Shabana Completes Year As World Number One

Amr Shabana has completed a full calendar year as world number one, according to the December Dunlop PSA Men's World Rankings, produced by the Professional Squash Association.

Title victories in the Qatar Classic and Cathay Pacific Hong Kong Open in November have not only extended the Egyptian's unbroken run at the top of the rankings to 21 months - but have also helped Shabana to widen the points gap ahead of fellow Egyptian Ramy Ashour (currently nursing a foot injury) who remains at No2.

While France's Gregory Gaultier and Australia's David Palmer remain at three and four, respectively, England's Nick Matthew overtakes compatriot James Willstrop to reach a career-high-equalling No5.

Egypt's Wael El Hindi celebrates a career-best world No9 ranking in the new list - while Malaysia's Ong Beng Hee moves back to No16 to end the year at the same level that he started the year.

Dutchman Laurens Jan Anjema makes his long-awaited top 20 debut in the new list, at 20. The 25-year-old from The Hague upset seeds in both the Qatar Classic and Hong Kong Open to reach the last 16 of both Super Series events.

1 [1] Amr Shabana EGY
2 [2] Ramy Ashour EGY
3 [3] Gregory Gaultier FRA
4 [4] David Palmer AUS
5 [6] Nick Matthew ENG
6 [5] James Willstrop ENG
7 [7] Thierry Lincou FRA
8 [8] Karim Darwish EGY
9 [11] Wael El Hindi EGY
10 [10] John White SCO
11 [9] Anthony Ricketts AUS
12 [12] Lee Beachill ENG
13 [13] Peter Barker ENG
14 [14] Mohammed Abbas EGY
15 [15] Stewart Boswell AUS
16 [18] Ong Beng Hee MAS
17 [16] Olli Tuominen FIN
18 [17] Mohd Azlan Iskandar MAS
19 [19] Adrian Grant ENG
20 [21] Laurens Jan Anjema NED