KARACHI, Dec 30: Malaysia's Nicol David, who became the first Asian woman to top world squash in January 2006, begins her second year at No1 in January 2007.

According to latest rankings announced by the Women's International Squash Players' Association on Saturday, Nicol, the 23-year-old from Penang, won eight titles in 2006 including World Open, British Open and Asian Games gold medal.

Australia’s Rachael Grinham was at second place in the new ratings ahead of Vanessa Atkinson of the Netherlands and her younger sister Natalie Grinham, who is at No4. Tania Bailey of England is at No5 and Ireland's Madeline Perry is at No6.

Pakistan’s Carla Khan, granddaughter of the country’s squash legend Azam Khan, continues to experience a decline in her world ranking because of an injury-related gap from the international circuit. She fell 13 spots down to No82 in the world.—PPI