Rodney Eyles

Last updated

Rodney James Eyles
CountryFlag of Australia (converted).svg  Australia
Residence Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia
Born (1967-09-15) 15 September 1967 (age 56)
Brisbane, Queensland, Australia
RetiredNovember 2000
PlaysRight-Handed
Men's Singles
Highest ranking2 (November 1995)
World Open W (1997)
Medal record
Men's squash
Representing Flag of Australia (converted).svg  Australia
World Championships
Gold medal icon (G initial).svg 1997 Petaling Jaya Singles
Silver medal icon (S initial).svg 1996 Lahore Singles
Bronze medal icon (B initial).svg 1994 Barcelona Singles
Commonwealth Games
Silver medal icon (S initial).svg 1998 Kuala Lumpur Doubles
Last updated: 20 December 2011.

Rodney James Eyles (born 15 September 1967 in Brisbane) is a former professional squash player from Australia. He is best remembered for winning the World Open title in 1997. [1]

An alumnus of St James College (Brisbane), Eyles joined the professional squash tour as a 16-year-old in May 1984 and was an athlete in the inaugural Australian Institute of Sport Squad from 1985. He was on the PSA World Tour for 16 years and held the position of president from 1996 to 1998. He retired in November 2000 at the age of 33. His career-high world ranking was World No. 2.

The pinnacle of his career was reached in 1997 when he became world champion, defeating Peter Nicol in the final of the 1997 World Open 15-11, 15-12, 15-12. [2]

Rodney was part of the winning Australian team at the 1991 Men's World Team Squash Championships and was also a runner-up in the 1993 Men's World Team Squash Championships. [3]

Eyles attained a wealth of title's including:

Australian Open Champion (1997), Australian Junior Champion, Commonwealth Games Men’s Doubles Silver Medal (1998), US Open Champion (1993 and 1996), French Open Champion, Hong Kong Open Champion, Hungarian Open Champion, Italian Open Champion, Mahindra Open Champion, North American Open Champion, Tournament of Champions, New York (Champion 1994 & Finalist), British Open (Finalist), Qatar Open (Finalist 3 times), Pakistan Open (Finalist)

As a junior player, Eyles was runner-up to Jansher Khan in the final of the 1986 World Junior Squash Championship. Between 1980 and 1986, he won four Australian junior titles and three Queensland junior titles. He was a member of the Australian teams which won the World Team Squash Championships in 1991 and the World Junior Team Championships in 1986. He also won a silver medal for Australia in the men's doubles event at the 1998 Commonwealth Games (partnering Byron Davis). After retiring from the tour, he coached up-and-coming players in Italy, Hong Kong and the US before returning to the Gold Coast and establishing the Rod Eyles Squash Academy to focus on the development of juniors, seniors and professional squash players. In 2009 Rodney managed the Australian Men’s Team in Denmark, was the manager and head coach for the 2010 Australian Boys Junior Squash Team in Ecuador, and the manager of the successful Australian Squash Team at the 2010 Commonwealth Games in Delhi. [4]

Eyles also had two children Ashley Eyles, born March 31, 1999, and Ethan Eyles, born April 17, 2002. [5]

In 2010, Rodney joined the Squash Australia Team as an AIS consultant coach before becoming the national talent development coach in 2011. [ citation needed ].

From 2010 - 2015, Eyles was the national talent development coach for Squash Australia. This role focused on the identification and development of junior players and education of coaches throughout Australia. During this period Eyles established International competitions with New Zealand, Malaysia and Singapore for young up-and-coming players to experience this type of exposure. He was the manager and head coach of the Australian U21 World Cup Team which traveled to Chennai, India, in 2012 and was also the manager and head coach of the U19 Boys Team at the World Junior Championships in Doha, Qatar. During this event Eyles was a member of the Championship Adjudication and Seeding Selection Panels.

In 2013, Eyles became the head of squash at the Palm Beach Currumbin High School, Sports Excellence Program. This ensured young players continued on the Squash Australia pathway but were educated in a sporting environment. He was also the head coach for the Australian U19 Girls Team at the World Junior Championships in Poland and the Australian Men's Team at the World Men's Championships in France.

Rodney Eyles was the coach of the most successful squash competing country at the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow in 2014, with Australia ending up on the top of the medal tally.

From 2015, Eyles has been coaching on the East Coast of the US and is the current head squash professional at the Greenwich Country Club.

Eyles was inducted into the Australian Squash Hall of Fame in 2008 and the Queensland Squash Hall of Fame in 2005. [6]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Michelle Martin</span> Australian squash player

Michelle Susan Martin is an Australian former professional squash player who was one of the game's leading players in the 1990s. She was ranked number one in the world from 1993 to 1996 and again in 1998 and 1999, and won three World Open titles and six British Open titles.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Saurav Ghosal</span> Indian squash player

Saurav Ghosal is a professional squash player from India and reached a career-high world ranking of World No. 10 in April 2019. He won the first ever medal in Squash for India at the Commonwealth games. He was the national champion in 2020 by winning 77th National Squash championship.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">David Palmer (squash player)</span> Australian squash player

David Troy Palmer is an Australian retired professional squash player. He won the Super Series finals in 2002, the World Open in 2002 and 2006; the British Open in 2001, 2003, 2004 and 2008; and the Australian Open in 2008. He attained World No. 1 ranking in September 2001 and again in February 2006.

Geoffrey Brian Hunt,, is a retired Australian squash player who is widely considered to be one of the greatest squash players in history.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">James Willstrop</span> British squash player

James Willstrop is an English professional squash player from Yorkshire.

Chris Walker is a male squash coach and former professional squash player from England.

Ong Beng Hee is a Malaysian former professional squash player and coach. Between 2000 and 2006, he won four consecutive Asian Championship titles. In 2002 and 2006 he won gold medals at the Asian Games. He won 11 Professional Squash Association (PSA) Tour titles out of 19 final appearances, and earned a world ranking of No. 7, a career-best. This record of achievements has made him Malaysia's most successful male squash player in history.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nick Matthew</span> British squash player

Nicholas MatthewOBE is a former English professional squash player who has won the two most prestigious tournaments in the professional game, the British Open and the World Open, three times each. He reached a career-high world ranking of World No. 1 in June 2010. His home club is Hallamshire Tennis and Squash Club in Sheffield which has named 'The Nick Matthew Showcourt' after him.

Byron Davis is a squash coach and former professional squash player from Australia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cameron Pilley</span> Australian squash player

Cameron Pilley is an Australian former professional squash player. He reached a career-high world ranking of World No. 11 in January 2011.

Cameron Stafford is a squash player in the Caribbean Region. He was the reigning Cayman Islands Junior Open Champion. He trained for the 2010 Commonwealth Games in India, representing the Cayman Islands. Stafford was an Under 13 Caribbean Tennis Champion in 2002, also winning the Florida Open for the U-15 Category in 2003. He is now a coach for Squash players of all ages and can sometimes be found competing in local tournaments in Grand Cayman.

Yasir Ali Butt is a professional squash player who represented Pakistan. He reached a Professional Squash Association (PSA) ranking No. 40 in the world in July 2008. and Super Series ranking No. 17 in 2012. In 2011

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kashif Shuja</span> New Zealand squash player

Kashif Shuja, is a New Zealand former professional squash player.

Campbell Grayson is a New Zealand retired professional squash player. He reached a career-high world ranking of World No. 24 in February 2020.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Diego Elías</span> Peruvian squash player

Diego Elías Chehab is a squash player who represents Peru. In April 2023, he reached a ranking of number 1 in the world, the first South American player in squash history to do so.

The 1996 PSA Men's World Open Squash Championship is the men's edition of the 1996 World Open, which serves as the individual world championship for squash players. The event took place in Lahore in Pakistan from 16 November to 22 November 1996. Jansher Khan won his eight World Open title, defeating Rodney Eyles in the final.

Steven Mangirri Bowditch is a former leading Australian professional squash player who excelled in both soft and hardball versions of the game.

Squash is a popular sport in Australia. There is a long tradition of the sport in the country, which boasts 7 former world number one players. As of 2018 there are many highly ranked Australian players, both in men's and women's squash.

Senga Macfie also spelt as Senga MacFie is an English born Scottish former professional squash player. After retiring from playing professionally, she now coaches squash at Abercorn Sports Club in Edinburgh. She represented Scotland national women's squash team in several international competitions including the British Open Squash Championships, World Open Squash Championships and in World Team Squash Championships in a career spanning from 1993 to 2010. She achieved her highest career PSA ranking of 16 in January 1995 as a part of the 1995 PSA World Tour.

Alex Haydon also known as Alexandra Haydon is an Australian professional squash player. She made her maiden Commonwealth Games appearance representing Australia at the 2022 Commonwealth Games. She has won the Australian National Junior Squash Championships on seven occasions with all of them being on a consecutive basis from 2013 to 2019. She achieved her highest career PSA world rankings of 74 on 28 November 2022 during the 2022–23 PSA World Tour.

References

  1. ↑ "Rodney Eyles profile". Squash Info.
  2. ↑ "Rodney Eyles". squash.org.au.
  3. ↑ "Men's World Team Championship" (PDF). worldsquash.org. Archived from the original (PDF) on 30 January 2016.
  4. ↑ "The comeback of a lost sport". moregoldcoast.com.au.
  5. ↑ "Rodney's Child".
  6. ↑ "Hall of Fame members". squash.org.au.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.