CROWNED WORLD NO.1
NICKMATTHEW CROWNEDWORLDNO.1
England’s Nick Matthew was crowned World No.1 for the first time in the Men’s June World Rankings, ending the five month reign of his Egyptian rival Ramy Ashour.
The 29-year-old becomes the sixteenth player in history to top the men’s world list and the second English born World No.1 after Lee Beachill, who topped the World Rankings for three months in 2004.
Matthew secured the sport’s premier position after winning the Sky Open in Egypt, a triumph which marked his fourth World Tour title of 2010 and moved the three time British National Champion ahead of Ashour and so ending a prolonged and intense spell chasing the mercurial Egyptian.
“Becoming World No.1 is every sportsperson’s dream and it’s something I’ve worked towards all of my squash life since I turned professional in 1998,” said the newly crowned World No.1.
“The enormity of it certainly hasn’t sunk in yet. With the season over, it’s a great time to have achieved this as the last couple of times the World No.1 ranking changed hands, tournaments have come thick and fast. It means I can reflect and enjoy the moment and then come back refreshed and ready for the new challenge of holding on to the top spot. When I come back I will be reassessing my goals and trying to become World Champion and winning a Gold medal for England at the Commonwealth Games will be high on my agenda,” concluded Matthew.
The Englishman’s star has risen steadily over the past twelve years; however his new ranking is all the more stunning considering that he was ranked outside the top ten at the beginning of 2009. Since making a courageous comeback in the latter part of 2008, following surgery to repair damaged shoulder cartilage, the 29-year-old Englishman overcame the effects of nine depressing months on the sidelines and returned to the international stage mentally, physically and tactically stronger. In addition to winning the World
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Games Gold medal, Matthew notched up eight World Tour final appearances in 2009, in all but one case against expectations, securing his first Swedish Open and Qatar Classic crowns and his second British Open trophy.
Despite the disappointment of missing out on the top spot in December, having lost narrowly to Ashour in the finals of the Punj Lloyd PSA Masters and Saudi International, Matthew had the consolation of rising to a then career-high World No.2 in the New Year’s list, and with his
confidence at an all-time high embarked on a remarkable run of form which has seen him capture six of eight titles on offer and remain undefeated in 28 consecutive matches.
The determined Englishman is set to continue his rivalry with Ashour which has all the ingredients to develop into one of the most exciting in the sport in decades, and is expected to next compete in England at the ROWE British Grand Prix to be staged in Manchester from the 15th to 20th September.
NICK MATTHEW
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