Barker Makes World Top Five

While James Willstrop maintains his grip on top position in the new December Dunlop PSA Men's World Squash Rankings, it is England team-mate Peter Barker who has major cause for celebration after moving up to a career-high fifth place in the list published today by the Professional Squash Association.

One of the most consistent players on the PSA Tour, Barker has reached at least the quarter-finals in 13 PSA World Series events in a row since January last year - a feat unequalled by any other player.

"I'm delighted to hear I've moved up to number five - it's a goal I've wanted to achieve for some time," said the 29-year-old Londoner on hearing the news.

"I'm pleased my consistency has paid off, but it's now time to progress further than the quarter finals and challenge the guys above me!

"Obviously, a continued thanks to those who support me - you know who you are - and without you, I wouldn't be at a career-high."

England now boast three players in the world top five, with Nick Matthew holding onto second position - but only by a single point (in more than 950) above Frenchman Gregory Gaultier.

While Matthew took a break from the Tour last month, Gaultier won the 22nd title of his career at the Abierto Mexicano de Raquetas - two weeks after beating Matthew in October's final of the NetSuite Open in San Francisco.

Egypt's Omar Mosaad also records a career-high ranking this month. The 24-year-old from Cairo reached the Abierto Mexicano de Raquetas final, then the semi-finals of the EBS Dayton Open - and now moves up two places to No8.

Spain's Borja Golan leaps an impressive five places to No13 - just three positions away from the career-high he achieved in 2009 before being side-lined by a serious knee injury. The 29-year-old from Santiago de Compostela notched up the 27th Tour title of his career last month at the EBS Dayton Open in the USA.

The top 20 also welcome back the Swiss number one Nicolas Mueller. The 23-year-old from Zurich continues to make progress on the Tour after becoming the highest-ranked Swiss player of all-time - and now rises three places to No20.

December 2012 top 20 (inc. points average):

	(Prev) Pts
1	[1]	James Willstrop	ENG	1,082
2	[2]	Nick Matthew	ENG	996
3	[3]	Gregory Gaultier	FRA	995
4	[4]	Ramy Ashour	EGY	894
5	[6]	Peter Barker	ENG	539
6	[7]	Mohamed El Shorbagy	EGY	531
7	[5]	Karim Darwish	EGY	511
8	[11]	Omar Mosaad	EGY	440
9	[8]	Amr Shabana	EGY	415
10	[10]	Daryl Selby	ENG	412
11	[9]	Laurens Jan Anjema	NED	373
12	[14]	Tom Richards	ENG	360
13	[18]	Borja Golan	ESP	347
14	[13]	Tarek Momen	EGY	339
15	[16]	Simon Rosner	GER	338
16	[12]	Alister Walker	BOT	336
17	[15]	Hisham Mohd Ashour	EGY	303
18	[19]	Adrian Grant	ENG	299
19	[17]	Cameron Pilley	AUS	276
20	[23]	Nicolas Mueller	SUI	253

For full list - see www.psaworldtour.com