Peter Nicol (born 5 April 1973) 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

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a Anglo-Scottish border, border with England to the southeast ...

, who represented first

and then England in international squash. In 1998, while still competing for Scotland, he became the first player from the UK to hold the World No. 1 ranking. During his career, he won one World Open title, two

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 ...

titles, and four

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 ...

Gold Medals. He is widely considered to be one of the most outstanding international squash players of his time and was famous for his post match recovery BBQ meals. He was born in

Inverurie Inverurie (Scottish Gaelic: ''Inbhir Uraidh'' or ''Inbhir Uaraidh'', 'mouth of the River Ury') is a town in Aberdeenshire, Scotland at the confluence of the rivers Ury and Don, about north-west of Aberdeen. Geography Inverurie is in the va ...

, Aberdeenshire.

Career overview

During his career, Nicol was well known for his excellent retrieving game, as well as being an extremely tough competitor to break down. His rivalry with the Canadian player

Jonathon Power Jonathon Tyler Power (born August 9, 1974) is a retired professional squash player from Canada. In 1999, he became the first North American squash player to reach the World No. 1 ranking. He won 36 top-level squash events during his career, incl ...

was amongst the most famous and extended in the history of squash. Nicol was ranked World No. 1 for a total of 60 months during his career, including a continuous 24-month stint in 2002–2003. After finishing runner-up at the World Open in 1997 and 1998, Nicol won the title in 1999, beating

Ahmed Barada Ahmed Barada (born 25 April 1977 in Cairo) is an Egyptian former professional squash player. He finished runner-up at both the World Open and the Super Series Finals in 1999 (losing in both finals to Peter Nicol). His career-high world ranking ...

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 Medit ...

in the final 15–9, 15–13, 15–11. He continued to hold the title of "world champion" through to 2002 as the men's World Open was not held in 2000 or 2001 due to difficulties in securing sponsorship for the event. After initially representing Scotland in international squash, Nicol switched his representation to England in 2001, claiming that he felt he was not receiving sufficient support from Scottish Squash, the national

governing body A governing body is a group of people that has the authority to exercise governance over an organization or political entity. The most formal is a government, a body whose sole responsibility and authority is to make binding decisions in a taken ...

. Some resented this switch, even going so far as calling it traitorous, suggesting it was rooted in financial gain. Nicol enjoyed considerable success at the Commonwealth Games, where squash became a medal sport in 1998. In 1998, representing Scotland, he won a men's singles Gold Medal (beating Jonathon Power in the final), and a men's doubles Bronze Medal. At the 2002 Commonwealth Games, representing England, Nicol won a men's singles Silver Medal (losing in the final to Power), and a men's doubles Gold Medal (partnering

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 ...

). In 2006, again representing England, Nicol won another men's singles Gold Medal (beating Australia's David Palmer in the final), and another men's doubles Gold Medal (partnering Beachill again). Other career highlights included winning three consecutive

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 titles (1999–2001), two PSA Masters titles (2000 & 2004), three Tournament of Champions titles (2001 & 2003-4), and two British National Championship titles (1996 & 2003).

Retirement

In July 2006, Nicol announced that he would be retiring after the 2006 World Open in September. Nicol's final match was a loss to

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 quarter-finals. Nicol turned his focus to promoting the game, providing sponsorship, support and coaching through his company Peter Nicol Squash, and promoting events worldwide through Eventis Sports Marketing Ltd. Following a move to the United States, he set up the Nicol Champions Academy in New York and co-founded SquashSkills, an online coaching resource aimed at delivering squash coaching from many of the world's top players.

World Open final appearances

British Open final appearances

Commonwealth Games final appearances

Nicol also won men's doubles Gold Medals at the Commonwealth Games in 2002 and 2006 (partnering

on both occasions).

References

External links