Gilis Becomes First Belgian Player to Reach Top Five

20 November 2023

Nele Gilis has become the first Belgian player ever to reach the top five of the PSA Women’s World Rankings after she rose three spots to a career-high ranking of No.4 following her triumph over younger sister Tinne Gilis in yesterday’s VITAGEN Singapore Squash Open final.

Here’s our look at the most notable movers of the week, as of Monday November 20.

Nele Gilis

New Ranking: No.4

Previous Ranking: No.7

Nele celebrated the biggest title of her career after she overcame Tinne in a five-game thriller to win the Singapore Open, PSA World Tour Gold trophy.

The 27-year-old was seeded at No.3 for the event and beat Hong Kong’s Tomato Ho and Egypt’s Rowan Elaraby before toppling No.2 seed Georgina Kennedy in five games. She was able to back that up against her sister, finally winning after 82 minutes of absorbing squash to get her hands on her 11th PSA title.

Georgina Kennedy

New Ranking: No.6

Previous Ranking: No.8

Despite missing out on a final spot, England’s Georgina Kennedy is rewarded with a two-place rise as she returns to her joint career-high ranking of No.6.

It is Kennedy’s highest World Ranking since September of this year and she will now look to target a place inside the world’s top five when she competes at the Hong Kong Football Club Open and the TTI Milwaukee Hong Kong Squash Open before the end of 2023.

Sarah-Jane Perry

New Ranking: No.12

Previous Ranking: No.13

England’s Sarah-Jane Perry has struggled for form so far this season but has showed signs of recovery in her last two events.

A quarter-final finish at the Grasshopper Cup last month was followed up with a run to the semi-finals of the Singapore Open, where she eventually went down to Tinne Gilis in four games.

Melissa Alves