Grégory Gaultier (born 23 December 1982, in

Épinal Épinal (; german: Spinal) is a commune in northeastern France and the prefecture of the Vosges department. Geography The commune has a land area of . It is situated on the river Moselle, south of Nancy. Épinal station has rail connection ...

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

) is a former 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 France. He has won the 2015 World Open Squash Championship, 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 ...

three times, in 2007, 2014 and 2017, the

Qatar Classic The Qatar Classic is an annual international squash tournament that takes place in Doha, Qatar in October or November. The event was re-established in 2001. Between 1992 and 1997, the tournament was formerly known as the Qatar International. The ...

2011 File:2011 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: a protester partaking in Occupy Wall Street heralds the beginning of the Occupy movement; protests against Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi, who was killed that October; a young man celebrate ...

, the US Open twice, in 2006 and

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, the Tournament of Champions in 2009, and the

PSA World Series Finals The PSA World Tour Finals is the end of season championship of the PSA World Tour of male and female professional squash players. The top eight players in the current PSA World Tour is qualified for the event. The eight players compete in two ...

thrice, in 2008, 2009 and 2016. He reached the final of the World Open in

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and

, and the World No. 1 ranking in 2009. Gaultier is affectionately known to his friends as The General.

Career overview

Gaultier was the European junior squash champion in 2000 and 2001. He also won a British Junior Open title and finished as the runner-up at the

World Junior Squash Championships The World Junior Squash championships are the official junior tournament in the game of squash conducted by the World Squash Federation (WSF). Entry is open to individuals aged 19 and below. Since its inception the world juniors has been held bie ...

. In 2003, Gaultier was a member of the French team which finished runners-up to

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

at the

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 ...

. In the semi-finals against

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, Gaultier won the deciding match against

Lee Beachill Lee Beachill (born 28 November 1977 in Huddersfield, United Kingdom) is a former World No. 1 squash player from England. Beachill reached the World No. 1 ranking in October 2004. He also finished runner-up at the World Open that year. Beachi ...

which took France through to the final. At the 2006 World Open, Gaultier defeated World No. 1 and defending-champion

Amr Shabana Amr Shabana (; born 20 July 1979 in Cairo) is a former professional squash player from Egypt. He won the World Open in 2003, 2005, 2007 and 2009, and reached the World No. 1 ranking in 2006. He represented the winning Egyptian team in the 1999 ...

in the semi-finals, before losing in five games in the final to David Palmer 11–9, 11–9, 9–11, 10–11 (4–6), 2–11. In

, Gaultier again reached the World Open final, losing 7–11, 4–11, 6–11 to Shabana. At the 2007

, Gaultier defeated his fellow Frenchman

Thierry Lincou Thierry Lincou (born 2 April 1976, in La Réunion) is a retired professional squash player from France. He reached the World No. 1 ranking in January 2004. That year, Lincou won the World Open title, the Hong Kong Open and the Super Series Fi ...

in the final 11–4, 10–12, 11–6, 11–3. He became the first French winner of the

. At the 2009 Tournament of Champions, Gaultier defeated the world No.1 Karim Darwish in the semifinal, and beat

Nick Matthew Nicholas Matthew (born 25 July 1980 in Sheffield) is a former English professional squash player who has won the two most prestigious tournaments in the professional game, the British Open and the World Open, three times each. He reached a c ...

in the final with a score 11–9, (2–11), 11–8, 11–4. He is the only Frenchman to have won the title. Gaultier moved to the top of the world ranking in November 2009, a feat achieved after losing in the final of the Hong Kong Open a month earlier. In 2009 he became the second French player to become world no 1. Gaultier has since won the

and reached the semi-finals of the J.P. Morgan Tournament of Champions, and later won the Case Swedish Open after dispatching Karim Darwish in the finals. In 2013 he was Gold medalist of the

World Games The World Games are an international multi-sport event comprising sports and sporting disciplines that are not contested in the Olympic Games. They are usually held every four years, one year after a Summer Olympic Games, over the course of 11 d ...

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against

Simon Rösner Simon Rösner (born 5 November 1987 in Würzburg) is a German former professional squash player. He broke the Top 10 in the PSA World Rankings for the first time in November 2014, going on to become the highest-ranked male German player of all ...

in the final. He won the US Open against

11–4, 11–5, 11–5. Two weeks later, he reached the

World Championship A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game, ...

final for the fourth time, losing again 11–9, 11–9, 11–13, 7-11, 11–2 to

. In February 2014 he once again reached the top of the World Ranking, but again only for a month, as was the case in November 2009. One month later, in March, he won the Metro Squash Windy City Open, another

PSA World Series The PSA World Series (formerly known as the PSA Super Series) was a series of men's and women's squash tournaments which were part of the Professional Squash Association (PSA) World Tour for the squash season. The tournaments were some of the mo ...

tournament in the University Club of Chicago beating the apparently injured

Ramy Ashour Ramy Mohamed Ashour (born September 30, 1987, in Cairo, Egypt), known as Ramy Ashour (), is a retired professional squash player from Egypt, widely regarded as one of the best squash players in the history of the sport. He became the youngest pla ...

in the final 11–7, 11–3, 11–4. In April he reached World Number 1 ranking for the third time.
In May he won the

for the second time beating

in a very quick final 11–3, 11–6, 11–2. In October 2021 Gaultier announced his retirement from the

PSA World Tour Sports competitions that are a recurring series of events or races, but do not constitute a sports league. Series Sports Sport pertains to any form of competitive physical activity or game that aims to use, maintain, or improve physical ...

World Open final appearances

1 title & 4 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 World ...
final appearances

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 ...
: 5 finals (3 titles, 2 runner-up)

Tournament of Champions: 4 finals (1 title, 3 runner-up)

Hong Kong Open: 5 finals (0 title, 5 runner-up)

Qatar Classic The Qatar Classic is an annual international squash tournament that takes place in Doha, Qatar in October or November. The event was re-established in 2001. Between 1992 and 1997, the tournament was formerly known as the Qatar International. The ...
: 3 finals (1 title, 2 runner-up)

US Open: 4 finals (3 titles, 1 runner-up)

References

External links

* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Gaultier, Gregory 1982 births Living people Sportspeople from Épinal French male squash players World Games gold medalists Competitors at the 2013 World Games World Games medalists in squash