LONDON, April 1: Egypt’s Ramy Ashour heads the April men’s world rankings, published by the Professional Squash Association (PSA), with the highest points average ever recorded.

Final appearances in all nine PSA World Tour events in which he has appeared over the past twelve months – with title triumphs in eight, including last month’s PSA World Series North American Open and Kuwait PSA Cup – take the 25-year-old from Cairo’s points average to 1,872.50, more than 700 above his nearest rival.

Unbeaten since losing the British Open final to England’s Nick Matthew last May, Ashour celebrated his 36th win in a row two weeks ago when he defeated Englishman James Willstrop 6-11, 11-8, 11-3, 11-3 in the Kuwait PSA Cup climax.

Matthew retains his second position in the new list, while Willstrop — winner of last month’s Canary Wharf Classic in London — moves up to third place, pushing Frenchman Gregory Gaultier down to No.4.

Success by Karim Darwish in Sunday’s final of the CIMB KL Open in Malaysia for the second time in three years takes the Egyptian up to five in the April rankings, while fellow countryman Mohamed El Shorbagy, the runner-up, slips to No.6.—Agencies