ElShorbagy Returns to World’s Top Three in PSA Men’s World Rankings

13 March 2023

England’s Mohamed ElShorbagy has returned to the world’s top three following his triumph at the Black Ball Squash Open in Cairo, Egypt last week.

Here’s our look at the most notable movers of the week, as of Monday March 13.

Mohamed ElShorbagy

New Ranking: No.3

Previous Ranking: No.4

ElShorbagy captured the 49th title of his illustrious career when he overcame Egypt’s Tarek Momen to lift his maiden Black Ball Open trophy.

ElShorbagy had arguably one of the most difficult paths through to the final, with matches against former World No.1s Karim Abdel Gawad and Ali Farag as well as a semi-final fixture with World No.2 Diego Elias, who would have gone to World No.1 had he won the event. The 32-year-old passed those tests with flying colours before toppling former World Champion Momen to break back into the top three for the first time since January.

All attention now turns to the Canary Wharf Classic, which is currently taking place in London’s East Wintergarden. If ElShorbagy wins the event and current World No.1 Mostafa Asal fails to reach the final, the Englishman will return to the summit of the rankings for the first time since August 2021.

Tarek Momen

New Ranking: No.7

Previous Ranking: No.9

At 35 years of age, Momen’s powers of recovery at the Black Ball Open were incredible.

First, he overturned eight match balls to overcome fellow Egyptian Fares Dessouky in an 89-minute quarter-final clash, before he came back from two games down to defeat Joel Makin in a 76-minute semi-final battle.

Though he went down to ElShorbagy in the title decider, Momen has been rewarded with a two-place increase to No.7.