Georgina Kennedy (born 3 April 1997) is an English 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. In August 2022,

ranked A ranking is a relationship between a set of items such that, for any two items, the first is either "ranked higher than", "ranked lower than" or "ranked equal to" the second. In mathematics, this is known as a weak order or total preorder of ...

number 8

in the world ''In the World'' is an album by jazz saxophonist Clifford Jordan which was recorded in 1969 and released on the Strata-East label in 1972. The album was rereleased on CD as part of ''The Complete Clifford Jordan Strata-East Sessions'' by Mosaic Re ...

, she became the first Englishwoman to win a

Commonwealth Games The Commonwealth Games, often referred to as the Friendly Games or simply the Comm Games, are a quadrennial international multi-sport event among athletes from the Commonwealth of Nations. The event was first held in 1930, and, with the exce ...

squash singles title. In September 2023, Kennedy achieved her highest world ranking to date: number 6.

Early life

Raised in

Beckenham Beckenham () is a town in Greater London, England, within the London Borough of Bromley, in Greater London. Until 1965 it was part of the historic county of Kent. It is located south-east of Charing Cross, situated north of Elmers End and E ...

in southeast London, Kennedy attended

Langley Park School for Girls Langley Park School for Girls (also known as Langley Park Girls' School, LPGS, or just Langley Girls) is a girls' secondary academy school in Beckenham in the London Borough of Bromley, England, with a mixed-sex sixth form. The school motto ...

and was a promising runner, ranked number one in England for the

1500 metres The 1500 metres or 1,500-metre run (typically pronounced 'fifteen-hundred metres') is the foremost middle distance track event in athletics. The distance has been contested at the Summer Olympics since 1896 and the World Championships in Athletic ...

at U12 level, and training with sprint star

Dina Asher-Smith Geraldina "Dina" Rachel Asher-Smith, (; born 4 December 1995) is a British sprinter. She is the fastest British woman on record. She won a gold medal in the 200 metres, silver in the 100 metres and another silver in the 4×100 m relay a ...

at Blackheath and Bromley Harriers. However, having first played squash at the age of nine, she later, aged 13, decided to focus on squash, playing for the Parklangley club.

Career

In 2015, Kennedy reached the quarter-finals of the 2015 Women's World Junior Squash Championships, and won the European under-19 squash championships in

Prague Prague ( ; cs, Praha ; german: Prag, ; la, Praga) is the capital and largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 million people. The city has a temperate ...

. Until 2020, Kennedy divided her time between squash and studying at

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...

where she co-captained the university's Howe Cup-winning women’s team, and won the US National Collegiate Individual Championship (Ramsay Cup) three times, in 2017, 2019 and 2020. In February 2020, she was awarded the 2020 College Squash Association's '' Betty Richey Award'', one of the biggest honours in US college squash. Following a suspension of competitive squash tournaments during 2020 due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

, Kennedy began a run of 50 out of 55 tour wins, 11 finals and nine titles in one year. In February 2021, ranked 167 in the world, she reached the final of the English Squash Championships, losing to World No.6

Sarah-Jane Perry Sarah-Jane Perry (born 15 May 1990 in Birmingham) is a professional squash player who represents England and Great Britain. She reached a career-high world ranking of World No. 5 in July 2020. Education Perry was educated at Kenilworth School ...

. In September 2021, she won the Scottish Open. Then, ranked 51 in the world, Kennedy reached her first

PSA PSA, PsA, Psa, or psa may refer to: Biology and medicine * Posterior spinal artery * Primary systemic amyloidosis, a disease caused by the accumulation of abnormal proteins * Prostate-specific antigen, an enzyme used as a blood tracer for pros ...

World Tour final in October 2021, losing 3-0 to World No.2

Nouran Gohar Nouran Ahmed Gohar ( ar, نوران أحمد جوهر; born 30 September 1997 in Egypt) is a professional squash player who represents Egypt. She reached a career-high world ranking of No. 1 in July 2020. Career She lifted her first Tour title a ...

in the DAC Pro Squash Classic in

Detroit Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at th ...

. In June 2022, Kennedy was nominated for the PSA World Tour Women's Player of the Season, having risen from World No.170 to break into the top ten in April 2022, won her first PSA World Tour title in the Bronze-level

Cleveland Classic The Cleveland Squash Classic is an annual women's squash tournament that takes place in Cleveland, Ohio, United States in February. It is part of the PSA World Tour. The event was named "Burning River Squash Classic" from 2007 to 2010. Past Re ...

and reached the last 16 of four Platinum tournaments and the

World Squash Championships The World Squash Championships are squash events for men and women organised by the Professional Squash Association. The men's event was first held in 1976 in London, England and the women's was inaugurated in 1976 in Brisbane, Australia. Overv ...

. Her rapid rise to prominence earned comparisons with fellow Parklangley member, tennis player

Emma Raducanu Emma Raducanu (born 13 November 2002) is a British professional tennis player. She reached a career-high ranking of No. 10 by the Women's Tennis Association (WTA) on 11 July 2022, and is the current British No. 1. Raducanu is the first British ...

. On 3 August 2022, Kennedy won gold in the

2022 Commonwealth Games The 2022 Commonwealth Games, officially known as the XXII Commonwealth Games and commonly known as Birmingham 2022, was an international multi-sport event for members of the Commonwealth of Nations that took place in Birmingham, England bet ...

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the West ...

, beating England team-mate (and eventual bronze medallist) Perry in a semi-final and then beating Canada's

Hollie Naughton Hollie Naughton, (born October 21, 1994, in Barnsley) is a Canadian professional squash player. She reached a career-high world ranking of World No. 16 in January 2022. In 2016, she won her first Canadian Nationals title. She competed at the 2015 ...

in the final to become the first Englishwoman to win a Commonwealth squash singles title. Paired with Patrick Rooney and Lucy Turmel respectively, Kennedy also competed 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 ...

and women's doubles events. In May 2023, she reached the quarter final of the 2023 PSA Women's World Squash Championship, before losing to number 2 seed

Nour El Sherbini Nour El Sherbini ( ar, نور الشربيني; born 1 November 1995) is an Egyptian professional squash player. She is a six time World champion and became the youngest woman to win the Women's World Championship (2015). In 2016, she retained h ...

. In September 2023, Kennedy achieved her highest world ranking to date: No. 6.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kennedy, Georgina 1997 births Living people Sportspeople from Beckenham English female squash players Harvard Crimson women's squash players Commonwealth Games competitors for England Commonwealth Games gold medallists for England Commonwealth Games medallists in squash Squash players at the 2022 Commonwealth Games Medallists at the 2022 Commonwealth Games