Squash (sport) - Players and Records

Players and Records

The (British) Squash Rackets Association (now known as England Squash & Racketball) conducted its first British Open championship for men in December 1930, using a "challenge" system. Charles Read was designated champion in 1930, but was beaten in home and away matches by Don Butcher, who was then recorded as the champion for 1931. The championship continues to this day, but has been conducted with a "knockout" format since 1947.

The women's championship started in 1921, and has been dominated by relatively few players: Joyce Cave and Nancy Cave (England) in the 1920s; Margot Lumb (USA) 1930s; Janet Morgan (England) 1950s; Heather McKay (Australia) 1960s and 1970s; Vicki Cardwell (Australia) and Susan Devoy (New Zealand) 1980s; Michelle Martin (Australia) 1990s; and Sarah Fitz-Gerald (Australia) 1990s and Nicol David (Malaysia) 2000s.

The Men's British Open has similarly been dominated by relatively few players: F.D. Amr Bey (Egypt) in the 1930s; Mahmoud Karim (Egypt) in the 1940s; brothers Hashim Khan and Azam Khan (Pakistan) in the 1950s and 1960s; Jonah Barrington (Great Britain and Ireland) and Geoff Hunt (Australia) in the 1960s and 1970s; Jahangir Khan (Pakistan) in the 1980s; Jansher Khan (Pakistan) in the 1990s, and recently, Jonathon Power (1998); Peter Nicol (1999), David Palmer (2002, 2006), and Thierry Lincou (2004). Amr Shabana is the most successful player after above have retired (2003, 2005, 2007, 2009), and a younger Egyptian Ramy Ashour (2008), and the first Englishman can the champions after Peter Nicol, who is the double world open champions-Nick Matthew (2010,2011)

Heather McKay, with her lengthy and absolute dominance of the game (she remained undefeated for 18 years during the 1960s and 1970s), is arguably the greatest woman player of all time.

Because of its traditions, the British Open has been considered by many to be more prestigious than the World Open, which began in the mid-1970s. However, some have shown concern about the ability of the former to sustain its prominence, citing its failure in 2005 to attract top players, probably due in part to the disparity in prize money. In 2005 the combined men's and women's prize money for the British Open came to $71,000 compared with the 2005 World Open's prize money, estimated to be about $270,000.

Previous world number one Peter Nicol stated that he believed squash had a "very realistic chance" of being added to the list of Olympic sports for the 2016 Olympic Games, but it ultimately lost out to golf and rugby sevens.

As of July 2012 the number 1 rank is held by James Willstrop of England in the men's competition and Nicol David of Malaysia in the women's competition. Currently there is no international standard method (other than for professional players) for evaluating skill levels for players.