Grinham Sisters Swap Places In World Rankings
It was in June 2006 that Natalie Grinham - now playing under the Netherlands flag - first moved past her sibling in the list. But 31-year-old Queenslander Rachael followed her victory over Natalie in the first World Open final featuring two sisters in Madrid last October by reaching four further WISPA World Tour finals - and cemented her status as the current player who has appeared in the most finals when she beat Vanessa Atkinson in last month's Alexandria Sporting Club Open final in Egypt to win her 28th Tour crown.
Natalie Grinham slips to three in the new list, ahead of USA's Natalie Grainger at four and England's Jenny Duncalf at five.
But New Zealander Shelley Kitchen records a career-high berth this month, rising a single place to No6. The 28-year-old from Auckland followed her shock second round World Open defeat of Nicol David in Madrid last year by notching up her 12th Tour title at the Harrow Greenwich Open at the beginning of the year - and last month consolidated her status as the top Kiwi by becoming the New Zealand National champion for the fourth time.
England's Alison Waters also celebrates a career-best ranking in the new list - leaping three places to No8. Winner of the British National title for the first time in February, the 24-year-old Londoner has enjoyed a good year on the WISPA Tour - reaching he semi-finals of both the KL Open and Seoul Open against the seedings, and claiming her fifth Tour final berth in the Irish Open in Dublin in April.
1 [1] Nicol David MAS
2 [3] Rachael Grinham AUS
3 [2] Natalie Grinham NED
4 [4] Natalie Grainger USA
5 [5] Jenny Duncalf ENG
6 [7] Shelley Kitchen NZL
7 [6] Tania Bailey ENG
8 [11] Alison Waters ENG
9 [8] Laura Lengthorn-Massaro ENG
10 [10] Omneya Abdel Kawy EGY
11 [9] Vanessa Atkinson NED
12 [12] Vicky Botwright ENG
13 [13] Kasey Brown AUS
14 [14] Rebecca Chiu HKG
15 [15] Madeline Perry IRL
16 [16] Isabelle Stoehr FRA
17 [17] Samantha Teran MEX
19 [19] Jaclyn Hawkes NZL
19 [18] Engy Kheirallah EGY
20 [20] Annelize Naude NED
For the complete WISPA ranking list, see www.wispa.net