Madeline Perry (born 11 February 1977 in
Banbridge
Banbridge ( , ) is a town in County Down, Northern Ireland. It lies on the River Bann and the A1 road and is named after a bridge built over the River Bann in 1712. It is situated in the civil parish of Seapatrick and the historic barony of Iv ...
,
Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. Nort ...
) 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
Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. Nort ...
. She was raised in Northern Ireland and lives in Philadelphia.
In November 2006 at the
World Open in
Belfast
Belfast ( , ; from ga, Béal Feirste , meaning 'mouth of the sand-bank ford') is the capital and largest city of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan on the east coast. It is the 12th-largest city in the United Kingdom ...
, she justified her
seeding
The term seeding and related terms such as seeded are used in several different contexts:
*Sowing, planting seeds in a place or on an object
*Cloud seeding, manipulating cloud formations
*Seeding (computing), a concept in computing and peer-to-pee ...
of eighth by reaching the quarter-finals. She then won the Irish Open 2007 title in Dublin. Her career highlights is at the defeat to
Nicol David
Datuk Nicol Ann David (born August 26, 1983) is a retired female Malaysian professional squash player. Beginning in August 2006, David was the world number one for a record-breaking 108 consecutive months, finally ceding the ranking in Septemb ...
in the quarter-finals of the Forexx Dutch Open where she took the world number one to 9–7 in the fourth set. However, a serious head injury sustained when Madeline was mugged in
Milan
Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city h ...
,
Italy
Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...
, put a halt to the rest of the season.
The inactivity caused a dip in her ranking that took her out of the top ten after nearly two years. In her first event back in 2008, in the Buler Challenge in
Hong Kong
Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delta i ...
, she reached the final. A year later, Perry described her quarter-final defeat of then-ranked No. 1
Nicol David
Datuk Nicol Ann David (born August 26, 1983) is a retired female Malaysian professional squash player. Beginning in August 2006, David was the world number one for a record-breaking 108 consecutive months, finally ceding the ranking in Septemb ...
in the five-set, 76-minute quarter-final of the 2009 British Open as "the best victory of my career". (Perry lost the final to
Rachael Grinham
Rachael Margaret Grinham (born 22 January 1977 in Toowoomba, Queensland) is an Australian professional squash player. She won the World Open in 2007, and the British Open in 2003, 2004, 2007 and 2009. She reached the World No. 1 ranking in ...
.) She then made it to the semis of the Seoul Open, followed by the semi-final berth at the CIMB
Singapore
Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, bor ...
Masters from an unseeded position and, by April 2011, Perry had reached a career-high world ranking of No. 3. In April 2014 she made squash history as the oldest female player to retain a top 10 position, when she was ranked at No. 9 in the world.
Major World Series final appearances
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 ...
: 1 finals (0 title, 1 runner-up)
Qatar Classic
The Qatar Classic is an annual international squash tournament that takes place in Doha, Qatar in October or November. The event was re-established in 2001. Between 1992 and 1997, the tournament was formerly known as the Qatar International. The ...
: 1 final (0 title, 1 runner-up)
See also
*
Official Women's Squash World Ranking The Official Women's Squash World Ranking is the official world ranking for women's squash. The ranking is to rate the performance level of female professional squash player. It is also a merit-based method used for determining entry and seeding in ...
References
External links
*
*
*
Irish female squash players
Living people
1977 births
Sportspeople from Banbridge
Squash players at the 2010 Commonwealth Games
Commonwealth Games competitors for Northern Ireland
{{Ireland-squash-bio-stub