perth, Australia, to jump 133 places to 83 in the latest list.

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

[complete rankings for June]

Other Players from the Americas in the top 100 (May 1 2005):

37 (39) Shahier Razik CAN
48 (51) Matthew Giuffre CAN
55 (56) Eric Galvez MEX
70 (84) Nick Kyme BER
69 (73) Viktor Berg CAN
75 (72) Rafael Alarcon BRA
76 (82) Ian Power CAN
78 (83) David Phillips CAN
80 (85) Christoper Gordon USA
88 (90) Shawn DeLierre CAN
99 (96) Kumail Mehmood USA

and the other top Americans:

100 (103) Beau River USA
106 (114) Julian Illingworth USA
116 (119) Michael Puertas USA

other notables:

21 (21) Simon Parke ENG
22 (22) Dan Jenson AUS
27 (30) Mansoor Zaman PAK
30 (29) Laurens Jan Anjema NL
59 (62) Ritwik Bhattacharya IND

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