Squash is a popular sport in Australia. There is a long tradition of the sport in the country, which boasts 7 former world number one players. As of 2018 there are many highly ranked Australian players, both in men's and women's squash.

History of squash in Australia

The first Squash courts in Australia were established in 1913 at the

Melbourne Club The Melbourne Club is a private social club established in 1838 and located at 36 Collins Street, Melbourne. The club is a symbol of Australia's British social heritage and was established at a gathering of 23 gentlemen on Saturday, 17 Decembe ...

in Victoria. Players such as Geoff Hunt, Heather McKay and Sarah Fitz-Gerald are regarded as Australian squash legends.

Professional competitions

Many professional squash competitions take place in Australia each year. For example, the

2017 PSA World Tour Seventeen or 17 may refer to: *17 (number), the natural number following 16 and preceding 18 * one of the years 17 BC, AD 17, 1917, 2017 Literature Magazines * ''Seventeen'' (American magazine), an American magazine * ''Seventeen'' (Japanese ...

included: * the Sandgate Open in Brisbane * the Elanora Open in Sydney * the NT Open in Darwin * the

Golden Open The City of Kalgoorlie & Boulder Golden Open, or simply the Golden Open, is a yearly professional squash Squash may refer to: Sports * Squash (sport), the high-speed racquet sport also known as squash racquets * Squash (professional wrestling ...

in Kalgoorlie * the Tasmanian Open in Devonport * the

South Australian Open South is one of the cardinal directions or compass points. The direction is the opposite of north and is perpendicular to both east and west. Etymology The word ''south'' comes from Old English ''sūþ'', from earlier Proto-Germanic ''*sunþaz ...

in Adelaide * the

Victorian Open The Vic Open is an annual golf tournament held in Australia. It was founded in 1957 and is the Victoria state open championship for men. It is run by Golf Victoria and is a Golf Australia national ranking event. The event is held concurren ...

in Melbourne * the

Bendigo International Squash Open Bendigo ( ) is a city in Victoria, Australia, located in the Bendigo Valley near the geographical centre of the state and approximately north-west of Melbourne, the state capital. As of 2019, Bendigo had an urban population of 100,991, mak ...

in Bendigo * the

City of Greater Shepparton International A city is a human settlement of notable size.Goodall, B. (1987) ''The Penguin Dictionary of Human Geography''. London: Penguin.Kuper, A. and Kuper, J., eds (1996) ''The Social Science Encyclopedia''. 2nd edition. London: Routledge. It can be de ...

in Shepparton * the Bega Open in Bega * the North Coast Open in Coffs Harbour * the New South Wales Open in Thornleigh * the Queensland Open in the Gold Coast * the

Cairns Squash International Cairns (, ) is a city in Queensland, Australia, on the tropical north east coast of Far North Queensland. The population in June 2019 was 153,952, having grown on average 1.02% annually over the preceding five years. The city is the 5th-most- ...

in Cairns * the

Australian Open The Australian Open is a tennis tournament held annually at Melbourne Park in Melbourne, Australia. The tournament is the first of the four Grand Slam tennis events held each year, preceding the French Open, Wimbledon, and the US Open. Th ...

in Darwin

Top players

World number ones

Australia has produced several world number ones: * Men: ** Geoff Hunt ** Chris Dittmar ** David Palmer * Women: **

Vicki Cardwell Vicki Cardwell BEM (née Hoffmann, born 21 April 1955, in Adelaide, South Australia) is a former World No. 1 squash player from Australia. She was one of the leading players on the international squash circuit from the late-1970s through to t ...

** Michelle Martin ** Sarah Fitz-Gerald ** Rachael Grinham

Highest ranked players

As of April 2018, the highest ranked Australian squash players were: * Men: ** Ryan Cuskelly (15) ** Cameron Pilley (20) **

Rex Hedrick Rex Hedrick (born 1 November 1988 in Melbourne) is a professional squash player who represents Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Austr ...

(65) **

Joshua Larkin Joshua Larkin, (born 5 December 1989 in Melbourne) is a professional squash player who represents Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the A ...

(69) ** Rhys Dowling (98) * Women: ** Donna Urquhart (16) ** Rachael Grinham (26) ** Christine Nunn (55) **

Sarah Cardwell Sarah Cardwell (born 10 October 1991 in Melbourne) is an Australian professional squash player. She reached a career-high world ranking of World No. 41 in February 2017. References External links * * * * * * 1991 births Livin ...

(56) **

Tamika Saxby Tamika Saxby also known as Tamika Hunt (born 18 April 1993 in Australia) is an Australian professional squash Squash may refer to: Sports * Squash (sport), the high-speed racquet sport also known as squash racquets * Squash (professional wr ...

(57)

National teams

Australia has national men's and

women's A woman is an adult female human. Prior to adulthood, a female human is referred to as a girl (a female child or adolescent). The plural ''women'' is sometimes used in certain phrases such as "women's rights" to denote female humans regardl ...

teams, that represent the country in international competitions.

Commonwealth Games

Australian players compete in the squash events of the Commonwealth Games, which are held every 4 years. Most recently, in the 2018 games, Australian players Zac Alexander and David Palmer won gold in the men's doubles event, Donna Urquhart and Cameron Pilley won gold in the mixed doubles event, and Donna Urquhart and Donna Urquhart won bronze in the women's doubles event.

Governance

Squash in Australia is governed by

Squash Australia Squash Australia is the national organisation for squash in Australia, as recognised by the Professional Squash Association The Professional Squash Association (PSA) is the governing body for the men's and women's professional squash circuit ...

References

{{Squash by country