Michael Oddy (1937–2016) was a squash player from

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

. He was one of the game's leading players in the 1960s. He played in an era where the sport was dominated by great players from

Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...

(such as Azam Khan,

Roshan Khan Roshan Khan (Pashto / ur, ; 26 November 1929 – 6 January 2006) was a squash player from Nawakille, Peshawar, Pakistan. He was one of the leading players in the game in the early-1960s, and won the British Open title in 1957.

, Mo Khan and

Aftab Jawaid Aftab Jawaid (also transliterated Aftab Javed; ur, آفتاب جاوید) is a former squash player from Pakistan, who was one of the game's leading players in the 1960s. He won the British Amateur championship three times (in 1963, 1964 and 1965) ...

) and

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediter ...

(such as A.A. AbouTaleb and Ibrahim Amin). Oddy was one of the few British players to provide as consistent challenge to the dominant Asian and African players of his era. He was runner-up to A.A. AbouTaleb at the 1964

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 ...

(which was considered to be effective world championship of the sport at the time), and won the British Amateur Championship in 1960 and 1961. He was born in

Hawick Hawick ( ; sco, Haaick; gd, Hamhaig) is a town in the Scottish Borders council area and historic county of Roxburghshire in the east Southern Uplands of Scotland. It is south-west of Jedburgh and south-south-east of Selkirk. It is one of ...

, Scotland and after Rugby School joined Ballantyne Knitwear, which became part of Baird Plc. He moved to Leicester to take up the role of managing director of Pantherella Fine English Socks, taking the business public onto the USM and then through its sale to Great Universal Stores (GUS Plc) before retiring. He had a lifelong passion for flat racing, never missing a King George race day at Ascot for 59 years. He was delighted when through his membership of the Royal Ascot Racing Club he had a share in the Derby Winner Motivator in 2005. Mike died on 19 November 2016.

References

Scottish male squash players 1937 births 2016 deaths {{UK-squash-bio-stub