Lincou Celebrates Sixth Month As World Number One

France's Thierry Lincou celebrates his sixth successive month as world number one in the new June Dunlop PSA Men's World Squash Rankings, announced today by the Professional Squash Association.

Lincou, 29, heads an almost unchanged top twenty, ahead of England's Lee Beachill at two; Australian David Palmer at three; and Canada's Jonathon Power at number four. Power and Lincou contested last month's final of the Brit Insurance Super Series Finals in London, the non-ranking PSA Tour event which was won by the Canadian.

Malaysia's Mohd Azlan Iskandar is the only upward mover in the top twenty, rising a single place to No18, aided by an unexpected second round berth in April's PSA Masters in Bermuda.

Outside the top twenty, England's Bradley Ball celebrates a career-high world No 24 ranking. The 28-year-old from Ipswich in Suffolk reached the final of the Virginia Professional Championship in January to record his 16th PSA Tour final appearance.

Frenchman Stephane Galifi also celebrates a career-best ranking of 41, following his surprise victory in last month's Grant Thornton Atlanta Open in the USA.

But perhaps the most notable ranking rise has been made by Australia's former world No4 Stewart Boswell, who returned to the PSA Tour two months ago after a two-year layoff caused by a mystery back ailment. At 216 in April, the 26-year-old from Canberra began his comeback in New Zealand - and last weekend won his fourth successive event (three as a qualifier) when he lifted the WA Open trophy in Perth, Australia, to jump 133 places to 83 in the latest list.

1 [1] Thierry Lincou FRA
2 [2] Lee Beachill ENG
3 [3] David Palmer AUS
4 [4] Jonathon Power CAN
5 [5] Peter Nicol ENG
6 [6] Amr Shabana EGY
7 [7] Anthony Ricketts AUS
8 [8] James Willstrop ENG
9 [9] Nick Matthew ENG
10 [10] John White SCO
11 [11] Karim Darwish EGY
12 [12] Gregory Gaultier FRA
13 [13] Graham Ryding CAN
14 [14] Joseph Kneipp AUS
15 [15] Ong Beng Hee MAS
16 [16] Adrian Grant ENG
17 [17] Shahid Zaman PAK
18 [19] Mohd Azlan Iskandar MAS
19 [18] Olli Tuominen FIN
20 [19] Mohammed Abbas EGY