Nicol David Begins Fifth Year As World Number One

Malaysia's Nicol David begins her fifth year - and her 42nd consecutive month - as world number one, according to the January 2010 Women's World Squash Rankings, published today by the Women's International Squash Players' Association (WISPA).

The 26-year-old from Penang first took over the top spot in January 2006 - then began her current uninterrupted world number one run in August 2006. Despite suffering four shock defeats in 2009, Nicol David secured seven WISPA World Tour titles in the year, as well as her second World Games gold medal.

In September, in her training base of Amsterdam, David retained her World Open title - not only notching up the 40th Tour title of her career, but also becoming only the third player in history to win the sport's premier title four times.

World Open runner-up Natalie Grinham, from the Netherlands, squeezes past Jenny Duncalf to reclaim second place in the list, while the English player slips to three, ahead of fourth-placed Rachael Grinham, of Australia, and USA's Natalie Grainger at five.

Australia's Kasey Brown moves up a single place to celebrate her debut in the world top 10 - while France's 20-year-old Camille Serme continues her relentless rise up the rankings to mark a career-high No12 position.

Also celebrating a best-ever ranking in the New Year is Samantha Teran, the 28-year-old from Mexico City who consolidates her status as the most successful Mexican woman ever by reaching No14.

January top 20 (inc. points average):

1 [1] Nicol David MAS 2692
2 [3] Natalie Grinham NED 1469
3 [2] Jenny Duncalf ENG 1460
4 [4] Rachael Grinham AUS 1446
5 [5] Natalie Grainger USA 1258
6 [6] Alison Waters ENG 1256
7 [7] Omneya Abdel Kawy EGY 1003
8 [8] Madeline Perry IRL 959
9 [9] Laura Massaro ENG 908
10 [11] Kasey Brown AUS 505
11 [10] Vanessa Atkinson NED 505
12 [13] Camille Serme FRA 504
13 [14] Engy Kheirallah EGY 475
14 [15] Samantha Teran MEX 457
15 [16] Annie Au HKG 456
16 [12] Shelley Kitchen NZL 451
17 [17] Jaclyn Hawkes NZL 423
18 [19] Isabelle Stoehr FRA 419
19 [20] Rebecca Chiu HKG 417
20 [18] Tania Bailey ENG 395