| Squash in Australia | |
|---|---|
| Country | Australia |
| Governing body | Squash Australia |
| National team(s) | Australia men's national squash team Australia women's national squash team |
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. [1]
The first Squash courts in Australia were established in 1913 at the Melbourne Club in Victoria. Players such as Geoff Hunt, Heather McKay and Sarah Fitz-Gerald [2] are regarded as Australian squash legends. [3]
Many professional squash competitions take place in Australia each year. For example, the 2017 PSA World Tour included:
Australia has produced several world number ones:
As of April 2018, the highest ranked Australian squash players were:
Australia has national men's and women's teams, that represent the country in international competitions.
Australian players compete in the squash events of the Commonwealth Games, which are held every 4 years. Most recently, in the 2018 games, Australian players Zac Alexander and David Palmer won gold in the men's doubles event, Donna Urquhart and Cameron Pilley won gold in the mixed doubles event, and Donna Urquhart and Donna Urquhart won bronze in the women's doubles event. [11]
Squash in Australia is governed by Squash Australia. [12]
The World Squash Championships are squash events for men and women organised by the Professional Squash Association. The men's event was first held in 1976 in London, England and the women's was inaugurated in 1976 in Brisbane, Australia.
Peter Nicol is a former professional squash player from Scotland, who represented first Scotland and then England in international squash. In 1998, while still competing for Scotland, he became the first player from the UK to hold the World No. 1 ranking. During his career, he won one World Open title, two British Open titles, and four Commonwealth Games Gold Medals. He is widely considered to be one of the most outstanding international squash players of his time and was famous for his post match recovery BBQ meals. He was born in Inverurie, Aberdeenshire.
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.
Natalie Marie Grinham is an Australian former professional squash player. During her career, she has won three Commonwealth Games Gold Medals, and finished runner-up at both the World Open and the British Open. She reached the World No. 2 ranking in 2007. She represented Australia in international squash competitions up to 2006. She is married to the Dutch squash player Tommy Berden, and took up Dutch citizenship in February 2008. Both Tommy and Natalie became the first husband and wife team to win a joint championship in squash after winning the respective trophies at the inaugural edition of the Tranzparanz Open in June 2006 which was held in Almere, Netherlands.
John White is a former World No. 1 squash player.
James Willstrop is an English professional squash player from Yorkshire.
The Squash at the 2006 Commonwealth Games was played for the most part at the Melbourne Sports and Aquatic Centre. Singles play took place from March 16 to 20, and the doubles was contested from March 21 to 26.
Cameron Pilley is an Australian former professional squash player. He reached a career-high world ranking of World No. 11 in January 2011.
Donna Lobban, also known as Donna Belle Urquhart, is an Australian retired professional squash player. She reached a career high world ranking of 13 in May, 2011.
The Official Women's Squash World Ranking is the official world ranking for women's squash. The WISPA, the WSA and the PSA has used a computerized system for determining the rankings since April 1984. The ranking is to rate the performance level of female professional squash players. It is also a merit-based method used for determining entry and seeding in women's squash tournaments. The rankings were initially produced monthly; this has been changed to weekly basis effective ranking issue dated August 29, 2022.
The Australia women's national squash team represents Australia in international squash team competitions, and is governed by Squash Australia.
The PSA World Tour 2015 is the international squash tour organised circuit organized by the Professional Squash Association (PSA) for the 2015 men's and women's squash season. The most important tournament in the series is the World Championship held in Bellevue, Washington in the United States. The tour features three categories of regular events, World Series, which feature the highest prize money and the best fields, International and Challenger.
The 1980 PSA Men's World Open Squash Championship is the men's edition of the 1980 World Open, which serves as the individual world championship for squash players. The event took place in Adelaide in Australia from 4 October until 10 October 1980. Geoff Hunt won his fourth consecutive World Open title, defeating Qamar Zaman in the final for the third successive year.
This article lists the results for the sport of Squash in 2016.
Tommy Berden is a retired former Dutch male professional squash player and an entrepreneur. He achieved his highest career ranking of 22 on December, 2001.
The Women's doubles Squash event at the 2018 Commonwealth Games was held at the Oxenford Studios, Gold Coast from 10 to 15 April.
The Mixed doubles Squash event at the 2018 Commonwealth Games was held at the Oxenford Studios, Gold Coast from 10 to 14 April.
Risa Sugimoto is a Japanese female professional squash player who represents Japan women's national squash team internationally. She achieved her highest career PSA world ranking of 127 in January 2018 during the 2017-18 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.