Egyptians dominate the top three position in the Dunlop PSA Men's World Squash Rankings for the second time this year after World Open champion Ramy Ashour reclaims third place in the new April list published today (Wednesday) by the Professional Squash Association.
Karim Darwish, a PSA World Tour finalist seven times since the beginning of last year and winner of three titles, celebrates his fourth month as world number one, ahead of predecessor Amr Shabana at No2.
Victory in February's Davenport North American Open, the second Super Series event of the year, helped lift 21-year-old Ashour to third place - overtaking Gregory Gaultier, the Frenchman who clinched the first Super Series title of the year at the JP Morgan Tournament of Champions in New York before going on to win last month's ATCO Super Series Finals crown at The Queen's Club in London for the second year in a row.
Fresh from his victory in last month's ISS Canary Wharf Classic in London - the 25th PSA Tour title of his career - Australian David Palmer moves back into the top five.
Spain's Borja Golan, who won the Motor City Open in Detroit in February before going on to claim an unexpected place in the Canary Wharf Classic quarter-finals, jumps two places to a career-high world No12 ranking - the highest-ranking by a Spaniard.
Pakistan's Farhan Mehboob also claims a career-best slot in the April list. The 20-year-old from Peshawar, a nephew of the great Jansher Khan, moves up to 18.
1 [1] Karim Darwish EGY
2 [2] Amr Shabana EGY
3 [4] Ramy Ashour EGY
4 [3] Gregory Gaultier FRA
5 [6] David Palmer AUS
6 [5] Nick Matthew ENG
7 [8] Thierry Lincou FRA
8 [7] James Willstrop ENG
9 [10] Peter Barker ENG
10 [9] Wael El Hindi EGY
11 [13] Adrian Grant ENG
12 [14] Borja Golan ESP
13 [12] Mohd Azlan Iskandar MAS
14 [11] Ong Beng Hee MAS
15 [15] Aamir Atlas Khan PAK
16 [16] Alister Walker ENG
17 [17] Laurens Jan Anjema NED
18 [20] Farhan Mehboob PAK
19 [21] Olli Tuominen FIN
20 [19] Stewart Boswell AUS
For full list – see www.psa-squash.com