El Welily Returns to World No.2 in
Women’s May Rankings
Egyptian shot-making sensation Raneem El Welily’s runner-up finish
at last month’s Orascom Development PSA Women’s World Championship
has seen her rise two places to sit at World No.2 on the latest PSA
Women’s World Rankings, released today (May 1).
El Welily, the 28-year-old based in Cairo, became the first Egyptian
female World No.1 in any sport back in September 2015 when she ended
eight-time World Champion Nicol David’s unprecedented nine-year
reign atop the World Rankings.
And she moved back into the world’s top two for the first time this
year courtesy of her run to the World Championship final three weeks
ago in El Gouna, where she lost out to current World No.1 Nour El
Sherbini, who lifted the biggest prize on the Women’s Tour for the
second time in her career.
El Welily defeated France’s Camille Serme in the semi-final stage,
with Serme staying at World No.3, one place ahead of British Open
champion Laura Massaro, who fell to El Welily in the last eight, and
two places ahead of the other semi-finalist, Nouran Gohar.
Malaysia’s David remains at No.6, while England’s Sarah-Jane Perry
rises a spot to a career-high No.7 ranking. United States No.1
Amanda Sobhy - who is currently out with an achilles injury - Alison
Waters and New Zealand’s Joelle King round off the top 10.
Elsewhere in the top 20, England’s Victoria Lust has risen to No.15,
while Tesni Evans of Wales moves up two places to a career-best
No.16 ranking, one place ahead of Olivia Blatchford, who also sits
at a career-high ranking.
Australia’s Donna Urquhart drops a place to No.18, with Hong Kong’s
Joey Chan and Egypt’s Salma Hany Ibrahim completing the top 20.
Meanwhile, former World No.4 Omneya Abdel Kawy drops out of the top
20 for the first time since November 2012, falling from No.15 to
No.21.