30-Nov:
World Number One Scramble ...
As you may have seen, we have a new women's world number one today, with
Vanessa Atkinson taking over at the top from Rachael Grinham,
after the Australian's 16 month reign, and Nicol David closing the
gap at number three.
But that's not likely to be the end of the matter - by the end of this
tournament we could have another, different number one!
The WISPA rankings are not the easiest to follow, what with 'divisors'
and 'averages', and often seem very slow to react to what's happening on
court. But this week is different ... with so many points coming off from
last year, and so many to be won here, the possibilities are intriguing to
say the least.
Let's examine the prospects of the current top three, with their current
points average (no. of tournaments in brackets) and the points they lose in
December.
VANESSA: #1, 2409 avge (13). Coming off: 8160
 If
she successfully defends her world open title there's little doubt that she
will stay at number one. After a poor start to the season, wins in Monte
Carlo and Qatar have lifted her spirits, as well as her ranking, but she
loses a lot of points unless she does well this week.
RACHAEL: #2, 1817 avge (12). Coming off: 4465
 Her
last 'major' win was the QA Challenge in April, and she probably needs to
win here to have a chance of going back to the top. The fact that her two
main rivals are in the opposite half might help, but sister Natalie, having
lost in the final last year, may well have a say should they meet in the
semis.
NICOL: #3, 1747 avge (12). Coming off: 2415
 Buoyed
by success at the British Open and five other titles this year, the
pint-sized Malaysian dynamo is the form player - notwithstanding her loss to
Vicky Botwright in Qatar. With less points coming off, by our calculations
all she needs to do to become number one is to reach the final. Of course,
she'd probably have to beat Vanessa in the semis ...
So there you have it ... some crucial matches coming up this week with, as
they say, everything to play for ...
Steve Cubbins
 TOP TWENTY WISPA
DECEMBER 2005 |
|
Rank |
Prev |
Player |
Pts |
Ctry |
|
1é |
[2] |
Vanessa Atkinson
|
2409 |
Ned |
|
2ê |
[1] |
Rachael Grinham
|
1817 |
Aus |
|
3 |
[3] |
Nicol
David |
1747 |
Mas |
| 4 |
[4] |
Natalie Grinham
|
1356 |
Aus |
|
5é |
[7] |
Vicky Botwright |
1042 |
Eng |
|
6 |
[6] |
Linda Elriani |
894 |
Eng |
| 7ê |
[5] |
Natalie
Grainger |
872 |
Usa |
|
8é |
[9] |
Jenny Duncalf |
664 |
Eng |
|
9ê |
[8] |
Tania Bailey |
646 |
Eng |
|
10 |
[10] |
Omneya
Abdel Kawy |
604 |
Egy |
|
11 |
[11] |
Madeline
Perry |
590 |
Irl |
|
12é |
[13] |
Alison Waters
|
504 |
Eng |
|
13ê |
[12] |
Shelley Kitchen |
477 |
Nzl |
|
14 |
[15] |
Annelize Naude
|
472 |
Ned |
|
15 |
[15] |
Isabelle
Stoehr |
459 |
Fra |
|
16é |
[18] |
Laura Lengthorn
|
408 |
Eng |
|
17 |
[17] |
Rebecca
Chiu |
396 |
Hkg |
|
18ê |
[16] |
Fiona Geaves |
392 |
Eng |
|
19 |
[99] |
Pamela Nimmo |
355 |
Sco |
|
20é |
[24] |
Engy Kheirallah
|
303 |
Usa |
|
VANESSA: Number one at last
 "All
Nicol needs to do to take over the World No 1 ranking is to beat
Vanessa to qualify for the final.
"And that's regardless of whether she eventually emerges as the World
Open champion or not.
"As I look at it, at this juncture, it will be a frantic
three-cornered scramble for the No 1 ranking between Rachael, Vanessa
and Nicol."
Andrew Shelley
WISPA |
RACHAEL: Knocked off the top
NICOL: Top spot in her sights
|
