El Sherbini Closes Gap on El Welily at the Top of Women’s World Rankings

Nour El Sherbini’s title win at the 2018-2019 PSA World Championships in Chicago last month has cut the gap between her and the current World No.1 Raneem El Welily to under 200 points after the PSA Women’s World Rankings for April were released today (April 1).

An impressive display inside the all-glass showcourt held in Chicago’s Union Station saw El Sherbini defeat fellow Egyptian El Tayeb in the title decider to claim her third World Championship crown.

El Welily keeps her place at the top of the World Rankings following her win at the inaugural women’s Black Ball Squash Open held in Cairo, Egypt - where she beat El Sherbini in the final - while compatriot El Tayeb remains at No.3 to complete an all-Egyptian top three for the second consecutive month.

France’s Camille Serme (No.4) and New Zealand’s Joelle King (No.5) complete an unchanged women’s top five.

England’s Sarah-Jane Perry, meanwhile, remains at No.6, while Egypt’s Nouran Gohar (No.7) and England’s Laura Massaro (No.8) swap places. Welshwoman Tesni Evans rises back to a joint career-high of No.9, with England’s Alison Waters completing the top 10.

United States’ No.1 Amanda Sobhy rises one place to No.12 following her win at the Texas Open yesterday, which saw the American claim her biggest PSA title to date. Her opponent in the final, England’s Victoria Lust, also rises a place to No.13, with Hong Kong’s Annie Au (No.11), Egypt’s Salma Hany (No.14) and India’s Joshna Chinappa (No.15) all occupying the other spots in the top 15.

Elsewhere, Malaysia’s eight-time World Champion Nicol David rises two places to come back into the top 20 at No.19 with Egypt’s Hania El Hammamy (No.16), Hong Kong’s Joey Chan (No.17), Egypt’s Yathreb Adel (No.18) and America’s Olivia Blatchford Clyne (No.20) completing the top 20

RANKING	PLAYER	COUNTRY	Average	UP/DOWN
1	Raneem El Welily	EGY	1,810.556	=
2	Nour El Sherbini	EGY	1,623.333	=
3	Nour El Tayeb	EGY	935.000	=
4	Camille Serme	FRA	810.000	=
5	Joelle King	NZL	783.333	=
6	Sarah-Jane Perry	ENG	639.444	=
7	Nouran Gohar	EGY	617.778	↑1
8	Laura Massaro	ENG	576.667	↓1
9	Tesni Evans	WAL	518.333	↑1
10	Alison Waters	ENG	472.222	↓1
11	Annie Au	HKG	470.000	=
12	Amanda Sobhy	USA	443.611	↑1
13	Victoria Lust	ENG	397.222	↑1
14	Salma Hany	EGY	382.778	↓2
15	Joshna Chinappa	IND	380.556	↑1
16	Hania El Hammamy	EGY	358.333	↓1
17	Joey Chan	HKG	342.778	↑1
18	Yathreb Adel	EGY	316.667	↓1
19	Nicol David	MAS	312.222	↑2
20	Olivia Blatchford Clyne	USA	275.000	↓1

Coll and Ghosal Reach Career Highs in April World Rankings

New Zealand’s Paul Coll and India’s Saurav Ghosal have both risen to career-high rankings of World No.5 and World No.10, respectively, after the PSA Men’s World Rankings for April were released today (April 1).

Coll, the highest ranked Kiwi male since Ross Norman in 1993, claimed his biggest title to date after defeating Egypt’s Tarek Momen in the final of the Canary Wharf Squash Classic last month. As a result the 26-year-old has risen two place to climb to No.5.

Meanwhile, Ghosal becomes the first Indian player to reach the top ten of the men’s World Rankings after enjoying a stellar month which saw him reach the quarter-finals of the 2018-2019 PSA World Championships for the first time in his career and the quarter-finals of the Grasshopper Cup.

Egypt’s World Champion Ali Farag remains at the top of the rankings, with newly crowned Grasshopper Cup champion Mohamed ElShorbagy remaining at No.2 and Tarek Momen (No.3) also keeping his place to make it an all-Egyptian top three. Meanwhile, Germany’s Simon Rösner rises a place to No.4 to complete the top five.

Former World No.1 Karim Abdel Gawad and Colombia’s Miguel Rodriguez both drop places to No.6 and No.7 respectively, while Egypt’s Mohamed Abouelghar (No.8) and Peru’s Diego Elias are both non-movers as they take the other spots in the top 10.

Egypt’s Marwan ElShorbagy drops a place to No.11, while compatriot Omar Mosaad rises one place to No.12. France’s former World Champion Gregory Gaultier drops down two places to No.13 in the world with the former World No.1 still recovering from a knee injury sustained at last year’s U.S. Open.

Germany’s Raphael Kandra, Wales’ Joel Makin and England’s Declan James are all on the rise. Kandra moves up two places to reach a career-high of No.14, while Makin also claims his highest ranking to date, rising three places to No.15. James becomes the new England No.1 as he moves three places to reach No.17.

Egypt’s Zahed Salem (No.16), France’s Gregoire Marche (No.18), England’s James Willstrop (No.19) and Australia’s Ryan Cuskelly (No.20) all complete the top 20.

RANKING	PLAYER	COUNTRY	AVERAGE	UP/DOWN
1	Ali Farag	EGY	1,866.000	=
2	Mohamed ElShorbagy	EGY	1,563.000	=
3	Tarek Momen	EGY	1,244.000	=
4	Simon Rösner	GER	975.000	↑1
5	Paul Coll	NZL	935.000	↑2
6	Karim Abdel Gawad	EGY	922.500	↓2
7	Miguel Rodriguez	COL	769.000	↓1
8	Mohamed Abouelghar	EGY	729.000	=
9	Diego Elias	PER	650.455	=
10	Saurav Ghosal	IND	514.500	↑2
11	Marwan ElShorbagy	EGY	480.455	↓1
12	Omar Mosaad	EGY	405.909	↑1
13	Gregory Gaultier	FRA	390.500	↓2
14	Raphael Kandra	GER	376.000	↑2
15	Joel Makin	WAL	369.545	↑3
16	Zahed Salem	EGY	366.818	↓2
17	Declan James	ENG	363.000	↑3
18	Gregoire Marche	FRA	338.000	↓1
19	James Willstrop	ENG	335.000	↓4
20	Ryan Cuskelly	AUS	329.000	↑2

Manchester Open to be Shown on Live TV Around the World

The inaugural Manchester Open will become the first standalone women’s professional squash tournament since the 2016 PSA Women's World Championships to be broadcast on live TV via a world feed when the PSA World Tour Silver tournament takes place in May.

A number of the world’s greatest female players will line up at Manchester’s National Squash Centre between May 9-13, with a $76,000 prize fund up for grabs. Live coverage of the entire tournament will be shown on SQUASHTV (rest of world), the PSA World Tour Facebook page (excluding Europe & Japan) and Eurosport Player (Europe only), while the semi-finals and final will also be shown live on mainstream broadcasters such as BT Sport, Fox Sports Australia, Astro and more.

The Manchester Open is supported by Manchester City Council and follows the successful staging of the award-winning AJ Bell PSA World Championships in the city in December 2017, where equal prize money was on offer across both the men’s and women’s events for the first time in the tournament’s history.

“The strength in depth across the women’s tour is arguably at its greatest ever level and we are delighted to broadcast our top female athletes to millions of people across 150 countries”, said PSA COO Lee Beachill.

“Ever since the PSA & WSA merged in 2015 to become a unified governing body, we have been committed to raising the profile of the women's game and the organisation has made great strides in increasing both prize money and playing opportunities across the women's tour.

"We believe the Manchester Open will be a fantastic addition to the PSA Tour calendar and are looking forward to showcasing the exceptional athleticism of our top female athletes across the globe."

The semi-finals and final of the Manchester Open will be shown by the following broadcasters:

Astro (Malaysia / Brunei)
BT Sport (United Kingdom)

CLARO (Latin America)
Fox Sports Australia (Australia)
Now TV (Hong Kong)
Sky Sport NZ (New Zealand)
Super Sport (Sub-Saharan Africa)

Truevisions - Thailand

Tickets for the tournament are available to purchase via Ticketmaster or via the event website www.manchesteropensquash.com

The entry list for the tournament will be released next month.

For more information on where to watch the PSA Tour, visit the official PSA World Tour website.

TEXAS OPEN: SOBHY & LUST TO MEET IN FINAL

US No.1 Amanda Sobhy and England’s World No.14 Victoria Lust will line up in the final of the J Warren Young Memorial Texas Open after coming through their respective semi-final fixtures with 3-0 wins at the T Boone Pickens YMCA in Dallas.
Sobhy will compete in the final of the PSA World Tour Bronze tournament for a second year in a row as she kept her 100 per cent record going at this year’s tournament as she eased past fellow American Olivia Fiechter, winning 11-5, 11-8, 11-8 in 28 minutes.

Fiechter has played at a level far above her current ranking of World No.52 this week as she claimed scalps against World No.10 Tesni Evans and World No.29 Hollie Naughton to book a place in her biggest ever semi-final on the PSA Tour.

But her match against roommate and close friend Sobhy was a step too far for the New York-based 23-year-old as she went down in straight games.

“Liv’s been playing really well all week, I think she’s a little bit tired and I know she was maybe feeling a bit because I’ve been rooming with her the past few days,” said Sobhy.

“It was a good match regardless, and I’m really happy for her that she got into the semis of a $50k. I was able to win in three, which preserved my body, and I’ll go into the finals relatively fresh.

“Things are coming together nicely, I’ve played Lusty a couple of times this season, and we always have good matches. I know what I’m in for, she knows what she’s in for, so it will be a good match tomorrow, I’m sure.”

Lust ended Australian legend Rachael Grinham’s run as she overcame the former World Champion by an 11-8, 11-2, 11-4 scoreline.

42-year-old Grinham, a former World No.1, stunned World No.6 Sarah-Jane Perry in five games 24 hours previously, but she came up against an immovable object in Lust in the semi-finals as the English player booked her place in the biggest PSA Tour final of her career.

“The match went well, I think maybe Rachael is a little bit tired from yesterday, she had a hard match, but the first game was very tough,” Lust said.

“I’m feeling pretty good [for the final] I’ve managed to keep my court time down, so hopefully the body is well for tomorrow.”

This year’s Texas Open has more than doubled in prize money to $55,000 and Sobhy and Lust will do battle for the biggest title of their careers tomorrow at 12:00 (GMT-5).

You can follow the live scores from the tournament here.

Results – Semi-Finals: J Warren Young Memorial Texas Open
[4] Victoria Lust (ENG) bt [7] Rachael Grinham (AUS) 3-0: 11-8, 11-2, 11-4 (23m)
[2] Amanda Sobhy (USA) bt Olivia Fiechter (USA) 3-0: 11-5, 11-8, 11-8 (28m)

Draw – Final
[4] Victoria Lust (ENG) v [2] Amanda Sobhy (USA)
CREDIT:PSA NEWS

Egyptian squash player Marwan Elshorbagy cleared after anti-doping investigation

Egyptian squash player Marwan Elshorbagy has been cleared of breaching anti-doping rules following an investigation.

The 25-year-old is ranked number 10 in the world and reached the World Championship final in 2017.

No details of why he was being investigated have been released but the World Squash Federation (WSF) and Professional Squash Association (PSA) reported the probe today.

Both organisations confirmed no further action would be taken.

"WSF confirms that Marwan Elshorbagy was investigated in relation to a potential breach of the WSF anti-doping rules," the WSF said.

"That investigation was concluded with a determination that a charge will not be pursued against him nor will a sanction be imposed on him.

"The matter is now closed."

Elshorbagy reached a career high of number three in the world rankings in May.

He lost the World Championship final in Manchester in 2017 to his brother Mohamed.

"The Professional Squash Association has received notification from the World Squash Federation that an investigation into Marwan Elshorbagy in relation to a potential breach of WSF Anti-Doping Rules has been concluded and he will not be charged," the PSA said.

"The PSA are satisfied that WSF have dealt with the investigation as per their anti-doping rules and now consider the matter closed.

Last week, Elshorbagy withdrew from the ongoing Grasshopper Cup competition in Zurich.

"As some of you may know, I have been the subject of an investigation by the WSF in relation to its anti-doping rules," he said. 

"However, I am pleased to say that the WSF has today publicly confirmed that there is no charge against me, no sanction to be imposed on me.

"Unfortunately, the process was subject to a lot of inaccurate speculation. 

"Despite that speculation, I will continue to respect the confidentiality of the matter, and will therefore not be able to comment further.

"It has been a very hard time for me and my family, but I am delighted now to be able to move on from this and I can finally focus on my squash career."

Elshorbagy used Morgan Sports Law to defend him during the case.

The company previously successfully defended Britain's four-time Tour de France winning cyclist Chris Froome after he failed a drugs test.

Other famous clients include Russian tennis player Maria Sharapova, French footballer Mamadou Sakho, Spanish and South African cyclists Sergio Henao and Daryl Impey, Jamaican sprinter Veronica Campbell-Brown and Croatian tennis player Marin Čilić.

"I would like to thank Mike Morgan, Richard Martin, Tom Cox and everyone in Morgan Sports Law for successfully representing me in this investigation," Elshorbagy said.

ELSHORBAGY BEATS MOMEN TO BECOME 2019 GRASSHOPPER CUP CHAMPION

World No.2 Mohamed ElShorbagy is the 2019 Grasshopper Cup champion after getting the better of fellow Egyptian Tarek Momen in the final of the PSA World Tour Gold tournament earlier today at Zurich’s Halle 622.

ElShorbagy was a losing finalist here 12 months ago to compatriot Ramy Ashour, but the 28-year-old played at a ferocious pace to overpower Momen en route to claiming an 11-8, 13-11, 11-8 victory in 50 minutes.

Both players had overcome Egyptian opposition in the semi-finals, with ElShorbagy seeing off World No.4 Karim Abdel Gawad, while World No.3 Momen dispatched World No.8 Abouelghar in straight games.

Momen – the 2014 Grasshopper Cup runner-up – was appearing in a third successive PSA Tour final for the first time in his career and had already beaten ElShorbagy twice this month, first in the semi-finals of the PSA World Championships and also two weeks ago at the same stage of the Canary Wharf Classic.

ElShorbagy built on a strong start to take the opener and came back from game ball down to take a crucial second game after a no let decision in Momen’s favour was overturned to a yes let by a video referee decision. Momen kept on fighting in the third, but there was no stopping ElShorbagy as he closed out the win to lift his 36th PSA Tour title and his first of 2019.
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