CARDIFF (Wales) Dec 30: England’s Peter Nicol moves into a sixth year in which he has held the world No1 ranking by heading the new January 2003 Dunlop PSA Men’s World Rankings, announced on Monday by the Professional Squash Association (PSA).

Since succeeding Pakistan’s Jansher Khan at the top of the world rankings in February 1998, 29-year-old Nicol has maintained a position within the top three, including 44 months at No1.

The London-based former Scot maintains his lead ahead of his great rival Jonathon Power, the former world No1 from Canada who celebrates his seventh successive month at No2.

Despite succeeding Nicol as world champion in Belgium earlier this month, Australia’s David Palmer remains at No3 in the new list.

The 26-year-old from Lithgow, but based in Antwerp in Belgium, is celebrating his 21st successive month in the top three, including a four-month reign as No1 from September 2001.

Scotland’s John White, who beat Nicol in the World Open semifinals before losing in five to Palmer in the final, moves up to No4, pushing Australian Stewart Boswell down to five.

Martin Heath, a former world No4 from Oban in Scotland, makes a welcome return to the top ten at 10 after reaching the World Open quarter-finals. Fellow Briton Simon Parke was the only unseeded player to reach the last eight - and is rewarded by a return to the top twenty (at 18) after almost a year.

The 30-year-old Englishman from Yorkshire is fighting back to top form after a layoff due to ankle surgery, after which his ranking plunged to 44.

Pakistani left-hander Mansoor Zaman also celebrates a best-ever ranking of 16 - after starting 2001 at a lowly 35 in the PSA list.

1 [1] Peter Nicol ENG; 2 [2] Jonathon Power CAN; 3 [3] David Palmer AUS; 4 [5] John White SCO; 5 [4] Stewart Boswell AUS; 6 [6] Thierry Lincou FRA; 7 [7] Anthony Ricketts AUS; 8 [8] Ong Beng Hee MAS; 9 [9] Lee Beachill ENG; 10 [12] Martin Heath SCO; 11 [13] Karim Darwish EGY; 12 [10] Mark Chaloner ENG; 13 [14] Chris Walker ENG; 14 [15] Amr Shabana EGY; 15 [11] Joseph Kneipp AUS; 16 [18] Mansoor Zaman PAK; 17 [16] Alex Gough WAL; 18 [26] Simon Parke ENG; 19 [20] Nick Taylor ENG; 20 [18] Paul Price AUS.—WSF