Karim Darwish Maintains World Number One Ranking

Karim Darwish maintains his number one position in the new February Dunlop PSA Men's World Squash Rankings, published today by the Professional Squash Association, ahead of fellow Egyptian Amr Shabana.

But the Egyptian trio which has occupied the top three positions since December has been separated - as Frenchman Gregory Gaultier has overtaken Ramy Ashour to reclaim third place in the new list.

The in-form 26-year-old from Aix-en-Provence celebrated his fourth successive appearance in a PSA Tour event final last month - then beat Nick Matthew in the climax of the JP Morgan Tournament of Champions, the first Super Series event of the year, to win the prestigious title for the first time.

Englishman Matthew also improved his ranking following his surprise New York final appearance, as 10th seed. The former No5, out of action for much of last year following shoulder surgery, leaps three places to No9 - thus restoring his status as the second highest-ranked Englishman.

Malaysian Mohd Azlan Iskandar also made progress in the new list, rising to No12 after claiming a surprise quarter-final Tournament of Champions berth as 13th seed. The 26-year-old from Kuala Lumpur is now just one position behind national rival Ong Beng Hee.

1 [1] Karim Darwish EGY
2 [2] Amr Shabana EGY
3 [4] Gregory Gaultier FRA
4 [3] Ramy Ashour EGY
5 [5] James Willstrop ENG
6 [6] David Palmer AUS
7 [7] Thierry Lincou FRA
8 [8] Wael El Hindi EGY
9 [12] Nick Matthew ENG
10 [9] Peter Barker ENG
11 [10] Ong Beng Hee MAS
12 [13] Mohd Azlan Iskandar MAS
13 [11] Adrian Grant ENG
14 [14] Borja Golan ESP
15 [15] Aamir Atlas Khan PAK
16 [16] Laurens Jan Anjema NED
17 [17] Cameron Pilley AUS
18 [18] Alister Walker ENG
19 [19] Stewart Boswell AUS
20 [20] Olli Tuominen FIN