Amr Shabana celebrates 25th month as World number one

LONDON—Egypt’s world champion Amr Shabana moves into his 25th successive month at the top of the Dunlop PSA Men’s World Squash Rankings , according to the April list published Wednesday by the Professional Squash Association . His top stature meant that he has claimed the longest unbroken run as world number one since legendary Pakistani Jansher Khan more than ten years ago.
The 28-year-old from Cairo first topped the rankings in April 2006, since when he has won nine PSA Tour titles. In December in Bermuda, Shabana won his third World Open crown and his fourth successive PSA Super Series title in just two months. After record eight times world champion Jansher Khan completed a 53-month world number one run in January 1998, his English successor Peter Nicol established a 24-month unbroken run which ended in December 2003. The unchanged April top ten sees Shabana’s compatriot Ramy Ashour at two, Frenchman Gregory Gaultier in third place, and Englishman James Willstrop at No4.
Just outside the top ten, Malaysia’s Ong Beng Hee leaps five places to No12 , his highest ranking since December 2003. Beng Hee, the 28-year-old from Penang who is based in the UK, celebrated a two-year Tour title drought last month when he won the Kuala Lumpur Open on home soil. Fellow Malaysian Mohd Azlan Iskandar also celebrates a notable rise - five positions to No13. The 25-year-old from Kuala Lumpur beat Ong Beng Hee in the final of the Asian Championship in February, then finished as runner-up to his national rival in the KL Open. After celebrating his top 20 debut last month, Australia’s Cameron Pilley makes further progress in the April list by moving to a career-high 18. The UK-based 25-year-old from New South Wales achieved his best ever run in a 5-star event last month - reaching the final of the ISS Canary Wharf Classic in London as the seventh seed.
The top 20 list: 1. Amr Shabana (Egy), 2.Ramy Ashour (Egy),3. Gregory Gaultier (France), 4.James Will strop (England), 5.David Palmer (Australia),6.Nick Matthew (Eng), 7. Thierry Lincou (France) ,8.Karim Darwish (Egy), 9. Wael El Hindi(Egy),10.Peter Barker(Eng), 11.Lee Beach ill (Eng), 12.Ong Beng Hee (Malaysia), 13. Mohd Azlan Iskandar (Malaysia), 14.Adrian Grant (Eng), 15.John White (Scotland), 16.Stewart Boswell (Aus), 17.Olli Tuominen (Finland), 18.Cameron Pilley (Aus), 19.Laurens Jan Anjema (Netherlands), 20. Mohammed Abbas (Egy).

—Agencies