Squash (sport) - History

History

Squash's use of stringed racquets is shared with tennis, which dates from the late fifteenth century, though is more directly descended from the game of rackets from England. In "rackets", instead of hitting over a net as in tennis, players hit a non-squeezable ball against walls.

Squash was developed at Harrow School in England. The first courts built at this school were rather dangerous because they were near water pipes, buttresses, chimneys, and ledges. The school soon built four outside courts. Natural rubber was the material of choice for the ball. Students modified their racquets to have a smaller reach to play in these cramped conditions.

The racquets have changed in much the same way as those used in tennis. Squash rackets used to be made out of laminated timber. In the 1980s, construction shifted to lighter, carbon-based materials (such as graphite) with small additions of such components as Kevlar, boron and titanium. Natural "gut" strings were replaced with synthetic strings.

In the 20th century the game increased in popularity with various schools, clubs and even private citizens building squash courts, but with no set dimensions. The first squash court in North America appeared at St. Paul's School in New Hampshire in 1884. In 1904 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the earliest national association of squash in the world was formed as the United States Squash Racquets Association, (USSRA), now known as US-Squash. In April 1907 the Tennis, Rackets & Fives Association set up a sub committee to set standards for squash. Then the sport soon formed, combining the three sports together called “Squash”. It was not until 1923 that the Royal Automobile Club hosted a meeting to further discuss the rules and regulations and another five years elapsed before the Squash Rackets Association was formed to set standards for squash in Great Britain.

The sport spread to America and Canada, and eventually around the globe. It was founded in 1924 in New York as Metropolitan Racquets Association, or MSRA.Players such as F.D. Amr Bey of Egypt dominated the courts in the 1930s. Heather McKay of Australia dominated the game during the 1960s and 1970s, winning sixteen consecutive British Open titles between 1962 and 1977. Another Australian, Geoff Hunt, won a record eight British Open male titles between 1969 and 1981. During the 1980s and 1990s Jahangir Khan of Pakistan won the British Open a record of ten times and Jansher Khan of Pakistan won the World Open a record of eight times. No list of squash champions is complete without referencing the legendary Pakistani Hashim Khan, winner of 7 British Open championships, and his son, Sharif Khan, winner of 12 North American Open titles. Hashim is considered one of the best athletes of all times and is the patriarch of a sports dynasty, consisting of himself, his brother, Azam, nephews Mohibullah and Gul, sons Sharif, Gulmast, Aziz, Liaquat Ali, and Salim Khan - all of whom are squash champions in their own right. Jansher Khan, although sharing the same legal last name, is not considered part of the "Khan Dynasty" of squash as he is not related to Hashim Khan.