Shabana Is New World Number One

Egypt's Amr Shabana becomes the first world number one from Egypt in the new April Dunlop PSA Men's World Squash Rankings, published today (Monday) by the Professional Squash Association. 

Achieving what had eluded the mercurial Ahmed Barada in 1999 and 2000, the 26-year-old World Open champion from Cairo become the tenth player to top the world list since the inaugural rankings were produced more than 20 years ago.

The exciting, demonstrative, colorful and creative Shabana breathes some exciting new life at the top of the PSA rankings table. Coming at a time when the squash world is still recoiling from the loss of it's most recognizable personality, Jonathon Power of Canada, who retired last month after regaining the top position for March, Shabana is a good candidate for bringing the tour new personality, if he can maintain the consistency and dedication to competition that he has show for the past 18 months.

Shabana rocked the squash world in December 2003 when he won the World Open for the first time in Pakistan – where he was the ninth seed!  After a dismal 2004, in which he only reached one PSA Tour final, the stylish left-hander came back with a vengeance in 2005 when he picked up four titles from six final appearances – and finished the year in stunning style by becoming world champion for the second time in Hong Kong.

He has collected a further two PSA Trophies this year – winning the Canadian Classic in Toronto in January and the Tournament of Champions last month at Grand Central Terminal in New York, to bring his career title total to 11.

The new ranking list is the first since Canada's Jonathon Power announced his surprise retirement shortly after topping the list in March.

While Australia's David Palmer retains second place, James Willstrop emphasizes his position as the highest-ranked Englishman by moving up to three, ahead of fourth-placed Frenchman Thierry Lincou.

Australia's Anthony Ricketts and England's Peter Nicol move up to five and six, respectively, while Englishman Nick Matthew – runner-up at last month's Tournament of Champions – rises three places to seven, his highest ranking for more than a year.

Malaysia's two players in the world top 20 are also on the rise:  Ong Beng Hee moves up to No14 to celebrate his best ranking for almost two years, while Mohd Azlan Iskandar rises a single place to No12 to mark a career-best ranking.

     1      [3]        Amr Shabana               EGY

     2     [2]        David Palmer                AUS

     3     [5]        James Willstrop           ENG

     4     [4]        Thierry Lincou             FRA

     5     [6]        Anthony Ricketts          AUS

     6     [7]        Peter Nicol                  ENG

     7     [10]      Nick Matthew              ENG

     8     [8]        Lee Beachill                 ENG

     9     [9]        John White                  SCO

     10    [11]       Gregory Gaultier          FRA

     11    [12]      Karim Darwish              EGY

     12    [13]      Mohd Azlan Iskandar   MAS

     13    [14]      Olli Tuominen               FIN

     14    [15]      Ong Beng Hee              MAS

     15    [16]      Adrian Grant                ENG

     16    [17]      Stewart Boswell           AUS

     17    [22]      Mohammed Abbas         EGY

     18    [19]      Graham Ryding             CAN

     19    [20]      Alex Gough                  WAL

     20   [21]      Wael El Hindi              EGY