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Squash's Rich History Brought Alive In Unique Publication

19th July 2024

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A unique lavishly-illustrated book, chronicling the fascinating history of the sport of Squash over more than 150 years, will be published in August.

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The hardback 'coffee table' work titled "Squash Then And Now: A Celebration", is the joint creation of World Squash Library founder Andrew Shelley and squash historian Bas van Hoorn.

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Across 240 pages, the large-sized compendium introduces the forerunners of the sport, reveals its origins in the early 1800s, and continues the comprehensive pictorial and highly-informative journey through to the present day.

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All the milestones and key events and organisations are included, as are the great champions and fascinating photos of rackets and balls stretching back over two centuries.


Publication follows the confirmation of the sport's long-awaited Olympic Games debut in 2028.


From the first courts at Harrow School up to glass showcourts; from wooden rackets to the state-of-the-art wands of today; the progression of rules and scoring; the players who have become legends; the organisations around the world and the major events which have been career benchmarks: each feature details and stunning visuals.


The work has been compiled by Andrew Shelley, one of the international sport's most highly-regarded figures who has been immersed in Squash for almost fifty years; together with Bas van Hoorn, a noted collector and specialist on early squash history.

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​"Squash has a rich history," enthused Shelley. "It has evolved. It has so many landmarks, champions and records too - all of which are captured in the book in a compelling way. Fabulous images, many unique, from the early years from Bas's collection provide a great picture of that period, right up to captivating photos of today's stars. A glance at player names in the index reveals that around 400 are featured in the book!


"This is a unique resource for the sport from the Library, with any income generated from sales going directly to funding the archive."


Two great champions, Jonah Barrington together with record eight-time World Champion Nicol David, have both written forewords.

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The book will be published in August but is available to order now, with every order received before 5 August being included in a draw to receive one of 25 copies signed by Jonah Barrington.


All the details can be found on the Library website at www.squashlibrary.info/squash-a-celebration - along with an order form which will include automatic entry into the signed copy draw for early buyers.

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SquashInfo & World Squash Library Form Federation Links

3 November 2022

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SquashInfo.com and World Squash Library have established affiliations with four of the sport’s key international federations.

 

In partnership since January 2021, consolidating the history and records of the sport, SquashInfo and WSL have signed agreements with the World Squash Federation (WSF), the Professional Squash Association (PSA), the European Squash Federation (ESF), and the Asian Squash Federation (ASF).

 

“SquashInfo and the WSL share identical goals, namely to make available all the sport’s most significant records, results, player data and history - both digitally and physically,” explained WSL founder Andrew Shelley. “Hitherto, much of this information has been available – but from a variety of different sources.”

 

For the WSF, the Library will begin to unearth missing results from past world championships in publications, personal records, etc; whilst SquashInfo, which provides digitised and searchable records of the world’s leading players and events in one place, will add them to their results cache.

 

Similarly for the ESF and ASF - whose detailed results of their regional championships are incomplete.

 

For PSA, SquashInfo and the Library will assist with historical player information, event and player stats, and other details as required.

 

“The WSF has immediately supported this crucial task undertaken by SquashInfo and WSL to become the official data hub of our sport and we encourage all squash organisations to ensure their past and present information is preserved and available across all channels and to the widest audience,” said WSF CEO William Louis-Marie.

 

The PSA’s Chief Commercial Officer Tommy Berden added: "Preserving the history of the sport is incredibly important and both the World Squash Library and Squash Info have helped to ensure that key stats, dates and events have been made available to the squash community.

 

"Our work with the World Squash Library and Squash Info will complement our existing archive of statistical information, which will allow us to tell greater stories around the sport and our athletes."

 

ESF President Thomas Troedsson commented: “We are delighted with the agreed arrangement with SquashInfo.com and World Squash Library. The goal is to preserve our history completely, store it safely and offer an extra service to our member nations. ESF supports WSL & SI in doing so, and we will work closely together.”

 

SquashInfo has the sport’s most comprehensive database, featuring results from almost 10,000 events going back to the mid-1950s; details of around 20,000 players from some 150 nations; and world ranking lists back to the earliest in 1975.

 

WSL is an independent 'not-for-profit' initiative to ensure that books, magazines, championship programmes, results, images and other information can be brought together in one place to respond to enquiries from current players, media, Federations, students - simply anyone wanting information on the long or near past, and preserved for the future.

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British Open Celebrates Centenary Today!

7 February 2022

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The British Open Squash Championship - for most its history considered the sport's World Championship - today celebrates its centenary.

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Research by World Squash Library has revealed that the first Women's British Open began on 7 February 1922 - exactly 100 years ago. The sport's archives have generally simply recorded an event's year, or even season, rather than more detail.

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Played Queen's Club in London - as were the following 17 editions - the inaugural championship took place between 7-9 February 1922. The Women's event preceded the Men's championship, which began eight years later in 1930 - the men playing on a challenge basis until 1947.

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"Until now, for the first few decades, actual dates have not been listed for British Open editions," Library founder Andrew Shelley explained: ''And as they often denoted the year of the start of the British squash season (which ran from September to April), many were simply incorrect!''
 

"Events were often held both before and after the New Year - so, in some years there were two events and in others none at all!"

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The full history of squash's unofficial world title (before the World Open began in 1976) is now available at www.squashlibrary.info/british-open

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"The page details the dates, venues, winners, programme scans and champions posters as a new Library reference resource for our sport," Shelley concluded.

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World Squash Library Unveils Unique Historical Record Of Squash Development

23 November 2021

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World Squash Library today publishes a unique record of the evolution of international squash management over the past six decades, including decisions, rules and regulations.

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The full set of 50 AGM minutes of the World Squash Federation, from its formation in 1967 until 2020, can be found at www.squashlibrary.info/wsf-agm-minutes

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This important information resource for all National Federations and all those interested in the sport, has never been so easily accessible before.

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Library founder Andrew Shelley explained: "The WSF, then called ISRF, began with only six founder member nations, and through the AGM minutes we see how the membership has expanded, and so much more.['i]

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"World Championships were initiated, the Rules of Squash updated, the sport went 'Open', court and equipment specifications changed, the officers elected and so on.

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"Against the minutes each year, key decisions are listed to help pinpoint the evolution of the management of the game and the sport itself."

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The 2021 WSF AGM will be held virtually this Saturday 27 November.

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World Squash Library Documents World Championships History

14 September 2021

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Following extensive research, comprehensive details of all of Squash's World Championships have now been archived by the World Squash Library and can be viewed at www.squashlibrary.info/world-championships

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The 12 key World Championship compendia - including Men's, Women's and Junior Team & Individual championships, plus World Masters and also Doubles - have now been uploaded by the Library with the latest, the World Cup, added today.

 

For each event - dating back to their first editions - details include dates, venues, full results (via link to www.squashinfo.com ), programme covers, and for many a poster featuring all the winners.

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"If researching World Championship history proves one thing it is that there is a need for our sport to preserve its history before more is lost!" said WSL founder Andrew Shelley. "Some early event individual match results do not seem to have been retained, good quality photos not existing, so these event archives can form the basis of an evolving reference as future events are added."

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Over time, the Library will add others such as the World Universities, along with Regional Games and Championships, World and Commonwealth Games too.

World Squash Library & SquashInfo Form Partnership

31 December 2020

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In a move to consolidate the history and records of the sport, the World Squash Library and website SquashInfo are joining forces, with effect from 1 January 2021.

The move reunites the Library founder Andrew Shelley, the former World Squash Federation CEO, and Howard Harding, owner of www.squashinfo.com and WSF World Media Director for more than two decades.

First unveiled in 2004, SquashInfo was designed to be the definitive squash resource – uniquely providing digitised and searchable records of the world’s leading players and events in one place. In addition to the established PSA World Tour, and World Championships managed by the World Squash Federation, the site also covers the leading events run by the world’s regional and national federations.

In partnership with WSL, the site has recently posted detailed results of all senior and junior World Championships, both individual and team – including the World Amateur championships which took place in the 60s and 70s before the sport went ‘Open’.

Shelley has worked for over 40 years in the sport, including 15 as Chief Executive of the Women’s Professional Tour before taking up the same role for the World Squash Federation until 2019. He has wanted to ‘give something back’ to the sport by collecting and preserving the history of the sport – books, magazines, handbooks, photos, videos – with free access to ensure that future generations will have it, as well as answering questions now.

“It makes perfect sense for SquashInfo and the Squash Library to partner up, as we already work closely together linking the online results and playing records with the Library’s archived information,” said Shelley. “The entities complement each other so well.”

The intention is that SquashInfo and Squash Library will continue to operate separately, but closer together - sharing data whilst also providing an opportunity for commercial supporters to come on board to help fund the services.

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Harding, whose association with squash stretches back to the mid-80s, recognised the need for SquashInfo after taking on the role as World Media Director for the WSF, Professional Squash Association (PSA) and the then Women’s International Squash Players’ Association (WISPA) in 1996.  Designed by son Charlie, then a student and now an Anaesthetic Fellow in Melbourne, the site soon became an invaluable worldwide resource.

“For too long the management of SquashInfo has been a ‘one-man-band’ operation,” said Harding.  “I now very much look forward to the site growing and moving forward, in partnership with Andrew and the Library. The new relationship will also ensure SquashInfo’s long-term future.”

Whilst current information is freely available to all-comers, SquashInfo is primarily a subscription site – with subscribers around the world currently having access to the site’s full records.

“One focus of the new partnership will be an expansion of the subscriber levels, particularly to recognise the needs of national and regional federations,” added Harding.

For the World Squash Library, please visit www.squashlibrary.info – and for SquashInfo, go to www.squashinfo.com
 

World Squash Library Presents Men's World Teams Compendium

11 November 2020

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Highlighted by images of the 26 champion teams since 1967, a poster covering the full history of the Men's World Team Squash Championships is the latest production by the World Squash Library, which is launched today.

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The full presentation features the dates, venue and results for each event since the inaugural championship - including winner photos and programme cover scans.

 

The poster is available in both digital and print form - and free to download by Federations, events, clubs and enthusiasts at www.squashlibrary.info/mens-world-team-champions

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Originally titled the 'World Amateur Team Championship' and run under this title from 1967 to 1979, after which the sport went 'open', the biennial event has been hosted by 17 nations across all five continents - including three times by Australia, England and Egypt.

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Australia, where the inaugural event in 1967 was held, dominated the early period - winning the first four titles in finals against Great Britain, before GB triumphed for the first time in 1976 on home soil in England (the two GB wins coming before the British members competed separately after 1979). Australia went on to win the title a record eight times, with Pakistan claiming six and England and Egypt sharing five apiece.

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Egypt are the reigning champions, clinching the title in USA in 2019 in their fifth successive appearance in the final.

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The World Squash Library, established last October by former World Squash Federation CEO Andrew Shelley as a free service to provide information and answer queries, and preserve books, handbooks, magazines, programmes, documents and images for future generations. Donations to support the Library can be made on the Library website www.squashlibrary.info

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Comprehensive digital and searchable records of all the Men's World Team Championships are now also available to SquashInfo subscribers at www.squashinfo.com/history/95/mens/world-team-championship

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World Squash Day Auction to Take Place October 3-10

1 October 2020

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The annual World Squash Day Auction will take place from Saturday October 3 - Saturday October 10 with all proceeds being split between the PSA Foundation's We Are One Fund and the World Squash Library.

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Taking place alongside World Squash Day since 2016, the World Squash Day Auction has raised thousands of pounds for a variety of good causes through auctioning memorabilia signed by current and past PSA World Tour stars. 

 

These good causes have included Unicef UK, the Sumner Malik appeal, Bronglais Hospital Chemotherapy Unit via the John Batty Tournament and last year the PSA Foundation, the charitable arm of the PSA Word Tour.

 

This year, the auction is teaming up with two causes. The PSA Foundation's ‘We Are One’ fund supports professional squash players who are experiencing both financial and emotional difficulties due to the impact of the ongoing global COVID-19 pandemic. 

 

Sharing the proceeds will be the World Squash Library, which is founded and run by former WSF Chief Executive Andrew Shelley. The Library has been initiated as an independent ‘not-for-profit’ organisation to ensure that the books, magazines, championship programmes and other information can be brought together in one place to be freely available for current players, media, federations, students – or anybody who wants information on the history of the sport.

 

A set of unique and collectable signed lots will be available at the auction, including:

 

  • Ali Farag’s Warwick/Kenilworth 2019-20 Premier Squash League team shirt, signed by his teammates and an array of opposing players, plus the man himself.

  • 305 SQUASH Daryl Selby signature shirt as used by the player and signed by him.

  • Pair of Black Knight eyewear signed by Daryl Selby

  • Squash ball used at this year’s Canary Wharf Classic, signed by Ali Farag

  • Canary Wharf Classic 2020 programme, signed by Ali Farag.

  • Dunlop sports cap/hat signed by PSA men’s and women’s presidents, Ali Farag and Sarah-Jane Perry

  • Nick Matthew signed autobiography, Sweating Blood: My Life in Squash.

  • 'Behind The Glass, the 2019-20 PSA World Tour Photobook' by PSA Photographer Nathan Clarke – signed by a selection of players at the Manchester Open.
     

This year, the auction will be taking place via eBay, starting 20:00 (GMT+1) on Saturday October 3 and running for seven days to finish at 20:00 on World Squash Day itself, Saturday October 10. 

 

Details of all lots and regular bidding updates will be posted via the World Squash Day Auction social media channels:

 

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/WSDAuction

 

Twitter: https://twitter.com/WSDAuction

 

This year, there will be a further auction taking place after World Squash Day, involving more ‘retro’ lots, including items signed by some of the former greats from the game and some items from the World Squash Library’s own collection. Further details of this will be announced soon.

 

World Squash Day is also partnering with 305 Squash to raise funds for the We Are One campaign, with all profits from World Squash Day T-shirts going to the project.

Shirts are on sale here:  https://305squash.com/collections/world-squash-day-2020

 

Sales of special World Squash Day I-Masks have also led to donations of face shields adapted for medical use being donated to a number of health care providers across the world.

Full details: https://www.worldsquashday.net/2020/08/13/help-our-health-heroes-and-win-i-mask-prizes-in-world-squash-day-selfie-competition/ 

World Squash Library Launches Women's World Teams Compendium

7 October 2020

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The 40-year history of the Women's World Team Squash Championships is highlighted in the latest initiative of the World Squash Library - encapsulated in a poster featuring photographs of all 21 winning teams.

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The full presentation features the dates, venue and results for each event since the inaugural championship in 1979 - including winner photos and programme cover scans.
 

The poster (see below) is available in both digital and print form - and free to download by Federations, events, clubs and enthusiasts at www.squashlibrary.info/womens-world-team-championships

 

Since its launch in England in 1979 - and won by Great Britain for the only time before England, Scotland and Wales competed independently in all following events - the biennial Women's World Team Championship has been held in 12 different countries across all five continents. The latest event in 2018 in Dalian became the first ever world squash championship to be staged on mainland China.

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Egypt are the reigning champions, winning the title for the fourth time in 10 years in Dalian - but Australia remain the powerhouse nation, with nine titles over a 29-year period from 1981, withEngland on seven titles to date.

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The World Squash Library, established last October by former World Squash Federation CEO Andrew Shelley as a free service to provide information and answer queries, and preserve books, handbooks, magazines, programmes, documents and images for future generations. Donations to support the Library can be made on the Library website www.squashlibrary.info

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Comprehensive digital and searchable records of all the Women's World Team Championships are now also available to SquashInfo subscribers at www.squashinfo.com/history/95/womens/world-team-championship

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World Squash Library Set To Record Covid Impact

12 August 2020

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COVID-19's impact on world sport in general, and on squash specifically, will be remembered for generations to come.

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In a bid to record the wide range of effects produced by the pandemic on the sport, the World Squash Library is asking for contributions from around the world from which to create a unique record of the unprecedented period - from players, both recreational and professional, facility operators, federations; anybody involved with squash.

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"The worldwide Covid-19 pandemic has affected us all - whether through illness, tragic deaths in the community, financially, or simply how we live our lives in general," said WSL founder Andrew Shelley.

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"Squash has not been exempt. The impact has taken a number of forms, and has been very wide indeed - and needs to be documented."

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To capture these fresh impressions as an archive, World Squash Library is developing a snapshot of the impact it had; the repercussions thereafter; and views on what the future holds. This will be published on the website, and available so that in future people can look back at this time for the sport using information supplied by the squash community.

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Contributors are invited to go to www.squashlibrary.info/covid-19-squash-snapshot - and write about personal and/or business experiences of how Covid-19 has impacted squash, plus other insights including thoughts on how the sport might be altered in the future.

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World Squash Library Unveils World Junior Compendia

22 July 2020

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Following the success of its senior packages, the World Squash Library now launches synopses of the Men's and Women's World Junior Individual Championships, the originally biennial events which began in 1980 in Sweden for boys and a year later for girls in Canada.

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The presentation features the dates, venue and results for each event over the five decades, including winner photos and programme cover scans.

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There are also champions posters featuring the winners, in both digital and print form (partial versions of both pictured below). They are free to download by Federations, events, clubs and enthusiasts at www.squashlibrary.info/features

 

Australian Peter Nance, only seeded to reach the semi-finals, became the surprise winner of the first world junior (U19) title in the Swedish city of Kungälv. It was six years later in 1986 that Pakistan's Jansher Khan claimed the title - going on to become the first of three players to also secure the men's senior world trophy.

In August 2004, 16-year-old Ramy Ashour became the title's youngest ever winner - the Egyptian progressing to become the event's first double champion in 2006. By 2019, the men's title had been won by Egyptians 14 times.

 

An all-English final brought the maiden women's event to a climax in Ottawa in August 1981 when Lisa Opie beat fellow Guernsey girl Martine le Moignan to become the first champion. England and Australia shared the titles for the next 12 years - in 1987 Australian Sarah Fitz-Gerald becoming the first of six women to win junior before moving on to the senior world individual title.

It was in July 1999 that the formidable Nicol David made her mark on the world stage - the 15-year-old Malaysian winning the first of two world U19 titles before advancing to claim a record eight senior world titles!

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An impressive run began in 2003 when Omneya Abdel Kawy became Egypt's first women's champion - the country going on to provide all but one of the winners to date, with Nour El Sherbini securing the title for a record third time in 2013 after becoming the all-time youngest-ever world champion at 13 in 2009.

The male & female events moved to annual staging in 2009 & 2010 respectively.

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Now that the Individual Men's, Women's and Junior championships have been published, compendia for the Senior & Junior World Team events are being prepared.

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The World Squash Library, established last October by former World Squash Federation CEO Andrew Shelley as a free service to provide information and answer queries, and preserve books, handbooks, magazines, programmes, documents and images for future generations. Donations to support the Library can be made on the Library website www.squashlibrary.info

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Comprehensive digital and searchable records of all the World Junior Individual Championships are now also available to SquashInfo subscribers at www.squashinfo.com/history/78/mens/world-junior-championship and www.squashinfo.com/history/78/womens/world-junior-championship

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World Squash Library Launches Women's World Championship Package

22nd May 2020

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The World Squash Library today launches its second compendium of the sport's World Championships, this time covering all the Women's World Opens from the maiden event in Brisbane, Australia, in 1976.

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The production features the dates, venue and results for each event over the five decades, including winner photos and programme cover scans.

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There are also champions posters featuring all the winners in both digital and print form (see below). They are free to download by Federations, events, clubs and enthusiasts at www.squashlibrary.info/womens-world-squash-championships

 

Australia's formidable Heather McKay swept through the field in 1976 to win the inaugural world title without dropping a game - indeed, only conceding 16 points in five matches!

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Oceania players dominated from then until 2003 with Kiwi Susan Devoy winning four - and Sarah Fitz-Gerald, with five, leading a group of Australian winners, including Michelle Martin, who claimed three titles.

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Next to dominate was Malaysian Nicol David with a record eight titles in ten years before the arrival of the Egyptians, including current holder Nour El Sherbini having four wins.

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The World Squash Library, established last October by former World Squash Federation CEO Andrew Shelley as a free service to provide information and answer queries, and preserve books, handbooks, magazines, programmes, documents and images for future generations. Donations to support the Library can be made on the Library website www.squashlibrary.info

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Comprehensive digital and searchable records of all the Women's World Championships are now also available to SquashInfo subscribers at www.squashinfo.com/history/983/womens/world-championship

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World Squash Library Launches First World Championship Compendium

23rd April 2020

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The World Squash Library is launching its first compendium of the sport's World Championships today, covering all the Men's World Opens from the inaugural event in 1976.
 

The 'one-stop' production features the dates, venue and results for each event over the five decades, including champion photos and programme cover scans.
 

There are also champions posters featuring all the winners, in both digital and print form. They are free to download by Federations, events, clubs and enthusiasts at www.squashlibrary.info/mens-world-squash-championships
 

The World Squash Library, established last October by former World Squash Federation CEO Andrew Shelley, donating his time and experience to archive and preserve the history of squash for future generations, as well as providing an information resource.

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"The Men's Open compilation is the first of a series which will ultimately comprise the Women's Open and both World Junior Individual events, followed by the senior and junior world team championships too," said Shelley.

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"Working with the incomparable www.squashinfo.com platform to complete the results, the Library archive materials have enabled the site to make available a comprehensive and uniquely searchable digital archive of all the results to date. Bringing these together with the other elements in one place are all part of the Library ethos."

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Most recently the Library has published a feature detailing the evolution of courts, rules, filming, etc, that have taken forward event presentation along with spectator and broadcast enhancements. This follows others already on the Library website www.squashlibrary.info/features

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The Library also has a YouTube Channel where Olympic bid videos, the first dating back to 1987, can be viewed.

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For the future, the Library also intends to digitalise key information too, as and when financial support is found.

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For more details on the World Squash Library, please visit www.squashlibrary.info

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New Features Added

14th February 2020

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In recent weeks the Library has added a number of interesting topics in the Features section of the World Squash Library.


They include:

•    A list of ‘principal’ worldwide squash clubs from 1938
•    A chart detailing the 21st century World Championship winners
•    The Racketball / Squash 57 story
•    British Open, when it was a ‘challenge’
•    The largest club in 1936 (with 15 courts)
•    The background to the abolishment of amateur status
•    The Rules of Squash 1930
•    A squash article from Boys Own Paper back in 1894
•    The scoresheet from the longest recorded match


They can all be seen at https://www.squashlibrary.info/features 

Next to come will be comprehensive World Championship results.

Other ideas and suggestions welcomed. 

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Shelley Launches Unique Squash Library

24 October 2019

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While Squash looks forward, with new generations enjoying this great sport and new champions crowned on the latest club and showcourts, the sport also has a long and rich heritage.

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Being passionate about preserving this extensive history, Andrew Shelley is launching the World Squash Library (WSL) as an independent 'not-for-profit' initiative to ensure that books, magazines, championship programmes, results, images and other information can be brought together in one place to respond to enquiries from current players, media, Federations, students - simply anyone wanting information on the long or near past.

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"I believe that our history must not only be easily accessible now, but safeguarded for future generations," said Shelley, who recently concluded his term as CEO of the World Squash Federation.

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"There are approaching 4,000 items catalogued now, stretching back to 1890, and although there are gaps to be filled, a great many of the handbooks and magazines along with many World Championship and other major event programmes are in place so that questions can be answered and researches mounted," Shelley added.

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Initial WSL information is at www.squashlibrary.info with future projects for the Library including digitalisation of key materials, regular social media sidelights, articles and posters that Federations can use, looking back at advertising, court development and other facets of our sport. Spotlights and features will be added to the site regularly.

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For those with questions, keen to offer appropriate historical materials to WSL, or even keen to support the running costs, Andrew Shelley can be contacted at info@squashlibrary.info

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"WSL can never be complete, but over the coming years we will be getting as close as possible!" Shelley concluded

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