Draw and results
First leg
| Queen's Club | ||||||||
 | 6 | 5 | 5 | |||||
| | 9 | 9 | 9 | |||||
Second leg
| Conservative Club | ||||||||
| | 9 | 9 | 9 | |||||
| | 3 | 5 | 3 | |||||
| Preceded by 1929 | British Open Squash Championships England (London) 1930 | Succeeded by 1931 |
| British Open Squash Championships | |
|---|---|
| 1st British Open Championships | |
| Details | |
| Location | London, England |
| Venue | Queen's Club & Conservative Club |
The 1930 Squash Rackets Open Championship of Great Britain [1] was the first edition of the British Open Squash Championships inaugurated in 1930 so that both professionals and amateurs could play each other. The champion could be challenged by another player, normally either the professional or amateur champion for the right to earn the title of champion of Great Britain. The designated champion in 1929 was Charles Read and the challenger was the much younger Don Butcher.
The first leg was held on Sunday 7 December at the Queen's Club, West Kensington, home club to Read. The second leg was held on Monday 15 December 1930 at the Conservative Club, London, where Butcher was head professional. If the championship ended in one match each a neutral venue would have been used to determine the winner but Butcher won both matches.
| Queen's Club | ||||||||
| | 6 | 5 | 5 | |||||
| | 9 | 9 | 9 | |||||
| Conservative Club | ||||||||
| | 9 | 9 | 9 | |||||
| | 3 | 5 | 3 | |||||
| Preceded by 1929 | British Open Squash Championships England (London) 1930 | Succeeded by 1931 |
Squash is a racket and ball sport played by two players in a four-walled court with a small, hollow rubber ball. The players alternate in striking the ball with their racquets onto the playable surfaces of the four walls of the court. The objective of the game is to hit the ball in such a way that the opponent is not able to play a valid return. There are about 20 million people who play squash regularly world-wide in over 185 countries. The governing body of Squash, the World Squash Federation (WSF), is recognized by the International Olympic Committee (IOC), but the sport is not part of the Olympic Games, despite a number of applications. Supporters continue to lobby for its incorporation in a future Olympic program.
Rackets or racquets is an indoor racket sport played in the United Kingdom, United States, and Canada. The sport is infrequently called "hard rackets", possibly to distinguish it from the related sport of squash.
The British Open Squash Championships is the oldest tournament in the game of squash. It is widely considered to be one of the two most prestigious tournaments in the game, alongside the World Squash Championships in the 1970s, the British Open was generally considered to be the de facto world championship of the sport. The British Open Squash Championships are often referred to as being the "Wimbledon of Squash".
Donald Butcher was an English squash player, and the first player to win the British Open men's title in open play.
Charles Richard Read was a professional squash player from England, where professional squash began in 1907. Read was based at the Queen's Club in London, and beat C. Bannister of the Bath Club 15–5, 15–13 at the Bath Club to win the first English professional championship title. Read then defended his title as English champion three more times until 1928.
Abdelfattah Amr, better known as "F.D. Amr Bey" or simply "Amr Bey", was an Egyptian diplomat and squash player. He won the British Open men's title six consecutive times (1933–38), and is considered the first truly dominant squash player in the sport.
Mahmoud el Karim (1916–1999) was a squash player from Egypt. He won the British Open men's title four consecutive times from 1947–1950.
James Stout, born August 16, 1984, is a world-ranked professional squash, rackets and real tennis player from Bermuda.
In 1929 Charles Read was designated the Squash Rackets Open Champion of Great Britain.
It was decided that from 1930 both professionals and amateurs could play each other in a new event called the Squash Rackets Open Championship of Great Britain. The champion could be challenged by another player, normally either the professional or amateur champion for the right to earn the title of champion of Great Britain.
The designated champion was Charles Read based on previous professional challenge results listed below.
The 1931 Professional Squash Rackets Championship of Great Britain saw Don Butcher defend his title against Charles Arnold. The first leg was held at Butcher's home club the Conservative Club on 9 November and he defeated Arnold in just eighteen minutes. The first game lasted just three and a half minutes. The second leg was held at the Bath Club on 16 November, the home club of Arnold but once again Butcher ran out an easy winner.
The 1932 Open Championship saw professional champion Don Butcher defend his title against amateur champion F. D. Amr Bey of Egypt. The first leg was held at Butcher's home club the Conservative Club on 24 October, and he lost to Bey three games to nil. The second leg was held at the Bath Club on 31 October, the home club of Bey and the match was considerably closer before Bey ran out a three games to two winner.
There was no Open Championship held in 1933, the defending champion F. D. Amr Bey of Egypt was busy defending his Amateur championship whilst defending professional champion Don Butcher resisted a challenge from Jim Dear. This professional challenge determined who would meet Bey in 1934 for the Open Championship.
The result of the professional championship challenge is below.
Then 1934 Open Championship featured the defending open champion and amateur champion F. D. Amr Bey of Egypt being challenged by Don Butcher the professional champion. The first leg was held at Butcher's Conservative Club on 12 November, but it was Bey once again who prevailed winning three games to one. The second leg took place on 19 November at the Bath Club, Bey at his home club was given his sternest test yet finally winning three games to two.
The 1935 Open Championship featured the defending open champion F. D. Amr Bey of Egypt being challenged by Jim Dear the professional champion. The first leg was held at the Bath Club on 25 November. Bey from the Bath Club won the first leg three games to two. The second leg took place at Dear's home club the Royal Automobile Club on 2 December. Bey wrapped up his third consecutive Open Championship title by clinching the second leg three games to one.
The 1936 Open Championship featured the defending open champion F. D. Amr Bey of Egypt being challenged by Jim Dear the professional champion. The first leg was held at the Royal Automobile Club on 16 November. Bey from the Bath Club won the first leg three games to two, despite some criticism over his use of the shot against the back wall to continue a rally, it was felt that he used this shot too much. The second leg took place at Bey's home Bath Club on 23 November. Bey won his fourth consecutive Open Championship title by clinching the second leg three games to one.
The 1937 Open Championship featured the defending open champion F. D. Amr Bey of Egypt being challenged by Jim Dear the professional champion. The first leg was held at Dear's club the Royal Automobile Club on 22 November. Bey won the first leg three games to two. The second leg took place at Bey's home Bath Club on 29 November. Bey won his fifth consecutive Open Championship title by clinching the second leg three games to one in a fifty-minute match.
After securing a sixth Amateur Championship in December 1937 the Egyptian retired from international competitions the following March and received a national banquet attended by King Farouk in his honour on 25 March in Cairo.
The 1938 Open Championship was a squash tournament between the professional champion Jim Dear of the Oxford and Cambridge Club and Bert Biddle of the Junior Carlton Club.
Because the defending Open Champion F. D. Amr Bey had retired it was decided that the 1938 Professional Championship would also be classed as the Open Championship. Therefore Bert Biddle took on L W R Keeble of the International Sportsmen's Club for the right to meet Dear. Biddle ran out the winner of that match 9-4, 7-9, 9-1, 9-0.
The 1938 Open Championship took place over two legs, both at the Royal Automobile Club on 7 & 14 December. Dear won the first leg three games to two and then secured the Open Championship with a three games to one victory in the second leg.
The 1947 Open Championship was between the defending champion Jim Dear of the Queen's Club and the professional champion Mahmoud Karim of Egypt.
The 1948 Open Championship was the first time that a tournament was introduced after the challenge system was discontinued. The tournament was held at the Lansdowne Club in London from 08-15 March and was open to professionals and amateurs. The first winner of the competition in this format was the defending champion Mahmoud Karim who defeated Jim Dear in a close final lasting 52 minutes.
The 2018 Real Tennis World Championship was a real tennis tournament held at the Queen's Club in London, England. 12-time world champion Rob Fahey regained the world title defeating the defending champion Camden Riviere by a score of 7–5.