Ryan `has best day'

He's had great days in the course of his eight years as a professional squash player but none quite matched yesterday for Dubliner Derek Ryan. In fact, as days go, they don't get much better than this.

First he won his third tournament of the year, beating one of the circuit's fastest rising stars, Australian Paul Price, in four sets in the final of the Pepsi International in Lahore.

Then he received confirmation that he has secured a place in the first round of the Pakistan Open, one of the sport's most prestigious events, and will not, as he presumed, have to qualify for the tournament. And, just to cap it all, he got word that he has risen five places to number 12 in the new world rankings, the highest position of his career. "It's good going, isn't it," he said, speaking from his Lahore hotel. Mmm, it's better than good - the best day of your career? "Without a doubt," he agreed.

The day started out with the fourth PSA (Professional Squash Association) Tour victory of his career - his first came at the Hungarian Open in 1993 and he added two more earlier this year, when he won the Hartford Cup in Connecticut and the European Champion of Champions in Oslo.

This, though, was perhaps the hardest-earned victory of them all. Price, who won August's Singapore Open, was appearing in his fifth PSA final of the year and had already beaten top seed Del Harris in the quarterfinals.

"I only saw him play for the first time in the semi-finals and I was bloody impressed," said Ryan, who was seeded two for the tournament. "I actually played really, really well against him but he was outplaying me for the first game and a half and I just thought `I'm in serious trouble here'.

"He was hitting so many winners and not making any mistakes but I just hung in there, stayed with him and finally it came right. He took the first but I came back, won the next three and probably played as well as I have for quite a while."

The ranking points Ryan picked up for the victory have not yet been added to his overall total, all of which means his world standing could rise further in the December list.

"Even though I've said, in recent times, that a place in the world top 10 is no longer an obsession there's no doubt I'm closer now than I've ever been."

Ryan sets off for Karachi tomorrow, where he will prepare for Sunday's first round match (against a qualifier) in the Pakistan Open. He returns to Dublin, to play in the Leinster Open, in 10 days' time.