03 Mar 2010

New South Wales’s Ryan Cuskelly (AIS Scholarship Holder) has stormed into the world top 50 in the latest rankings issued by the Professional Squash Association, jumping five places to number 46.

Cuskelly, the 23-year-old from Evans Head in northern New South Wales, reached the final of the National Capital Open in Washington, DC last month then qualified for the main draw of the North American Open, part of the lucrative PSA Super Series.

Fellow New South Welshman Cameron Pilley (Former AIS Scholarship Holder) reached a career-high 14 after making the semi-finals of the Swedish Open and is now the second ranked Australian behind David Palmer (9) (Former AIS Scholarship Holder).
Canberra’s Stewart Boswell (Former AIS Scholarship Holder) slipped one place to 17, while Hobart’s Aaron Frankcomb (Former AIS Scholarship Holder) climbed two positions to 39.

Queenslander Steve Finitsis, who also qualified for the North American Open, rose three spots to a best-ever 66.

Egypt’s Ramy Ashour remained number one in the world, ahead of Englishman Nick Matthew and another Egyptian, Amr Shabana.

There was further good news for Australia in the women’s rankings, with Taree’s Kasey Brown (AIS Scholarship Holder) regaining her top 10 spot following her win at the Dayton Open in Ohio and Yamba’s Donna Urquhart sneaking up one position to a career-best 21.

Toowoomba’s Rachael Grinham (4) was the highest ranked Australian behind Nicol David, Australian-born Dutchwoman Natalie Grinham and England’s Jenny Duncalf.

There were encouraging signs further down the list with Victoria’s Amelia Pittock up nine spots to 55, Brisbane’s Zoe Petrovansky (Former AIS Scholarship Holder) rising five positions to 69 and 18-year-old Sarah Cardwell of Melbourne moving to 89, a rise of three positions.

March rankings (last month in brackets):

Men

1 (1) Ramy Ashour (EGY)
2 (2) Nick Matthew (ENG)
3 (3) Amr Shabana (EGY)
4 (6) James Willstrop (ENG)
5 (4) Karim Darwish (EGY)
6 (5) Gregory Gaultier (FRA)
7 (7) Peter Barker (ENG)
8 (9) Thierry Lincou (FRA)
9 (8) David Palmer (AUS) (Former AIS Scholarship Holder)
10 (10) Adrian Grant (ENG)

Australians

14 (17) Cameron Pilley (Former AIS Scholarship Holder)
17 (16) Stewart Boswell (Former AIS Scholarship Holder)
39 (41) Aaron Frankcomb (Former AIS Scholarship Holder)
46 (51) Ryan Cuskelly (AIS Scholarship Holder)
64 (65) Scott Arnold (Former AIS Scholarship Holder)
66 (69) Steve Finitsis
78 (78) Matthew Karwalski
85 (87) Mike Corren
92 (105) Zac Alexander (AIS Scholarship Holder)

Women

1 (1) Nicol David (MAS)
2 (2) Natalie Grinham (NED)
3 (3) Jenny Duncalf (ENG)
4 (4) Rachael Grinham (AUS)
5 (5) Alison Waters (ENG)
6 (7) Omneya Abdel Kawy (EGY)
7 (8) Madeline Perry (IRL)
8 (6) Natalie Grainger (USA)
9 (9) Laura Massaro (ENG)
10 (12) Kasey Brown (AUS) (AIS Scholarship Holder)

Australians

21 (22) Donna Urquhart (AIS Scholarship Holder)
39 (40) Lisa Camilleri (AIS Scholarship Holder)
55 (64) Amelia Pittock
58 (58) Melody Francis
69 (74) Zoe Petrovansky (AIS Scholarship Holder)
89 (92) Sarah Cardwell
99 (99) Samantha Davies