Janet Rachael Margaret Morgan (later known by her married name, Janet Shardlow) (1921–1990) was an

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

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 dominated the game in the 1950s. She won 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 ...

on ten consecutive occasions and was the sport's most famous player until the rise of Heather McKay. Born in

Wandsworth Wandsworth Town () is a district of south London, within the London Borough of Wandsworth southwest of Charing Cross. The area is identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London. Toponymy Wandsworth takes its nam ...

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, 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 dow ...

, Morgan was originally a

tennis Tennis is a racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent ( singles) or between two teams of two players each ( doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket that is strung with cord to strike a hollow rubber ball ...

player who played for Britain in the

Wightman Cup The Wightman Cup was an annual team tennis competition for women contested from 1923 through 1989 (except during World War II) between teams from the United States and Great Britain. History U.S. player Hazel Hotchkiss Wightman wanted to generate ...

in 1946. She quickly turned to squash and in 1948 and 1949 was a losing finalist against Joan Curry. In 1950 she won her first British Open title, beating Curry in the final. She went on to win the trophy for the next ten successive years through to 1959. Before the 1959 British Open Morgan announced that she would retire after the competition due to medical advice because she had suffered from persistent back injuries. Following the tenth victory and retirement she married Roland Horcae “Joe” Bisley later that year in 1959 in London. She became the first chairwoman of the Women's Squash Association soon after and was appointed MBE in 1961. Following the death of her husband Joe she married for a second time in 1965 to Ambrose Shardlow. Morgan also competed as a tennis player in the

Wimbledon Championships The Wimbledon Championships, commonly known simply as Wimbledon, is the oldest tennis tournament in the world and is widely regarded as the most prestigious. It has been held at the All England Club in Wimbledon, London, since 1877 and is pla ...

from 1946 until 1957. In the singles event her best result was reaching the third round on four occasions (1946, 1947, 1954 and 1955). In 1962 a young Australian called Heather Blundell flew to Britain for the first time and stayed with Janet and her husband Joe and became a close friend. Her relationship with Janet Morgan helped her achieve great success. Morgan wrote a book in 1953 entitled ''Squash rackets for women'' and has been inducted in the Squash Hall of Fame.

British Open results

* 1948: runner-up (lost to Joan Curry 9–5 9–0 9-10 6–9 10–8) * 1949: runner-up (lost to Joan Curry 2–9 9–3 10-8 9–0) *

1950 Events January * January 1 – The International Police Association (IPA) – the largest police organization in the world – is formed. * January 5 – Sverdlovsk plane crash: ''Aeroflot'' Lisunov Li-2 crashes in a snowstorm. All 19 ...

: won (beat Joan Curry 9–4 9–3 9–0) *

1951 Events January * January 4 – Korean War: Third Battle of Seoul – Chinese and North Korean forces capture Seoul for the second time (having lost the Second Battle of Seoul in September 1950). * January 9 – The Government of the United ...

: won (beat Joan Curry 9–1 2–9 9–3 9–4) *

1952 Events January–February * January 26 – Black Saturday in Egypt: Rioters burn Cairo's central business district, targeting British and upper-class Egyptian businesses. * February 6 ** Princess Elizabeth, Duchess of Edinburgh, becomes m ...

: won (beat Joan Curry 9–3 9–1 9–5) *

1953 Events January * January 6 – The Asian Socialist Conference opens in Rangoon, Burma. * January 12 – Estonian émigrés found a government-in-exile in Oslo. * January 14 ** Marshal Josip Broz Tito is chosen President of Yug ...

: won (beat Marjorie Townsend 9–4 9–2 9–4) * 1954: won (beat Sheila Speight 9–3 9–1 9–7) * 1955: won (beat Ruth Turner 9–5 9–3 9–6) *

1956 Events January * January 1 – The Anglo-Egyptian Condominium ends in Sudan. * January 8 – Operation Auca: Five U.S. evangelical Christian missionaries, Nate Saint, Roger Youderian, Ed McCully, Jim Elliot and Pete Fleming, ar ...

: won (beat Sheila Speight 9–6 9–4 9–2) *

1957 1957 ( MCMLVII) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar, the 1957th year of the Common Era (CE) and ''Anno Domini'' (AD) designations, the 957th year of the 2nd millennium, the 57th year of the 20th century, and the 8th year ...

: won (beat Sheila Speight 4–9 9–5 9–1 9–6) *

1958 Events January * January 1 – The European Economic Community (EEC) comes into being. * January 3 – The West Indies Federation is formed. * January 4 ** Edmund Hillary's Commonwealth Trans-Antarctic Expedition completes the third ...

: won (beat Sheila Macintosh née Speight 9–2 9–4 9–2) *

1959 Events January * January 1 - Cuba: Fulgencio Batista flees Havana when the forces of Fidel Castro advance. * January 2 - Lunar probe Luna 1 was the first man-made object to attain escape velocity from Earth. It reached the vicinity of E ...

: won (beat Sheila Macintosh née Speight 9–4 9–1 9–5)

References

External links

Official British Open Squash Championships website

{{DEFAULTSORT:Morgan, Janet 1921 births 1990 deaths English female squash players English female tennis players People from Wandsworth British female tennis players Tennis people from Greater London