England's Nick Matthew maintains his position as world number one in the new February Dunlop PSA Men's World Squash Rankings, published today by the Professional Squash Association - ahead of second-placed Ramy Ashour, the Egyptian rival to whom he lost in last week's final of the JP Morgan Tournament of Champions in New York.

Matthew ended 2010 in some style - following his title triumph in the Saudi PSA World Open in Saudi Arabia in December by clinching the Punj Lloyd PSA Masters crown in India.

After a hamstring injury in Saudi caused Ashour to pull out of the PSA Masters, the 23-year-old from Cairo marked his Tour return last month at Grand Central Terminal, where he wowed the packed crowd with his dazzling display against Matthew to win the first PSA World Series event of the year.

In an unchanged world top ten, Egypt's Karim Darwish retains his third position, ahead of England's James Willstrop at four, and Egyptian Amr Shabana in fifth place.

Egypt's Mohamed El Shorbagy, the youngest player in the world top 20, strengthens his position at No9 after winning this week's Suburban Collection Motor City Open in Michigan. The 20-year-old from Alexandria overcame Australia's David Palmer in the semi-finals before defeating compatriot Omar Mosaad in the final. Palmer moves up to 15 in the new list, while Mosaad slips to 16.

The only player to record a career-high ranking in the top 20 is Hisham Mohd Ashour - who moves up to 17 to become the seventh Egyptian in the top 17.

February 2011 top 20 (inc. points average):

 

1

[1]

Nick Matthew

ENG

1,498

2

[2]

Ramy Ashour

EGY

1,337

3

[3]

Karim Darwish

EGY

994

4

[4]

James Willstrop

ENG

874

5

[5]

Amr Shabana

EGY

807

6

[6]

Gregory Gaultier

FRA

790

7

[7]

Thierry Lincou

FRA

580

8

[8]

Peter Barker

ENG

551

9

[9]

Mohamed El Shorbagy

EGY

483

10

[10]

Daryl Selby

ENG

431

11

[12]

Laurens Jan Anjema

NED

394

12

[11]

Cameron Pilley

AUS

369

13

[14]

Mohd Azlan Iskandar

MAS

366

14

[13]

Wael El Hindi

EGY

353

15

[16]

David Palmer

AUS

338

16

[15]

Omar Mosaad

EGY

338

17

[18]

Hisham Mohd Ashour

EGY

307

18

[17]

Adrian Grant

ENG

293

19

[19]

Stewart Boswell

AUS

280

20

[20]

Alister Walker

ENG

272

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

For full list - see www.psa-squash.com

 

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