An emphatically dominants run of three titles from three events played so far this year has taken Vanessa Atkinson back to the top of the new April Women’s World Squash Rankings, issued today (Tuesday) by the Women's International Squash Players' Association (WISPA).

The 30-year-old Dutch star first clinched the top sport in December – then immediately lost it to Nicol David in January after the Malaysian won the World Open at the end of the year.

But title successes since February in the Apawamis Open in the USA, the KL Open in Malaysia and the Tournament of Champions in New York – including two strongfinal victories (at Apawamis and KL) over David and the milestone of her 20th WISPA title – have brought Atkinson back to the top of the pile after a three-month gap. 

Nicol David slips to No2, while Australian sisters Rachael Grinham and Natalie Grinham remain at three and four, respectively; and England's Vicky Botwright holds onto fifth place.

Victory in last week's Cannon Kirk Homes Irish Open, coupled with successes beyond her seeding in this year's Apawamis Open, KL Open and Tournament of Champions, take Ireland's Madeline Perry to a career-high No6 in the new list – a jump of three places.

     1      [2]        Vanessa Atkinson              NED
     2     [1]        Nicol David                       MAS
     3     [3]        Rachael Grinham               AUS
     4     [4]        Natalie Grinham                AUS
     5     [5]        Vicky Botwright                ENG
     6     [9]        Madeline Perry                 IRL
     7     [6]        Natalie Grainger               USA
     8     [7]        Jenny Duncalf                  ENG
     9     [8]        Linda Elriani                     ENG
     10    [10]      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    [15]      Shelley Kitchen                 NZL
     16    [16]      Fiona Geaves                    ENG
     17    [18]      Isabelle Stoehr                FRA
     18    [17]      Rebecca Chiu                    HKG
     19    [19]      Pamela Nimmo                   SCO
     20   [20]      Engy Kheirallah                 EGY