Nicol David moved to #1 in August on the strength of her Malaysian Open win. © 2006 Alex Wan.

Malaysia's Nicol David Strengthens World Number One Grip

Victory for the second successive year in last month's Dunlop British Open has strengthened Nicol David's grip on pole position in the new October Women’s World Squash Rankings, published by the Women's International Squash Players' Association (WISPA).

The 23-year-old Malaysian extended her unbeaten run to 17 matches – and four titles – when she beat Australia's Rachael Grinham in the final of the world-renowned event in Nottingham.

David, celebrating her sixth month as world No1, maintains her lead ahead of Vanessa Atkinson, from the Netherlands, at two.  At three and four are Queensland sisters Rachael Grinham and Natalie Grinham, ahead of a trio of English players, Vicky Botwright, Jenny Duncalf and Tania Bailey, in fifth, sixth and seventh positions.

Engy Kheirallah, who became the first Egyptian to reach the semi-finals in the 84-year history of the women's British Open, leaps three places to a career-high 12th position.  The 24-year-old from Alexandria is now within three places of her illustrious compatriot Omneya Abdel Kawy.

Also boasting a career-best ranking in the new list is England's Dominique Lloyd-Walter, who rises to 19.

Kasey Brown becomes the first new Australian to break into the women's world top 20 for more than five years.  The 21-year-old from Eight Mile Plains in Queensland, who has already notched up five WISPA World Tour titles this year, makes her debut at No20.

            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          [6]        Jenny Duncalf    ENG
            7          [7]        Tania Bailey       ENG
            8          [8]        Madeline Perry    IRL
            9          [9]        Omneya Abdel Kawy         EGY
            10         [10]       Alison Waters    ENG
            11          [11]       Laura-Jane Lengthorn      ENG
            12         [15]       Engy Kheirallah   EGY
            13         [12]       Shelley Kitchen   NZL
            14         [13]       Natalie Grainger USA
            15         [14]       Rebecca Chiu       HKG
            16         [17]       Annelize Naude   NED
            17         [16]       Isabelle Stoehr  FRA
            18         [19]       Pamela Nimmo     SCO
            19         [20]      Dominique Lloyd-Walter   ENG
            20         [21]       Kasey Brown       AUS