Chris Walker (born 11 June 1967 in

Chelmsford Chelmsford () is a city in the City of Chelmsford district in the county of Essex, England. It is the county town of Essex and one of three cities in the county, along with Southend-on-Sea and Colchester. It is located north-east of London a ...

) is a male

squash Squash may refer to: Sports * Squash (sport), the high-speed racquet sport also known as squash racquets * Squash (professional wrestling), an extremely one-sided match in professional wrestling * Squash tennis, a game similar to squash but pla ...

coach and former 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 b ...

Squash career

Walker started playing squash when he was eight years old. At 18 years old he took a job as a computer programmer but decided to devote his time to Squash, selling his car to finance playing on the World Squash tour. At that time it was called the ISPA (International Squash Players Association) since renamed, and currently, the PSA (Professional Squash Association) tour. He reached a career high world ranking of 4. He reached the semi finals of the 1993 Men's World Open Squash Championship and the 1996 Men's World Open Squash Championship. He represented England in the 1991 Men's World Team Squash Championships (finishing runner-up) and the 1993 Men's World Team Squash Championships (third Place) In addition he was twice a winning team member in the

WSF World Team Squash Championships The WSF World Team Squash Championships are an international squash competition organised by the World Squash Federation (WSF) and played between teams representing different nations. Countries enter teams of three or four players to represent t ...

(1995 & 1997). He represented

, at the

1998 Commonwealth Games The 1998 Commonwealth Games ''(Malay: Sukan Komanwel 1998)'', officially known as the XVI Commonwealth Games ''(Malay: Sukan Komanwel ke-16)'', was a multi-sport event held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. This edition is marked by several unprecedent ...

Kuala Lumpur , anthem = '' Maju dan Sejahtera'' , image_map = , map_caption = , pushpin_map = Malaysia#Southeast Asia#Asia , pushpin_map_caption = , coordinates = , su ...

, Malaysia and won a bronze medal in the men's doubles with Mark Cairns. Four years later he won another bronze medal in the

mixed doubles Mixed doubles or mixed pairs is a form of mixed-sex sports that consists of teams of one man and one woman. This variation of competition is prominent in curling and racket sports, such as tennis, table tennis and badminton (where it is known as ...

at the

2002 Commonwealth Games The 2002 Commonwealth Games, officially known as the XVII Commonwealth Games and commonly known as Manchester 2002 were held in Manchester, England, from 25 July to 4 August, 2002. The 2002 Games were to be hosted in the United Kingdom to coin ...

with

Fiona Geaves Fiona Geaves (born 6 December 1967, in Gloucester, United Kingdom) is a former professional squash player from England. She played on the professional tour from 1987 to 2006, winning six tour titles, reaching a career-high ranking of World No. ...

. He finished runner-up at 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 th ...

2001 The September 11 attacks against the United States by Al-Qaeda, which Casualties of the September 11 attacks, killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror, were a defining event of 2001. The United States led a Participants in ...

and is currently the only person to have ever made it to the final of the event having played through the qualifying draw. He was England Captain and earned over 70 caps. He was also the World Doubles champion (with Mark Cairns), 1997 World Mixed Doubles champion (with Fiona Geaves), three European Individual champion (1995-1997) and part of the English team that won the European Team Championship 1990-2001.

Coaching and management

*1992-1999, Co-founder and eventual Manager of the British Squash Professionals Association *1993, Tournament Promoter of the Lancaster Rover Colchester Open, a World Ranking PSA event in Colchester, Essex *1993-1995, Board Member and Vice President of the Professional Squash Association (PSA) *1998-2004, Partner with

Peter Nicol Peter Nicol (born 5 April 1973) 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 ...

presenting squash exhibition matches and clinics around the United States to club players and juniors *2000-2002, Board Member of Manchester Commonwealth Games - involved at National level of the UK Competitors Association *2001, Moved to

Greenwich Greenwich ( , ,) is a town in south-east London, England, within the ceremonial county of Greater London. It is situated east-southeast of Charing Cross. Greenwich is notable for its maritime history and for giving its name to the Greenwich ...

, Connecticut, from

London London is the capital and 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 down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

to begin coaching *2001-2005, Author of 50 coaching articles for a monthly page in Squash Magazine (USA) *2004-2013, Men's US National Team CoachChampionships and Pan American games *2005, Co-Founder/Director of San Diego's Urban Squash Program now called Access Youth Academy *2007, Coach of US Men's and Women's US National Squash Team to the Pan Am Games in Rio de Janeiro *2005-2008, Founding partner of San Diego Squash *200, Coaching for the Spence School Varsity and JV team in Manhattan *2010-2013, CEO and Founder of Motion Sport Gear *2011, Team Leader/Manager and Coach Men's and Women's US National Squash team to the Pan American Games in Guadalajara, Mexico *2012-2013, Head Coach Girl's Varsity Squash Team at Hackley School, Tarrytown, New York *2012-2014, Manager of the Squash Club program at Poly Prep Country Day school in Brooklyn, New York

Hardball squash

*2007 St. Louis and Maryland Club Open champion (with Clive Leach); *2006 Tavern Club Invitational and 2007 Hashim Khan Invitational champion (with Viktor Berg); *Ranked world No. 1 on the pro doubles tour in autumn 2007 (with Clive Leach); *2006 North American Open and Kellner Cup finalist with

Viktor Berg Viktor Berg (born October 8, 1977 in Edmonton, Alberta) technically in Estonia and Finland ''count Viktor Berg de Sangaste'', is a Finnish-origin professional male squash player who represented Canada during his career. He reached a career-high w ...

; *2009 Jim Bentley Cup finalist (with Clive Leach), *2009 U. S. Pro Challenger champion with

Mark Chaloner Mark Anthony Chaloner (born 23 May 1972, in Nocton, Lincolnshire) is a male retired professional squash player from England. Squash career Chaloner was a member of the England team which won the World Team Squash Championships in 1995, and reac ...

; *2011 National hardball singles champion and ISDA Players Championship. *2013 US National Championship, Winner 2011

Personal life

His wife

Nayelly Hernández Nayelly Hernández (born 23 February 1986) is a Mexican former professional squash player. She has represented Mexico internationally in several international competitions including the Central American and Caribbean Games, Pan American Games, W ...

whose nationality is Mexican is also a professional squash player and currently runs a company called Squash Solutions, teaching juniors out of several different locations in the New York and Connecticut area.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Walker, Chris 1967 births Living people English male squash players Commonwealth Games bronze medallists for England Commonwealth Games medallists in squash Squash players at the 1998 Commonwealth Games Squash players at the 2002 Commonwealth Games