Natalie Overtakes Sister Rachael In New World Rankings

While Vanessa Atkinson holds onto her position at the top of the new June Women's World Squash Rankings, issued by the Women's International Squash Players' Association (WISPA), a rise to third place by Australia's Natalie Grinham takes the 28-year-old from Queensland narrowly ahead of her older sister Rachael Grinham for the first time in her career!

Natalie Grinham, who has only beaten her former world number one-ranked sister once in a ranking event, has enjoyed a highly successful 2006 - including marriage to Dutch squash international Tommy Berden followed by a record three gold medal tally at the Commonwealth Games in Melbourne. Though her singles gold came at the expense of a rare victory over Rachael in the final, this triumph did not influence the latest WISPA rankings.

It is the younger Grinham's consistency on the WISPA World Tour over the past eight months that has seen Natalie's status rise - including semi-final berths in six successive events including final appearances in the British Open and Carol Weymuller Open last October and title success in the US Open in November.

Atkinson, the 30-year-old from the Netherlands, celebrates her third successive month as world number one, ahead - by a narrow margin - of Malaysia's World Open champion Nicol David at No2.

In a relatively unchanged top twenty list, Egypt's Engy Kheirallah moves up one place to a career-high world No16. The 24-year-old from Alexandria has won three WISPA titles over the past year, including the Atlanta Masters and Salt Lake City Open in the USA and the Alexandria Sporting Club Open at her home club.

1 [1] Vanessa Atkinson NED
2 [2] Nicol David MAS
3 [4] Natalie Grinham AUS
4 [3] Rachael Grinham AUS
5 [5] Vicky Botwright ENG
6 [6] Jenny Duncalf ENG
7 [7] Madeline Perry IRL
8 [8] Linda Elriani ENG
9 [9] Tania Bailey ENG
10 [10] Omneya Abdel Kawy EGY
11 [11] Alison Waters ENG
12 [12] Laura-Jane Lengthorn ENG
13 [13] Shelley Kitchen NZL
14 [14] Annelize Naude NED
15 [15] Natalie Grainger USA
16 [17] Engy Kheirallah EGY
17 [16] Fiona Geaves ENG
18 [18] Rebecca Chiu HKG
19 [19] Isabelle Stoehr FRA
20 [20] Pamela Nimmo SCO