LAURA Massaro has set her sights on becoming British number one after successfully defending her National squash title.

But first of all she has the small matter of helping East Lancs win a vital club match tomorrow night.

The 28-year-old from Chorley became the first player in eight years to defend the British National Championship ladies title after beating Alison Waters 11-2, 11-9, 8-11, 11-4 in Manchester.

Now Massaro, who lives in Hoghton, wants to overhaul Jenny Duncalf as the British number one.

However, her first thoughts will be on helping East Lancs beat Bowden in the North West Counties Squash League.

“I suppose you could call it coming back down to earth with a bump,” said the world number three. “It is absolutely fantastic to retain my British title but now I have to concentrate on helping East Lancs win against Bowden. It is a vital match.” Massaro has been in top form throughout the tournament, underlined by her 3-0 win against Madelaine Perry in the semi final.

“Madelaine was seeded higher than me so to beat her was a big boost and it meant I was fresh going in to the final.”

The former Albany High School pupil admitted she was under a different kind of pressure in the final against Waters after she became the first Lancashire woman to win the title last year.

“I was favourite and expected to win and with that comes a added pressure,” said Massaro. “Alison played very well but I was delighted with the way it went.

“It is a wonderful to have retained the title but you can’t beat the feeling of winning it for the first time.

“To be the first play to retain it in eight years it something special as well – although I didn’t know that until someone had told me after the final.”

Massaro beat Duncalf to win the title for the first time last year and she now has her England team-mate in her sights.

“It would be great to get to number one but to do that I have to continue to pick up the ranking points,” added Massaro who was world squash player of the year last year.

“Jenny is number one in Britain and number two in the world so, for me, that is always the target I have to aim for.”

While Nicol David is the world number one, the pecking order behind her is changing all the time.

Massaro added: “We are swapping and changing all the time and it just proves just how tight it all is.”