KUALA LUMPUR: Nicol David was today deposed as the world's top-ranked woman's squash player by Egyptian Raneem El Weleily after 109 consecutive months.
In the latest ranking list issued by the PSA Tour, Nicol slipped to No 2 for the first time since July 2006.
El Weleily, who was 42 points behind Nicol in the August list, has a total average of 2,979 points to the Malaysian's 2,853 for a 126-point lead.
This drop was not wholly unexpected as Nicol has only won one PSA Women's Tour title in five competitions this year while El Weleily won three.
"In fact, to me the loss of the number one ranking was not unexpected," eight-time world champion Nicol told www.squashsite.co.uk. "My consistency has been up and down this year.
" I realised this was just a matter of time, so I knew I had to take time out for myself."
Nicol, who turned 33 just a week ago, can regain top spot when she competes in the China Open and Macau Open in September.
El Weleily, 26, is also competing in the China Open, which begins on Thursday, and the two players are seeded to meet in Sunday;s final in Shanghai.
"Nicol has been number one for so long and the gap between her and all of us has been so huge that to get close to her is an achievement in itself," said El Weleily in a PSA Tour statement.
"To be the person to finally overtake her is huge for me. I know I could just be there for one month and that’s okay because I still need to do more in order for me to earn that spot. At the moment it’s only a matter of calculation."
RANKINGS - 1 Raneem El Weleily (Egy) 2,979 pts, 2 Nicol David (Mas) 2,853, 3 Camille Serme (Fra) 1,759, 4 Alison Waters (Eng) 1,425, 5 Laura Massaro (Eng) 1,417, 6 Omneya Abdel Kawy (Egy) 1,210, 7 Nour El Sherbini (Egy) 1,210, 8 Nour El Tayeb (Egy) 1,001, 9 Low Wee Wern (Mas) 843, 10 Annie Au (Hkg) 727, 11 Emma Beddoes (Eng) 617, 12 Delia Arnold (Mas) 571.