Sensational Two-Week Run Takes El Tayeb Into World Top Eight
1 Sep 2014
A remarkable 14-day run in which Nour El Tayeb reached two WSA World Series finals from the position of 16th seed has seen the 21-year-old Egyptian leap a mighty 17 places to No8 in the latest September Women's World Squash Rankings published today by the Women's Squash Association (WSA).
After progressing no further than the second round in all World Series appearances over the previous three years, El Tayeb swept through last month's CIMB Malaysian Open field in Kuala Lumpur - despatching the second, eighth and tenth seeds before falling to third-seeded compatriot Raneem El Welily in the final.
Days later in Hong Kong, the former world junior champion again ousted England's world champion Laura Massaro, and also the event's fourth and fifth seeds, before reaching the Cathay Pacific Sun Hung Kai Financial Hong Kong Open final for the first time. Here it was defending champion Nicol David that proved to be one hurdle too many to overcome.
David, who claimed a remarkable tenth successive title in Hong Kong - and a 75th WSA World Tour trophy at the same time - extends her lead at the top of the September rankings.
Massaro holds onto second place, whilst El Welily reduces the gap in third place, and New Zealander Joelle King - who is currently out-of-action while recovering from an Achilles rupture - remains at No4.
US number one Amanda Sobhy also has much to celebrate after jumping five places to make her debut in the world top 10 at 10. Taking full advantage of the summer break from her studies, the 21-year-old Harvard University student exceeded her seedings in the Malaysian and Hong Kong Opens to make the semi-finals in both. The young left-hander boasts an impressive record in WSA Tour finals, with 12 titles out of 13 appearances!
September top 20 (inc. points average):
1 | [1] | Nicol David | MAS | 3,666 |
2 | [2] | Laura Massaro | ENG | 2,310 |
3 | [3] | Raneem El Welily | EGY | 2,030 |
4 | [4] | Joelle King | NZL | 1,171 |
5 | [5] | Camille Serme | FRA | 1,091 |
6 | [6] | Alison Waters | ENG | 1,026 |
7 | [7] | Low Wee Wern | MAS | 970 |
8 | [25] | Nour El Tayeb | EGY | 944 |
9 | [8] | Nour El Sherbini | EGY | 906 |
10 | [15] | Amanda Sobhy | USA | 806 |
11 | [9] | Annie Au | HKG | 795 |
12 | [10] | Dipika Pallikal | IND | 750 |
13 | [11] | Madeline Perry | IRL | 691 |
14 | [12] | Omneya Abdel Kawy | EGY | 647 |
15 | [14] | Rachael Grinham | AUS | 619 |
16 | [13] | Jenny Duncalf | ENG | 591 |
17 | [17] | Sarah-Jane Perry | ENG | 570 |
18 | [16] | Kasey Brown | AUS | 509 |
19 | [18] | Sarah Kippax | ENG | 465 |
20 | [20] | Emma Beddoes | ENG | 463 |
For the complete WSA ranking list, see www.wsaworldtour.com