Still Egyptian EGYPT'S Karim Darwish is No 1 for the first time in the new January Dunlop PSA Men's World Squash Rankings published by the Professional Squash Association, ending the 33- month reign of his illustrious compatriot Amr Shabana. Darwish, 27, is the 13th player in history to top the men's world list, but only the second Egyptian. After winning no events at all in 2006, Darwish claimed a single PSA Tour title the following year. But it was in 2008, which he began ranked eight in the world, that the former world junior champion, hitherto largely overshadowed by fellow countrymen like Shabana and Rami Ashour, made his mark. Darwish reached six finals (including the World Open in England in October) and secured three titles, including his first Super Series crowns at the Qatar Classic and Saudi International. It was his victory in last month's Saudi International, the richest event of all time, in which he scored his second win of the year over Shabana, that clinched Darwish's world- ranking breakthrough. "This is the greatest moment of my career," said Darwish after winning the Saudi title which guaranteed his world number one status. "I've been working really hard all my life to reach this moment. Thank God I should do it in this, the richest tournament ever." Shabana slips to two in the new list but World Open champion Ashour remains at No 3, thus maintaining Egypt's unique hold on the top three ranking positions in the world. Frenchman Gregory Gaultier, runner-up to Darwish in the Saudi International, holds onto fourth place, with England's James Willstrop at No 5 and Australia's British Open champion at six. Malaysia's Ong Beng Hee begins 2009 in the top 10 after moving up two places from 12. Three players boast career-best rankings in the lower half of the top 20 -- Pakistan teenager Aamir Atlas Khan rising to a best-ever 15, and Australian Cameron Pilley also moving up a single place to claim a first-time 17th place. But Botswana-born Englishman Alister Walker, outside the top 30 a year ago, celebrates his maiden appearance in the top 20 by jumping three places to No 18. FA Cup future LIVERPOOL will face Merseyside rivals Everton in the pick of the FA Cup fourth-round matches later this month. Manchester United will host Tottenham while non-league Kettering Town will meet Premier League Fulham and giant-killers Hartlepool entertain West Ham. There is also an east Midlands derby with Nottingham Forest being rewarded for their emphatic 3-0 win over Manchester City with a trip to Derby. The fourth-round ties will be played over the weekend of 23/24/25 January. North-east minnows Blyth Spartans will travel to neighbours Sunderland if they overcome Blackburn Rovers. For new Nottingham Forest manager Billy Davies the tie against Derby sees a return to the club he guided to promotion from the championship two seasons ago. Holders Portsmouth have been drawn against either non-league Histon or Swansea, if they get past Bristol City. And last season's finalists Cardiff City will host Arsenal at Ninian Park, a replay of the 1927 final between the pair which the Welsh club won 1-0. Elsewhere, Blue Square Premier side Torquay will host Coventry following their surprise win over Blackpool. Kettering striker Gareth Seddon is delighted that his side have drawn Premier League opposition in the shape of Fulham. Daly banned JOHN DALY, the 42-year-old golfer, has been banned for "conduct that brought unwelcome publicity" after a series of incidents, the lowlight of which saw him being picked up drunk outside a branch of Hooters in North Carolina and spending the night in the cells to sober up. Daly has struggled with alcohol, drug and gambling problems throughout his career, and was previously banned from the US Tour in 1992-3. His latest ban only came to light after Daly himself revealed it to the media. The US Tour has a policy of not discussing sanctions imposed on individual players. Dakar 2009 CARLOS Sainz took the lead in the Dakar Rally by claiming victory in the second special stage between Santa Rosa and Puerto Madryn in Argentina. The two-time world rally champion, who is going for his first Dakar crown, completed the stage in one hour 56 minutes 14 seconds. Nine-time Dakar Rally champion Stephane Peterhansel (Mitsubishi) ended the stage 1min 14secs behind the Spaniard to claim third spot in the overall standings. The stage's third-placed driver, Giniel De Villiers (Volkswagen), is second in the standings, 2mins 19secs behind Sainz. First-stage winner Nasser Al-Attiyah (BMW) was unable to maintain his form as he ended ninth, slipping to fourth overall. Swell Twell EUROPEAN Junior champion Stephanie Twell won the women's race at Saturday's IAAF Antrim International Cross Country meeting at Greenmount. Twell won the 5,600m race with Ireland's Deirdre Byrne second. Ethiopian Imane Merga won the men's event over 10k after pre-race favourite Boniface Kiprop of Uganda fell. Twenty-year-old Merga outpaced outpacing Kiprop by two seconds with a time of 24 minutes 32 seconds. Twell, who had clinched her third junior European title three weeks earlier in Brussels, seemed to have sewn the race up when opening a gap of 20 metres on the final lap. Twell, 19, kept her head to power away and win by a second in a time of 18 minutes 25 seconds with Freya Murray of Scotland finishing third in 18 minutes 32 seconds. Cavaliers shock THE INJURY-depleted Cleveland Cavaliers lost 80-77 to the Washington Wizards and lost some ground in their bid to claim the best record in the Eastern Conference of the NBA. A 16-foot jump shot along the baseline by the Wizards' Antawn Jamison with 10.5 seconds left snapped a 77-77 tie and helped the Wizards end their modest two- game losing streak. With the loss the Central Division- leading Cavaliers fall to 27-6 and trail reigning NBA champion and Atlantic Division front-runners Boston (29-5) by 1.5 games in the East. Following a foul shot by guard Caron Butler that gave the Wizards a 80-77 lead, Cleveland forward LeBron James misfired on a potentially game-tying three-point jumper at the buzzer. James scored nine of his 30 points in the final quarter, helping fuel a 14-4 Cavaliers surge to tie the score at 77- 77 with a minute left. The four-time All-Star blamed the loss on the team's 39 per cent shooting and the Wizards' big edge on the glass. Murray beats the best THE BRITISH No 1 Andy Murray beat the world's top two players Roger Federer and world No 1 Rafael Nadal on successive days at the Capitala World Tennis Championship in Abu Dhabi in the UAE. Murray beat Federer 4-6, 6-2, 7-6, (8-6) in the semi-final match. He faced world number one Nadal after the Spaniard beat Russia's Nikolay Davydenko in straight sets 6-2 6-3. Murray beat Nadal 6-4, 5-7, 6-3 in the final of the exhibition tournament. Murray beat James Blake in his opening match of 2009 before beating Federer for the fifth time. Murray collects $250,000 for winning the event but beating Nadal and Federer was great satisfaction. Murray now heads to next week's Qatar Open in Doha, along with Nadal and Federer, where he will face Albert Montanes of Spain in round one as the ATP season gets under way.
