World Champion Fitz-Gerald Back At World No1 A day after celebrating her 34th birthday, Australia's five-times world champion Sarah Fitz-Gerald has reclaimed her No1 position in the new December Women's World Squash Rankings, announced today (02 December) by the Women's International Squash Players' Association (WISPA). Despite dominating the sport for the past two years and being unbeaten for the previous 14 months, Fitz-Gerald surprisingly dropped to No2 in the world rankings published on 1st November. Twenty four hours later she lifted the World Open title for a record fifth time. The popular squash superstar from Melbourne, voted 'Australian Athlete of the Year' earlier this year, is currently resting from the WISPA World Tour, reflecting on the 12 WISPA titles she won in 2002 and the 61 she has amassed in her career since 1989. New Zealand's Carol Owens slips back into second position, following a semi-final placing in the World Open and success in the Weymuller US Open in New York two weeks later. Natalie Pohrer celebrates her switch of allegiance to USA last month by rising to a career-best No3 in the new list. The one-time South African, who played as an Englishwoman until taking up the colours of her country of residence after marrying an American, was runner-up in the World Open - then won both the Grasshopper Cup in Switzerland and Monte Carlo Classic in Monaco to crown a highly successful November run. The December rankings reveal further Australian and English successes: Queensland sisters Rachael and Natalie Grinham both register career-best placings - Cairo-based Rachael at six and Netherlands-based Natalie at 11. Londoner Rebecca Macree rises to a career-high No9, while the sport's only Doctor of Philosophy Jenny Tranfield, from Milton Keynes, jumps four places to a best-ever No13. In addition, former South African Annelize Naude, now representing Netherlands, makes her top twenty debut at 20. Meanwhile Tegwen Malik, from Wales, has marked her comeback after a three-year layoff through illness by storming 78 places up the rankings to 51 after winning the Washington Open in Seattle and reaching the semi-finals of last week's Monte Carlo Classic in Monaco. 1 [2] Sarah Fitz-Gerald AUS 2 [1] Carol Owens NZL 3 [4] Natalie Pohrer USA 4 [6] Linda Charman ENG 5 [7] Tania Bailey ENG 6 [8] Rachael Grinham AUS 7 [5] Vanessa Atkinson NED 8 [3] Cassie Jackman ENG 9 [10] Rebecca Macree ENG 10 [9] Fiona Geaves ENG 11 [12] Natalie Grinham AUS 12 [11] Stephanie Brind ENG 13 [17] Jenny Tranfield ENG 14 [16] Pamela Nimmo SCO 15 [13] Suzanne Horner ENG 16 [14] Omneya Abdel Kawy EGY 17 [15] Vicky Botwright ENG 18 [18] Shelley Kitchen NZL 19 [20] Ellen Petersen DEN 20 [21] Annelize Naude NED