Ross William Norman (born 7 January 1959) 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

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

. He is best remembered for winning the World Open in 1986, when he beat

Jahangir Khan Jahangir Khan (Pashto/ ur, جهانگير خان born 10 December 1963) is a former World No. 1 professional Pakistani squash player. He won the World Open title six times , and the British Open title ten times (1982-1991). Jahangir Khan is w ...

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 ...

in the final 9-5, 9-7, 7-9, 9-1. The win marked the end of an unbeaten run for Khan that had stretched for over five years (the longest in the history of professional sport). Norman had been ranked the World No. 2 behind Khan for some time going into the match, but despite a single-minded determination to end his unbeaten run had been unable to end the total dominance that the Pakistani had held over the game. Norman had vowed: "One day Jahangir will be slightly off his game and I will get him." That day finally came in the final of squash's biggest tournament, which was held that year in

Toulouse Toulouse ( , ; oc, Tolosa ) is the prefecture of the French department of Haute-Garonne and of the larger region of Occitania. The city is on the banks of the River Garonne, from the Mediterranean Sea, from the Atlantic Ocean and from Par ...

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. Norman retired from the professional squash circuit in 1995, but has remained active in seniors events. He now has two sons, Brett and Alex. In the

2014 New Year Honours The New Year Honours 2014 were appointments by some of the 16 Commonwealth realms to various orders and honours to recognise and reward good works by citizens of those countries. The New Year Honours are awarded as part of the New Year celebrati ...

, Norman was appointed a

Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit The New Zealand Order of Merit is an order of merit in the New Zealand royal honours system. It was established by royal warrant on 30 May 1996 by Elizabeth II, Queen of New Zealand, "for those persons who in any field of endeavour, have ren ...

for services to squash.

References

External links

Profile at Squash New Zealand website
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Norman, Ross New Zealand male squash players 1959 births Living people People from Whitianga People from Sunningdale Members of the New Zealand Order of Merit Sportspeople from the Bay of Plenty Region Sportspeople from Waikato