Darwish Moves Into Eighth Month As World Number One

Egypt's Karim Darwish moves into his eighth month as world number one, according to the August Dunlop PSA Men's World Squash Rankings, published today by the Professional Squash Association.

The 27-year-old from Cairo maintains his lead ahead of Frenchman Gregory Gaultier, who holds onto his career-best position of number two.

In an unchanged top eight, Egypt's 21-year-old World Open champion Ramy Ashour remains in third place - with compatriot Amr Shabana, the three-time world champion, at No4.

But Londoner Adrian Grant is one of two Englishmen celebrating career-best rankings in the new list: The 28-year-old left-hander, who boasts more PSA World Tour titles than any other current compatriots on the Tour, rises to No9 - his first ever single-figure ranking.

Grant won his 16th Tour title at the Indian Challenger No2 in Kolkata in March - but was forced to withdraw from this month's CIMB Malaysian Open due to a calf injury.

Alister Walker, the Botswana-born 26-year-old who made his England senior international debut in April, jumps two places to a career-high world No14. Walker claimed his third Tour title at the Midtown Sanctuaire Open in Montreal in February.

Dutchman Laurens Jan Anjema is also celebrating a career-best ranking after a two-place jump. The 26-year-old from The Hague reached his 21st PSA Tour final at the Internationaux de la Reunion in France in June - a week after claiming his eighth title at the Toulouse Open.

Two players also mark their return to the world top 20: Australian Cameron Pilley, out of the elite group for four months, secured an unexpected berth in last month's final of the Australian Open - and leaps three places to 19.

Olli Tuominen, the highest-ranked Finn throughout this decade, slips back into the top 20 at No20 after a three-month absence. The 30-year-old from Helsinki delighted local fans in February when he upset favourite Stewart Boswell to win the Savcor Finnish Open for the second year in a row.

August top 20 (inc. points average):

1 [1] Karim Darwish EGY 1079
2 [2] Gregory Gaultier FRA 873
3 [3] Ramy Ashour EGY 741
4 [4] Amr Shabana EGY 735
5 [5] Nick Matthew ENG 667
6 [6] David Palmer AUS 576
7 [7] Peter Barker ENG 487
8 [8] Thierry Lincou FRA 473
9 [10] Adrian Grant ENG 417
10 [9] Wael El Hindi EGY 396
11 [11] Borja Golan ESP 385
12 [12] James Willstrop ENG 374
13 [15] Laurens Jan Anjema NED 283
14 [16] Alister Walker ENG 274
15 [20] Stewart Boswell AUS 258
16 [13] Mohd Azlan Iskandar MAS 256
17 [17] Mohamed El Shorbagy EGY 254
18 [19] Aamir Atlas Khan PAK 251
19 [22] Cameron Pilley AUS 240
20 [21] Olli Tuominen FIN 230