Alan’s Blog

Jahangir Khan backs World Squash Day project: Trade in your racket for a new one from UNSQUASHABLE and the old one goes to a good cause … plus you save £100 By ALAN THATCHER – Squash Mad Editor Jahangir Khan, a 10-times British Open Champion and a former WSF President, is supporting the latest World [...]

On this day … how World Squash Day was born By ALAN THATCHER – Squash Mad Editor The world changed on this day in 2001 when two passenger planes were hijacked by terrorists and flown into the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center in Manhattan. Many New York-based squash players were killed in the [...]

WSF hope to reschedule Women’s World Teams but BJO is cancelled By ALAN THATCHER – Squash Mad Editor The 2020 WSF World Women’s Team Championships and the 2021 British Junior Open are the latest casualties of the Covid-19 pandemic. The BJO has been cancelled but the WSF and the Malaysian SRA hope to reschedule the [...]

Squash has lessons to learn as pickleball picks up some big numbers By ALAN THATCHER – Squash Mad Editor Pickleball is a new racket sport. Many squash players dismiss it, because the name sounds silly. However, boasting more than three million players in the USA, it is a rapidly growing activity that deserves closer attention. [...]

PSA World Tour returns with action in Manchester and Egypt By ALAN THATCHER – Squash Mad Editor The PSA World Tour resumes in September with the Manchester Open signalling the return to competitive play for the first time since the coronavirus lockdown began in March. The first events to appear since the shutdown will be [...]

‘Turning professional was not for me’ says Hall of Famer Anil Nayar By ALAN THATCHER – Squash Mad Editor I was expecting a book about squash. But the life story of former Indian and American national champion Anil Nayar is not just about squash. It’s a book about kindness, sportsmanship, honesty and decency. These are [...]

  Clubs instructed to fully engage in assessing the risks and managing a safe return to play By ALAN THATCHER – Squash Mad Editor England Squash have published a comprehensive – and cautious – set of guidelines to enable squash clubs to reopen and return to play. The guide is published on the England Squash [...]

Daniel picks Ali Farag and Anthony Joshua as his top role models By ALAN THATCHER – Squash Mad Editor Squash has a new superstar … and he’s just 10 years old. Daniel Tiwana has amazed viewers with his own lockdown training video on YouTube. More than that, he has captivated the squash community with his [...]

Nick and Daryl discuss lockdown issues and how squash can grow when courts are open again By ALAN THATCHER – Squash Mad Editor Nick Matthew and Daryl Selby have enjoyed a few words on court down the years, both in jest and during the heat of battle. Now they are entertaining the squash community with [...]

  Instead of awards, Herts help out with vital PPE equipment By ALAN THATCHER – Squash Mad Editor It’s always good to hear about squash players going the extra mile to help their local communities during the Coronavirus pandemic. It’s a real pleasure to receive some news from Paul Main about an extra-special initiative taking [...]

PSA ‘cautiously outline a roadmap for the return of the Tour’ By ALAN THATCHER – Squash Mad Editor The PSA are exploring all options in a bid to relaunch the World Tour as soon as possible, although it could be several more months until tournaments are back on the calendar. PSA staff, working from home [...]

Special offer: 10% off for Squash Mad readers in USA and Canada  By ALAN THATCHER – Squash Mad Editor Trapped at home during the lockdown, squash fanatic Mark Anderson dug out an old card game he had created for his family some 15 years ago. A Eureka moment followed when he decided that a card [...]

Keeping clubs clean and safe: We can’t afford to get it wrong By MIKE HEGARTY and ALAN THATCHER  As squash clubs and federations make plans to reopen facilities – and some already have – I am publishing this article to make readers aware of the huge risks involved at every stage of such operations. The [...]

Laura leads my lockdown recovery as the squash world waits to reopen By ALAN THATCHER – Squash Mad Editor What day is it? Where am I? If you are losing track of time during the coronavirus lockdown, join the club. Right now, under lockdown, my domestic priorities are mowing the lawn every week, nurturing my [...]

WSF president Jacques Fontaine issues Covid-19 update​ By HOWARD HARDING – Squash Mad International Correspondent Squash players across the globe are coming up with all kinds of novel ideas to get their daily “fix” of hitting a ball against a wall. And business carries on for the World Squash Federation with meetings being held via [...]