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The indispensable magazine for serious Squash Players
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   Features

THE DUNLOP INTERVIEW
Squash Player assess the form and prospects of Egypt’s Amina Orfi ...
Crouin Breakout

France’s breakout star tells Squash Player’s Mike Dale about his dizzyingly successful first six months in professional squash
 
PIN-POINT ACCURACY
Hugely popular BBC News presenter Ros Atkins tells Rod Gilmour about efforts to translate his laser-like broadcasting style to the squash court
 
RE-BORN
Nour El Tayeb tells Richard Eaton about her new perspective on squash and Tour life as a mother
TAKING SQUASH TO THE PEOPLE
Mike Dale discovers how a frustrated chef’s epiphany has lead to a whole community falling in love with squash
COMMONWEALTH GAMES
Can the Kiwis win gold? Will it be an Indian Summer of Doubles? Read about the Birmingham project and Guyana’s Guiding Light.
WILLSTROP IS
‘NOT DONE YET’

James Willstrop reflects on his Gold Coast Commonwealth Games titles and looks ahead to Birmingham.
LONG LIVE THE KING
Joelle King prepares to defend her Commonwealth Games’ title in Birmingham.
Serme Cover Girl
As one of the best players in resent years steps aside Squash Player revisits it’s cover feature on her.

Also see PSA news item here

The ROWE INTERVIEW
In the ROWE interview Rod Gilmour discovers how Paul Coll started in an isolated coastal town in New Zealand and rose to become World No.1.
 
Kennedy Moves Up
Richard Eaton talks to England’s fast rising star Gina Kennedy and her coach Ben Ford …
 
HRH PRINCE PHILIP’S LETTER
The original letter from HRH Prince Philip congratulating Squash Player magazine on its publication ...
PORTRAIT OF A REVOLUTIONARY 
The original Jonah Barrington interview from 1971 by racket sports doyen Rex Bellamy ...
PADEL: FRIEND OR FOE
Does the momentum and development of ‘new’ sport Padel complement squash or threaten it ...
Gaultier FINALLY QUITS
One year ago Gregory Gautlier, then 37 years old, staged the most improbable of comebacks as Richard Eaton explains ...
THE GREAT OUTDOORS
Can outdoor courts lead squash into a brighter future? Mike Dale asks those pioneering the game’s open-air revolution ...
ROONEY PAYS TRIBUTE
Mike Dale speaks to fast-rising English player Patrick Rooney in a very difficult period for the young Merseysider, his Pontefract stablemates and the whole squash community.
Maker of Champions
In a classic interview from its archives Squash Player goes back 10 years to reveal the brilliant career of Malcolm Willstrop who has just passed away ...
THE OPTIMISTIC PRESIDENT
World Squash President Zena Wooldridge explains her hopes for the Federation and the sport, to SP Editor Ian Mckenzie
STATE OF THE GAME -  The Reality for Clubs
Squash fan and experienced club entrepreneur Steve Lewis provides a realistic assessment of proprietary clubs
THINKING OUTSIDE THE BOX
Have we got this sport right? Is Wall Squash the answer? Ian Mckenzie and Phillip Marlowe say we need to think outside the box?
ASIAN CRISIS: Home or Away
With one player in the men’s and women’s top 20 world ranking players apiece, Asia is not pulling its weight on the PSA Tour. What is the problem? Alex Wan investigates. …
STATE OF THE GAME – Cherish our Coaches
Continuing the State of the Game series in Squash Player magazine Danny Lee gives his view on the position and status of our coaches. Do they make a difference really …

RAGING BULL
In this Squash Player feature controversial teenager Mostafa Asal tells Rod Gilmour he has no regrets following his infamous Egyptian Open clash with Paul Coll

'JANSHER IS MY INSPIRATION’
A key part of the rookie Egyptian’s squash education was the study of videotapes spanning Jansher Khan’s record-breaking 10 years as the global game’s ruler
FAREWELL RANEEM
Raneem el Welily is the cover star for our second issue of the year and esteemed squash writer Richard Eaton pays tribute to the popular 'Queen of Hearts'
The Podfather
Columnist Gerry Gibson gives us a peek behind the scenes of his weekly chat show with the game’s greatest characters …
Squash on Fire (PDF)
Anthony Lanier’s brilliant Squash on Fire club in Washington DC hosts World Teams
Azam’s Hall of Fame Tribute
Squash Player reproduces its Hall of Fame tribute to Azam Khan ...
OBITUARY: Andy Bunting
A goodbye to the much loved and fun-loving Andy Bunting. Bunting was for many years the Prince Player Manager.
 
EUROPE TAKES OVER
Profiles of two of Europe’s outstanding young players, Viktor Bytrus and Karina Tyma both European Junior Champions.
HALL OF FAME
Mahmoud el Karim joins the Squash Player Hall of Fame. He had a galvanising effect on the game during the early post-war era, after which his longer term influence upon compatriots who eventually created the most dominant squash nation of all time is also significant.
SQUASH PLAYER'S 2018 AWARDS
Rod Gilmour reveals the winners of our annual awards
CALL OUT THE ARMY
Ian McKenzie witnesses England’s young squash players on an unexpected training course – Operation Iron Racket
RODRIGUEZ VISUALISES THE PRIZE
Mike Dale speaks to Miguel Angel Rodriguez and the man who played a significant role in his astounding British Open victory, maverick mentor and mental coach Maxim P. Weithers
SQUASH PLAYER AWARDS
Rod Gilmour reveals the magazine's roll of honour for achievements in 2017, as well as looking back at the year’s highlights
James Zug interview
James Zug interviews Englishman Mark Allen about hosting the 2018 World Masters Squash Championships in the U.S.
Relaxation Key to World Title
In an article from the latest Squash Player magazine Raneem El Welily explains what is behind her world title win.
INTERACTIVE SQUASH
Rod Gilmour talks to German entrepreneur Markos Kern about his interactiveSquash invention and predicts it could be the sport’s future
MOHAMED MAKES CRISIS CALL
Rod Gilmour investigates the crisis call that put Mohamed ElShorbagy on the path to becoming World Champion
MY GAME
Laura Massaro talks about her game and her preparations for the World Championships
Wagih’s American Dream
In 2013 Egyptian National Coach Amir Wagih headed to Washington DC to help set up the Squash on Fire club. In 2019 it will host the Men’s World Team Championship. Here is the story of Wagih’s American Dream from the 2013 magazine
Fauvel Body-fixer for Nicol David
Ronald Fauvel, who recently passed away, was an integral part of Nicol David's team and her success. In this article from SP126 Rod Gilmour profiles the Canadian, examines his methods and looks at the unlikely relationship
POSITIVITY PAYS FOR PERRY
British Open finalist Sarah-Jane Perry tells Rod Gilmour how she has silenced the doubters by marching into the world top 10.
British Open Analysis
Top squash writer Richard Eaton analyses the significance of the 2017 Allam British Open Championships, especially with regard to the Women’s World Championship
How the Egyptians can be beaten
Mike Dale hears how England can end Egypt’s domination of the world game
 
Obituary - Mike Oddy
Rod Gilmour looks back at the life of Scottish squash
legend Mike Oddy
Photo of the Year
Readers select the magazine’s top photo for 2016
WSF president Jacques Fontaine
Richard Eaton speaks to new WSF president Jacques Fontaine about the initial aims of his reign
World Championship review
Richard Eaton savours the action as it’s Gawad and Egypt at the men’s world championships but what about the rest of the world he asks
Matthew sets new goals
Nick Matthew reveals his plans for an extended life in squash and the goals he has set
DUBAI DAZZLES
Part 1    Part 2

Rod Gilmour reports on a dazzling but surprising end to the 2015-16 PSA World Series
FROM THE GALLERY

Is it a balls-up or just a bit of fun? Ian Mckenzie looks at rackets, balls and the new England Squash logo.
Give your view here
TONY PARKER - THE GENTLEMAN REFEREE

Ian McKenzie looks back on the distinguished squash career of the WSF referee who died recently.
THE AMERICAN PRODIGY

Amanda Sobhy talks to James Zug about breaking into the world's top 10
 
BARKER'S NEXT CHAPTER

Rod Gilmour talks to Peter Barker about his retirement from the PSA Tour and his new role with England Squash

Letter from America

James Zug reviews the 2015 Squash Summit and looks at the new Public Squash initiative in the USA

A GREAT COACH

Ian McKenzie looks back on the life of legendary Egyptian coach Dardir El Barkary

THE LATE HERO

Greg Gaultier tells Richard Eaton how he became squash's oldest first-time world champion

PSA STOPPAGE PLAN

The PSA answer Squash Player's five key questions on stoppages

RAMY'S COURAGE

Triple world champion Ramy Ashour talks about his injury-plagued stop-start career to Richard Eaton

ROSNER MATURES (PDF)

Rod Gilmour talks to Simon Rosner about becoming Germany's top male player and breaking into the world's top 10

ANNUAL SQUASH PLAYER AWARDS

Squash Player announces its first annual awards in 10 separate categories

Champions Of the Future

Richard Eaton asks four leading coaches who will be the top 10 men in the future

NEW SQUASH PLAYER AWARDS

In Issue 6 Squash Player magazine launches its inaugural Player of the Month awards for October and November with accolades handed out to those men and women who performed outstandingly in September and October

KEYHOLE IS HIP FOR WILLSTROP

Simon Redfern speaks to Professor Max Fehily about the hip operation he performed on former world
no.1 James Willstrop, his rehabilitation and the options generally available to cure hip problems

WORTH’S CHALLENGE

Ian McKenzie interviews the new ESR CEO, Keir Worth, on the challenges facing the association

GOLDEN COMEBACK

Rod Gilmour tells the story of Nick Matthew’s journey from operating table to a gold medal performance in Glasgow

JUGGLING RACKETS

Doug Revolta reviews the new season's rackets and tries out a few that have caught his eye

GAULTIER KEEPING HIS COOL

In an exclusive interview with Rod Gilmour, world no.1 and new British Open champion Gregory Gaultier reveals how he has finally found inner calm and that he is now ready for another tilt at that elusive first world title

THE GREAT EXPERIMENT

Richard Eaton investigates professional squash's latest attempt to improve its image and make it more watchable, as well as garnering opinions from some of the game's top players on the latest rule changes

TEENAGER'S DREAM

Fares Dessouki, the latest teenage talent to emerge from Egypt, talks to Rod Gilmour about his part-time attempt to gatecrash the top table of men's squash

GUYANA'S SHINING LIGHT

In-form Guyanese no.1 Nicolette Fernandes speaks to Vanessa Atkinson about her recovery from an injury that almost ended her career and her rise into the world's top 20

GLASGOW LOWDOWN

Rod Gilmour provides all the background you need for squash's participation in this summer's Glasgow Games

SQUASH'S GAMES

Richard Eaton looks back at squash's journey through the Commonwealth Games since its debut in 1998

 

WIDE OPEN

Richard Eaton asks whether this could be the best British Open ever as he names seven potential winners of the titles and Alison Waters writes exclusively about why the Open is her favourite tournament

MASSARO’S MOMENT

Richard Eaton talks to Laura Massaro about her World Championship win and her bid to retain the British Open title, and to her coach, David Pearson, about the difference he has made 

DREW'S BALANCING ACT

Richard Eaton talks to Lee Drew about his new role as the PSA's director of referees

DAVID'S DAUNTING BURDEN

A home World Championship may not be ideal for defending champion Nicol David

THE NO.1 CHALLENGERS

Rod Gilmour looks at the possible future candidates for the women's world no.1 ranking

MATTHEW HAS NEW GOALS

Richard Eaton discovers Nick Matthew’s new ambitions for 2014 after his phenomenal finish to 2013

PERRY'S IMPRESSIVE RETURN

Sarah-Jane Perry tells Simon Redfern about her impressive comeback from a frightening back injury

OWEN ODDS-ON TO BE A SUCCESS

Rob Owen, the ex-world no.19 turned pro gambler, talks to Rod Gilmour about his squash coaching role and colleague Chris Ryder has some advice for the squash hierarchy

LEEDER OF THE PACK

Jade Leeder outlines the ups and downs of her job as England’s head physiotherapist to Dominic Bliss

THE YOUNG ONES

National coach Chris Robertson picks out four young England players to keep an eye on in the future and Rod Gilmour also looks at the latest crop of male talent 

ENGLISH COACHES' HIGH HOPES

ESR's high performance coaches were encouraged by English players' British Junior Open performances as Egypt again dominated in Sheffield 

THE EQUALITY DEBATE

James Willstrop examines the current debate on equal prize money from both historical and sporting perspectives, and praises the U.S. Open organisers for their stance on the issue

MATTHEW'S TREBLE

Ian McKenzie reports on a superb third world title for Nick Matthew in Manchester

 

STAR OF INDIA

Richard Eaton talks to Saurav Ghosal about becoming the first Indian to reach the World Championship quarter-finals and why he feels the best is yet to come

THE TROUBLE WITH RAMY

Ramy Ashour talks exclusively to Squash Player about the hamstring problems which have blighted his recent tournaments

Courting Disasters

After the brave experiment of staging the British Open outdoors, Richard Eaton looks back at squash's innovative attempts at finding new venues for events

Massaro's Mission

British Open champion Laura Massaro talks to Vanessa Atkinson about her bid to end Nicol David's seven-year reign at the head of the world rankings

My Life In Squash:
The Official Nick Matthew Biography

Matthew Prepares for Ramy Semi
As Nick Matthew prepares for a potential semi-final clash with world champion Ramy Ashour he remembers his greatest ever win in an extract from is new new book 'Sweating Blood: May Life in Squash."

The Marine’s Corps

Former world champion David Palmer explains to Rod Gilmour how he has transformed the fortunes of South African Steve Coppinger and Colombia’s Miguel Angel Rodriguez in his new role as a coach

Fitz-Gerald moves on

Five-time world champion Sarah Fitz-Gerald tells Richard Eaton about her new life in Australia during a rare visit to Britain recently

Wagih’s American Dream

Richard Eaton talks to former Egyptian national coach Amir Wagih about his new life and project in the USA

WHAT’S ENGLAND’S FUTURE?

Will the Golden Era of Nick Matthew, James Willstrop, Peter Barker, Laura Massaro, Jenny Duncalf and Alison Waters come to a shuddering end or is there more to come when they step aside. Richard Eaton investigates

RICHARD’S MOVES UP

Tom Richards KO’d before the Allam British Open is flirting with a top ten standing. Will he make it? Rod Gilmour reports

HEART OF THE MATTER

Dominic Bliss examines the issue of heart attacks in squash

Title chase wide open

Allam British Open Former world champion and no.1 Vanessa Atkinson looks forward to Nicol David’s title defence in Hull, where she expects the Malaysian to face a strong English challenge

Peruvian's Big  Future

 

Simon Redfern talks to Diego Elias, the first British Junior Open champion from Peru

 

Sky’s the limit

 

Rod Gilmour charts how Sky Sports’ much-praised coverage of the World Series

Finals began and calls on other broadcasters to match it

 

Mum’s the word for Shorbagys!

Basma El Shorbagy, mother and manager of talented Egyptian squash brothers Mohamed and Marwan, explains how she is plotting their route to the top

Federer backs the bid

Tennis great Roger Federer explains why he is supporting squash's bid for inclusion at the 2020 Olympics 

Womens Open  - David in Seventh Heaven

Richard Eaton looks back on a memorable 2012 women’s World Open in the Cayman Islands

 

 

My World Championship Diary
 

Rod Gilmour looks back at events off court at the Qatar Men's World Championship in Doha

 

WILLSTROP - Courting Success

James Willstrop outlines to Richard Eaton what a crucial part girlfriend Vanessa Atkinson has played in his rise to the top of world squash

 

 

West is best for Shorbagy

 

Rod Gilmour talks to surprise World Championship runner-up Mohamed El Shorbagy about his

stunning Doha displays and how the Egyptian has found an ideal base in the West Country

New Golan Heights

Richard Eaton reports on the extraordinary journey Spanish star Borja Golan has travelled to squash’s elite

 

David in Fast Lane

As she prepares to defend her world title, Nicol David talks to Rod Gilmour about her happy life off court in Amsterdam and how she relaxes

Head to Head

James Willstrop, the world no.1, and Nick Matthew, the
reigning world champion, face off in the build-up to the
Men’s World Championship, with Rod Gilmour posing the questions

Ramy’s Exorcism

In a wide-ranging interAgainst the Odds pdf that you omitted to provide.view, Egyptian genius Ramy Ashour talks to Alan Thatcher about his return to form, his challengers and his volatile home country

The Structural Integrator

Canadian Ronald Fauvel is the man who fixes Nicol David’s body when it is hurting. Rod Gilmour spoke to the former ice hockey goalie about his methods

AGAINST THE ODDS

Mike Lee, the man behind squash’s bid for inclusion in the 2020 Olympics, tells Rod Gilmour to ignore the bookies’ early favouritism for karate

Waters Close To High

Richard Eaton reports on Alison Waters' extraordinary
comeback from a career threatening Achilles tendon injury

BEHIND THE TROJAN

Rod Gilmour examines ‘Team Matthew’ – the men
behind the success of England’s double world champion,
Nick Matthew
 

Right Moves

Phil Newton reviews an excellent new book that will have an important place on the book shelf of very expert coach and aspiring player.’

Azam Khan, Greatest of them all?

The least-acclaimed of all the great squash Khans, Azam migh have been the greatest of them all, claims Ijaz Chaudhry in part one of a two-part article.

Tennis, Squash, Badminton, Table Tennis
How do the four racket sports compare?

Click to see
the full Richard Eaton article. An edited version appears in the 2007 issue 3 of the Squash Player Magazine

NICOL DAVID
undisputed world no.1.
Richard Eaton Talks to the World Champion
...


OLYMPIC GAMES:
A rich man's playground?
...
 

ASHOURED OF SUCCESS 

In the Hong Kong Open 18-year-old Ramy Ashour is starting  to fulfil his precocious talent beyond the expectation of most obververs with wins over - John White, Thierry Lincou and David Palmer...

WHO IS ALISON WATERS?

When Alison Waters (right) reached the final of the British nationals in 2005, losing to a rampant Linda Elriani, there must have been a lot of scratched heads around the country. Who is Alison Waters? ...

SQUASH SUFFERS POWER CUT

A Squash Player Magazine Article (Issue 2006/2)
by Martin Bronstein...

Squash Is The Healthiest Sport
say Forbes Magazine

New Novel of Squash Match 'Saturday' by Ian McEwan
The most read about squash match of the year

Exclusive excerpts of Ian McEwan's novel Saturday
Henry Perowne's squash match runs over eight pages

The indispensable magazine for serious Squash Players
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