David Troy Palmer (born 28 June 1976 in
Lithgow,
New South Wales) is a retired 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 from
Australia. He won the
Super Series
The Super Series were exhibition games between Soviet teams and NHL teams that took place on the NHL opponents' home ice in North America from 1976 to 1991. The Soviet teams were usually club teams from the Soviet hockey league. The exception ...
finals in 2002, the
World Open in 2002 and 2006; the
British Open in 2001, 2003, 2004 and 2008; and the
Australian Open
The Australian Open is a tennis tournament held annually at Melbourne Park in Melbourne, Australia. The tournament is the first of the four Grand Slam tennis events held each year, preceding the French Open, Wimbledon, and the US Open. ...
in 2008. He attained World No. 1 ranking in September 2001 and again (for one month) in February 2006.
Career overview
At the 2018 Gold Coast Commonwealth Games, Palmer won a Gold Medal with partner Zac Alexander in the men's doubles. At the
2006 Commonwealth Games
The 2006 Commonwealth Games, officially the XVIII Commonwealth Games and commonly known as Melbourne 2006 (Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm 2006'' or ''Naarm 2006''), was an international multi-sport event for members of the Commonwealth held ...
, Palmer won a men's singles Silver Medal after losing in the final to
England's
Peter Nicol. At the same 2006 Commonwealth Games he also won Bronze Medals in the men's doubles (partner Dan Jensen) and the mixed doubles (partner Rachael Grinham). In 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 ...
he won Bronze Medals in both the men's singles and the men's doubles (partner Paul Price).
In technical terms, Palmer plays a classic all-court attrition game with hard-hitting attacking shots from his opponent's loose shots. He is known for the power of his striking, and the strength of his physical play, contributed to by rigorous attention to fitness. His training regime involves completing the
multi-stage fitness test
The multi-stage fitness test (MSFT), also known as the beep test, bleep test, PACER (Progressive Aerobic Cardiovascular Endurance Run), PACER test, FitnessGram PACER test, or the 20 m Shuttle Run Test (20 m SRT), is a running test used to estimate ...
five times with a three-minute break between tests.
Palmer has served as president of the
Professional Squash Association (PSA). Following the 2004
World Doubles Squash Championships in
Chennai
Chennai (, ), formerly known as Madras (List of renamed Indian cities and states#Tamil Nadu, the official name until 1996), is the capital city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost states and territories of India, Indian state. The largest city ...
,
India, he was banned from playing in events run by the
World Squash Federation
The World Squash Federation (WSF) is the international federation for squash, an indoor racket sport which was formerly called "squash rackets". The WSF is recognised by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) as the International Federation ...
(WSF) for 13 months after a disciplinary panel found him guilty of verbally abusing the referee.
In 2009, Palmer was approached by the
Wallabies
A wallaby () is a small or middle-sized macropod native to Australia and New Guinea, with introduced populations in New Zealand, Hawaii, the United Kingdom and other countries. They belong to the same taxonomic family as kangaroos and som ...
coach
Robbie Deans
Robert Maxwell Deans (born 4 September 1959) is a New Zealand rugby union coach and former player, currently the head coach of Japanese club Panasonic Wild Knights. He was head coach of the Australian national team between 2008 and 2013. Deans ha ...
to help increase his team fitness.
Following his retirement as a professional squash player in 2011, Palmer maintained his status as a successful, high-level coach at his David Palmer Squash Academy in Orlando, Florida. In November 2016, Palmer made his college squash coaching debut as he was named The James Broadhead '57 Head Coach of Squash at
Cornell University
Cornell University is a private statutory land-grant research university based in Ithaca, New York. It is a member of the Ivy League. Founded in 1865 by Ezra Cornell and Andrew Dickson White, Cornell was founded with the intention to teac ...
. Palmer now leads both the men's and women's squash team at Cornell University in
Ithaca, New York.
World Open final appearances
2 titles & 1 runner-up
Major
World Series
The World Series is the annual championship series of Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, contested since 1903 between the champion teams of the American League (AL) and the National League (NL). The winner of the Wor ...
final appearances
British Open: 4 finals (4 titles, 0 runner-up)
Hong Kong Open: 1 final (1 title, 0 runner-up)
Qatar Classic
The Qatar Classic is an annual international squash tournament that takes place in Doha, Qatar
Qatar (, ; ar, قطر, Qaṭar ; local vernacular pronunciation: ), officially the State of Qatar,) is a country in Western Asia. It occupie ...
: 4 finals (0 title, 4 runner-up)
US Open: 3 finals (1 title, 2 runner-up)
Commonwealth Games final appearances
Total medals won, 1 Gold, 1 Silver, 4 Bronze
Career statistics
Singles performance timeline (since 1999)
''To prevent confusion and double counting, information in this table is updated only once a tournament or the player's participation in the tournament has concluded.''
''Note:'' NA = Not Available
See also
*
Official Men's Squash World Ranking
References
External links
*
*
*
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Palmer, David
1976 births
Living people
Australian male squash players
Commonwealth Games gold medallists for Australia
Commonwealth Games silver medallists for Australia
Commonwealth Games bronze medallists for Australia
Commonwealth Games medallists in squash
Squash players at the 2002 Commonwealth Games
Squash players at the 2006 Commonwealth Games
Squash players at the 2010 Commonwealth Games
Squash players at the 2014 Commonwealth Games
Squash players at the 2018 Commonwealth Games
Recipients of the Medal of the Order of Australia
Sportsmen from New South Wales
People from the Central Tablelands
Cornell Big Red men's squash coaches