Derek Ryan (born 10 December 1969) is a retired

Irish Irish may refer to: Common meanings * Someone or something of, from, or related to: ** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe ***Éire, Irish language name for the isle ** Northern Ireland, a constituent unit ...

professional

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 ...

player who at the peak of his career rose to No. 7 in the world rankings, and for many years was the Irish men's number 1 player. Ryan was born in

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of th ...

. He began playing squash along with his brother Noel, as his parents both played. Living in Killiney he played at various local clubs including ''Squash Ireland'' and from the age of 14 he played league squash with Sandycove TSC. Ryan was ranked first in Ireland by the age of 19. He completed his school Leaving Certificate and decided to study

accountancy Accounting, also known as accountancy, is the measurement, processing, and communication of financial and non financial information about economic entities such as businesses and corporations. Accounting, which has been called the "language ...

which he discontinued after a year. Aged 19 he decided to play professionally and in 1991 he moved to

Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...

. After a successful international career as a professional player, including appearing a record 188 times for the Irish national team, he retired from the professional circuit in 2002. He continued to play national squash with Fitzwilliam, the current Irish champions, and studied

physiotherapy Physical therapy (PT), also known as physiotherapy, is one of the allied health professions. It is provided by physical therapists who promote, maintain, or restore health through physical examination, diagnosis, management, prognosis, patient ...

at the

University of Salford , caption = Coat of ArmsUniversity of Salford , mottoeng = "Let us seek higher things" , established = 1850 - Pendleton Mechanics Institute 1896 – Royal Technical Institute, Salford 1967 – gained ...

. Ryan now practices as a physiotherapist in Dublin. In 2008 he played the then current world number 2

Grégory Gaultier Grégory Gaultier (born 23 December 1982, in Épinal, France) is a former professional squash player from France. He has won the 2015 World Open Squash Championship, the British Open three times, in 2007, 2014 and 2017, the Qatar Classic in 201 ...

in his testimonial match. Ryan currently plays at Irish number 2 and has reached 200 caps for his country. He plays below Arthur Gaskin, the world number 80 and considered to be one of the greatest coaches in Britain.

References

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* * * 1969 births Living people Sportspeople from County Dublin Alumni of the University of Salford Irish physiotherapists Irish male squash players World Games silver medalists Competitors at the 1997 World Games Health professionals from County Dublin People from Killiney {{Ireland-squash-bio-stub