Nicol David From Malaysia is still barely World #1

Madeline Perry reaches world #9 - Malaysia's first world #1 in any sport. © 2006 Debra Tessier

Nicol David Holds Onto No1 Ranking – But Perry Powers Into Top Ten 

Malaysia's Nicol David barely held onto her razor-thin lead ahead of Vanessa Atkinson at the top of the new March Women’s World Squash Rankings, issued today (Wednesday) by the Women's International Squash Players' Association (WISPA), despite losing to her Dutch rival in last month's final of the KL Open in Malaysia and earlier in the Apawamis Open in New York. David stands at 2092 ranking points, with Atkinson just behind at 1975 points, an exceeding thin margin.  

David, the 22-year-old World Open champion from Penang, moves into her third successive month as world No1, with Vanessa Atkinson in second place ahead of Australian sisters Rachael Grinham and Natalie Grinham at three and four, respectively; and England's Vicky Botwright in fifth place.

Atkinson, with two WISPA World Tour titles to her name already this year, is seeded to add a third this week in New York, where she is currently competing in the Bear Stearns Tournament of Champions (results of which are not included in the March rankings). 

USA's Natalie Grainger, a quarter-finalist in last month's KL Open and Apawamis Open, moves up to No6 in the new list. 

England's Jenny Duncalf – winner of the last WISPA event of 2005, the Canary Islands Open, and the first of this year, the Greenwich Open in the USA – celebrates a career-best world No7 ranking.  The 23-year-old from Harrogate in Yorkshire also becomes the second-highest ranked English player in the list for the first time. 

Ireland's Madeline Perry, an unseeded semi-finalist in Kuala Lumpur, continues her relentless surge up the rankings – rising a further place to a career-high No9.

            1           [1]        Nicol David       MAS
            2          [2]        Vanessa Atkinson          NED
            3          [3]        Rachael Grinham           AUS
            4          [4]        Natalie Grinham            AUS
            5          [5]        Vicky Botwright            ENG
            6          [7]        Natalie Grainger           USA
            7          [8]        Jenny Duncalf  ENG
            8          [6]        Linda Elriani     ENG
            9          [10]      Madeline Perry IRL
            10         [9]        Tania Bailey     ENG
            11         [11]       Omneya Abdel Kawy     EGY
            12         [12]      Alison Waters   ENG
            13         [13]      Laura-Jane Lengthorn   ENG
            14         [14]      Annelize Naude            NED
            15         [16]      Shelley Kitchen NZL
            16         [18]      Fiona Geaves    ENG
            17         [17]      Rebecca Chiu    HKG
            18         [15]      Isabelle Stoehr            FRA
            19         [19]      Pamela Nimmo   SCO
            20        [20]      Engy Kheirallah EGY