Greg climbs to top spot and Borja is up to five in world rankings

Frenchman Gregory Gaultier has moved ahead of England’s Nick Matthew to top the PSA World Tour Rankings in April.

Gaultier, who shared the No.1 ranking in conjunction with Matthew in February, the first time ever that two men held the post simultaneously, finds himself back on top after lifting the 2014 Windy City Open crown in Chicago in early March.

Despite having ranked no lower than World No.8 since May 2006 and having been ranked within the top four players in the world consecutively since December 2011, Gaultier has only previously had sole possession of the World No.1 ranking on one occasion, when his name topped them all in November 2009.

“Becoming World No.1 is a massive achievement,” said Gaultier. “I’ve been working hard all my life to make this kind of thing happen.

“It’s important to get there but the really important thing is to stay as long as possible. That’s something I didn’t manage to do in the past, so I hope I can do better and at least stay at No.1 for more than one month – which is a goal.

“It’s important for myself in terms of achievement but also for all the people who have been working with me for all these years like my federation and club so they can be recognised as well.”

With Gaultier ranked World No.1, Matthew falls to second in the rankings while Egyptian duo Mohamed Elshorbagy and Ramy Ashour, the man Gaultier beat in the Windy City Open final, trade places to occupy third and fourth, respectively.

“It’s tough to stay at the top,” added Gaultier. “The competition is really hard with all the other top players and youngsters coming through but the good thing about it is that everybody pushes each other to bring the best squash possible.

“I love the competition and it makes me work harder everyday and makes it really interesting also for my team and myself. You really need to adapt your training constantly to what players bring and you have to find solutions.

“I can’t win all matches even if I wish I could. The other players in the top are really strong and even if I am 100 per cent I can’t guarantee a win as the level of certain guys can be amazing.

“But I will keep working hard to do better if it is possible and I have goals for this year and hope I will reach them.”

Elsewhere in the top 10, Spanish champion Borja Golan moves ahead of England’s James Willstrop to a career-high World No.5 while England’s Peter Barker leapfrogs Egyptian pair Amr Shabana and Karim Darwish to World No.7.

Indian No.1 Saurav Ghosal also rises two positions to equal his highest ever career ranking of World No.15 with England’s Chris Simpson breaking into the World top 20 for the first time in his career to occupy the World No.20 position.

PSA World Tour Rankings – April 2014

RANK NAME COUNTRY POINTS

1 Gregory Gaultier FRA 1319.000

2 Nick Matthew ENG 1301.000

3 Mohamed Elshorbagy EGY 980.000

4 Ramy Ashour EGY 777.500

5 Borja Golan ESP 644.500

6 James Willstrop ENG 634.000

7 Peter Barker ENG 535.000

8 Amr Shabana EGY 526.500

9 Karim Darwish EGY 446.500

10 Daryl Selby ENG 442.500

11 Simon Rosner GER 421.000

12 Tarek Momen EGY 390.000

13 Omar Mosaad EGY 383.000

14 Miguel Angel Rodriguez COL 369.500

15 Saurav Ghosal IND 326.000

16 Laurens Jan Anjema NED 320.000

17 Cameron Pilley AUS 319.000

18 Karim Abdel Gawad EGY 302.000

19 Alister Walker BOT 299.500

20 Chris Simpson ENG 251.500