Charles Richard Read (1 March 1889 – date of death unknown) was a professional squash player from

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...

, where professional squash began in 1907. Read was based at the

Queen's Club The Queen's Club is a private sporting club in West Kensington, London, England. The club hosts the annual Queen's Club Championships men's grass court lawn tennis tournament (currently known as the "cinch Championships" for sponsorship r ...

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

, and beat C. Bannister of the Bath Club 15–5, 15–13 at the Bath Club to win the first English professional championship title. Read then defended his title as English champion three more times until 1928. Read was born in Kensington, London to Alfred, a whitesmith, and Clara Read.''1891 England Census'' When the

British Open The Open Championship, often referred to as The Open or the British Open, is the oldest golf tournament in the world, and one of the most prestigious. Founded in 1860, it was originally held annually at Prestwick Golf Club in Scotland. Later ...

men's championship was instituted in 1930, Read was officially designated the first title holder, and thus played in the first final as the 'defending champion'. The 41-year-old Read, however, lost the inaugural final series, played in home and away legs, 6–9, 5–9, 5–9 and 3–9, 5–9, 3–9 in December 1930 to the 25-year-old challenger Don Butcher, a professional player from the Conservative Club in

. Read was a versatile sportsman, having also been British professional champion at Lawn Tennis and

Rackets Racket may refer to: * Racket (crime), a systematised element of organized crime ** Protection racket, a scheme whereby a group provides protection to businesses or other groups through violence outside the sanction of the law * Racket (sports equ ...

References

External links

History of Squash article at Worldsquash.org
1889 births Year of death missing Sportspeople from Kensington English male squash players English male tennis players Professional tennis players before the Open Era {{England-squash-bio-stub