The confirmation of Jonathon Power as the new world number one in the January 2006 Dunlop PSA Men's World Squash Rankings, published today (Thursday) by the Professional Squash Association, marks yet another historic achievement for the 31-year-old from Montreal.

Jonathon Power regains world #1 after a 4 1/2 year absence. (photo © 2005 Fritz Borchert.)

Jonathon Power interview From Dec 28th (click arrow to start the interview audio)

By winning the Saudi International, the second richest PSA Tour event of the year, this month in Al-Khobar, Power clinched a sensational return to the top of the world rankings four and a half years after last being world No1 – marking the longest gap between successive reigns since the rankings were established in the early eighties.

Power first became world No1 in May 1999, after winning the World Open title for the first time in Qatar in December 1998.  His and rival Peter Nicol swapped the title until April 2001 when the Canadian began his penultimate four-month reign which lasted until July 2001.

 Power has enjoyed a sparkling 2005 which included winning five PSA titles from five final appearances - the Apawamis Open in New York in January; the PSA Masters in Bermuda in April; the Super Series Finals in London in May; the Motor City Open in Detroit in October; and the Saudi International.

"This was my goal this year, to give it a big push and go back to the top," said Power after the sensational Saudi triumph which clinched his return to the top of the PSA rankings.

Amr Shabana (r) passes Palmer to reach world #2 . (photo © 2005 Fritz Borchert.)

Also notable in the new list is the career-best world No2 ranking achieved by Egypt’s Amr Shabana.  The 26-year-old from Cairo enjoyed a significant ‘comeback’ year in 2005 by returning to the form which saw him become the first Egyptian to win the World Open title in 2003.

The left-hander reached six PSA Tour finals in 2005 - and began a stunning four-month run in September by winning the Heliopolis Open in his hometown of Cairo, then picked up the St Louis Open and Hungarian Open crowns over the following few weeks before claiming the ultimate prize of the World Open trophy in Hong Kong at the beginning of this month for the second time in his career.

Australians Anthony Ricketts and David Palmer hold onto third and fourth place in the new rankings, ahead of France’s Thierry Lincou who, after spending the whole of 2005 as world No1, begins 2006 at No5.

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