LONDON, Feb 4: Thierry Lincou of France holds onto his No1 position in new February PSA Men's World Squash Rankings, announced by Professional Squash Association , but England's Peter Nicol has closed in again on his successor with a single place promotion to No2.

Lincou was a surprise first round casualty in January's Sheikha Al Saad Kuwait Open. But his remarkable consistency in 2003, including nine successive semi-final berths and five final appearances, enabled 27-year-old from Paris to hold onto top position he claimed for first time last month.

Nicol, however, rapidly put his indifferent success in December's Qatar Classic and World Open behind him as he stormed through Kuwait field to lift $65,000 title, 46th of his career.

Scotland's John White, stopped by England's world junior champion James Willstrop in major quarterfinal upset in Kuwait, slips back to No3 in.

England's Lee Beachill, Qatar Classic champion; Egypt's World Open champion Amr Shabana; Australia's David Palmer; and Canada's Jonathon Power hold on to fourth to seventh positions respectively.

Yorkshireman Willstrop, at 20 youngest player in top twenty, leaps five places to a career-high 13 in new list after following up on his dismissal of White by beating Power in five games to reach his first major PSA Tour final in Kuwait.

Egypt's Karim Darwish rises to eight after claiming two PSA titles in January in the USA - Marsh & McLennan Apawamis Open and EBS Asset Management Dayton Open - and Pakistan's presence in top twenty is restored by Mansoor Zaman's re-entry at No18.

World Top Twenty Men:

1 (1) Thierry Lincou FRA

2 (3) Peter Nicol ENG

3 (2) John White SCO

4 (4) Lee Beachill ENG

5 (5) Amr Shabana EGY

6 (6) David Palmer AUS

7 (7) Jonathon Power CAN

8 (9) Karim Darwish EGY

9 (8) Anthony Ricketts AUS

10 (10) Joseph Kneipp AUS

11 (12) Gregory Gaultier FRA

12 (11) Nick Matthew ENG

13 (18) James Willstrop ENG

14 (13) Ong Beng Hee MAS

15 (15) Omar Elborolossy EGY

16 (14) Graham Ryding CAN

17 (16) Mohammed Abbas EGY

18 (21) Mansoor Zaman PAK

19 (17) Paul Price AUS

20 (20) Renan Lavigne FRA.-PPI