World Open (squash)

The World Open is a squash event which serves as the individual world championship for squash players. The World Open is widely considered to be one of the two most prestigious titles in squash, alongside the British Open (which was considered to be the effective world championship of the sport prior to the World Open's establishment). The men's World Open was first held in 1976, and the women's World Open was inaugurated in 1979.

Overview

Prior to the establishment of the men's World Open, a tournament called the World Amateur Individual Championship was held in the late-1960s and 1970s. The winners of this tournament for male players included some of the game's leading figures such as Geoff Hunt and Cam Nancarrow. However many players and fans did not consider this event to be a proper world championship because several of the game's top players were ineligible to participate as they had turned professional. The British Open had for many years been generally considered to be the sport's effective world championship, and this continued to be the case until the World Open was established.

The women's World Open was held once every two years until the early-1990s, when it became an annual event. The men's event has been held every year since 1979, except for a two-year gap in 2000 and 2001 when it was not held due primarily to difficulties in securing sponsorship.

In recent years, the men's World Open has been part of the PSA Super Series.

The venue for the World Open changes every year. Normally the men's and women's events are held separately in two different locations, although on some occasions they have been held together as a combined event.

Past results

Below are the results for the men's and women's championship.

Men's Championship

Year	Location	Champion	Runner-up	Score
1976	England	Geoff Hunt	Mohibullah Khan	7–9, 9–4, 8–10, 9–2, 9–2
1977	Australia	Geoff Hunt	Qamar Zaman	9–5, 10–9, 0–9, 9–4
1978	Not Held
1979	Canada	Geoff Hunt	Qamar Zaman	9–2, 9–3, 9–2
1980	Australia	Geoff Hunt	Qamar Zaman	9–0, 9–3, 9–3
1981	Canada	Jahangir Khan	Geoff Hunt	7–9, 9–1, 9–2, 9–2
1982	England	Jahangir Khan	Dean Williams	9–2, 6–9, 9–1, 9–1
1983	Germany	Jahangir Khan	Chris Dittmar	9–3, 9–6, 9–0
1984	Pakistan	Jahangir Khan	Qamar Zaman	9–0, 9–3, 9–4
1985	Egypt	Jahangir Khan	Ross Norman	9–4, 4–9, 9–5, 9–1
1986	France	Ross Norman	Jahangir Khan	9–5, 9–7, 7–9, 9–1
1987	England	Jansher Khan	Chris Dittmar	9–5, 9–4, 4–9, 9–6
1988	Netherlands	Jahangir Khan	Jansher Khan	9–6, 9–2, 9–2
1989	Malaysia	Jansher Khan	Chris Dittmar	7–15, 6–15, 15–4, 15–11, 15–10
1990	France	Jansher Khan	Chris Dittmar	15–8, 17–15, 13–15, 15–5
1991	Australia	Rodney Martin	Jahangir Khan	14–17, 15–9, 15–4, 15–13
1992	South Africa	Jansher Khan	Chris Dittmar	15–11, 15–9, 10–15, 15–6
1993	Pakistan	Jansher Khan	Jahangir Khan	14–15, 15–9, 15–5, 15–5
1994	Spain	Jansher Khan	Peter Marshall	10–15, 15–11, 15–8, 15–4
1995	Cyprus	Jansher Khan	Del Harris	15–10, 17–14, 16–17, 15–8
1996	Pakistan	Jansher Khan	Rodney Eyles	15–13, 17–15, 11–15, 15–3
1997	Malaysia	Rodney Eyles	Peter Nicol	15–11, 15–12, 15–12
1998	Qatar	Jonathon Power	Peter Nicol	15–17, 15–7, 15–9, 15–10
1999	Egypt	Peter Nicol	Ahmed Barada	15–9, 15–13, 15–11
2000	Not Held
2001
2002	Belgium	David Palmer	John White	13–15, 12–15, 15–6, 15–14, 15–11
2003	Pakistan	Amr Shabana	Thierry Lincou	15–11, 11–15, 15–8, 15–14
2004	Qatar	Thierry Lincou	Lee Beachill	5–11, 11–2, 2–11, 11–10 (2–0), 11–8
2005	Hong Kong	Amr Shabana	David Palmer	11–6, 11–7, 11–8
2006	Egypt	David Palmer	Grégory Gaultier	9–11, 9–11, 11–9, 11–10 (6–4), 11–2
2007	Bermuda	Amr Shabana	Grégory Gaultier	11–7, 11–4, 11–6
2008	England	Ramy Ashour	Karim Darwish	5–11, 11–8, 11–4, 11–5
2009	Kuwait	Amr Shabana	Ramy Ashour	11–8, 11–5, 11–5
2010	Saudi Arabia	Nick Matthew	James Willstrop	7–11, 11–6, 11–2, 11–3
2011	Netherlands	Nick Matthew	Grégory Gaultier	6-11, 11-9, 11-6, 11-5

Men's World Open Finalists

Player Name	No. of Titles	Runner-up	Total Appearances
Jansher Khan	8	1	9
Jahangir Khan	6	3	9
Geoff Hunt	4	1	5
Amr Shabana	4	0	4
David Palmer	2	1	3
Nick Matthew	2	0	2
Peter Nicol	1	2	3
Rodney Eyles	1	1	2
Thierry Lincou	1	1	2
Ross Norman	1	1	2
Ramy Ashour	1	1	2
Rodney Martin	1	0	1
Jonathon Power	1	0	1
Chris Dittmar	0	5	5
Qamar Zaman	0	4	4
Grégory Gaultier	0	3	3
Ahmed Barada	0	1	1
Lee Beachill	0	1	1
Karim Darwish	0	1	1
James Willstrop	0	1	1
Del Harris	0	1	1
Mohibullah Khan	0	1	1
Peter Marshall	0	1	1
John White	0	1	1
Dean Williams	0	1	1

Women's Championship

Year	Location	Champion	Runner-up	Score
1976	Brisbane, Australia	Heather McKay	Marion Jackman	9–2, 9–2, 9–0
1977	Not Held
1978
1979	Sheffield, England	Heather McKay	Sue Cogswell	6–9, 9–3, 9–1, 9–4
1980	Not Held
1981	Toronto, Canada	Rhonda Thorne	Vicki Cardwell	8–10, 9–4, 9–5, 7–9, 9–7
1982	Not Held
1983	Perth, Australia	Vicki Cardwell	Rhonda Thorne	9–1, 9–3, 9–4
1984	Not Held
1985	Dublin, Ireland	Susan Devoy	Lisa Opie	9–4, 9–5, 10–8
1986	Not Held
1987	Auckland, New Zealand	Susan Devoy	Lisa Opie	9–3, 10–8, 9–2
1988	Not Held
1989	Warmond, Netherlands	Martine Le Moignan	Susan Devoy	4–9, 9–4, 10–8, 10–8
1990	Sydney, Australia	Susan Devoy	Martine Le Moignan	9–4, 9–4, 9–4
1991	Not Held
1992	Vancouver, Canada	Susan Devoy	Michelle Martin	9–4, 9–6, 9–4
1993	Johannesburg, South Africa	Michelle Martin	Liz Irving	9–2, 9–2, 9–1
1994	St. Peter Port, Channel Islands	Michelle Martin	Cassie Jackman	9–1, 9–0, 9–6
1995	Hong Kong	Michelle Martin	Sarah Fitz-Gerald	8–10, 9–2, 9–6, 9–3
1996	Petaling Jaya, Malaysia	Sarah Fitz-Gerald	Cassie Jackman	9–0, 9–3, 9–4
1997	Sydney, Australia	Sarah Fitz-Gerald	Michelle Martin	9–5, 5–9, 6–9, 9–2, 9–3
1998	Stuttgart, Germany	Sarah Fitz-Gerald	Michelle Martin	10–8, 9–7, 2–9, 3–9, 10–9
1999	Seattle, United States	Cassie Campion	Michelle Martin	9–6, 9–7, 9–7
2000	Edinburgh, Scotland	Carol Owens	Leilani Joyce	9–6, 9–5, 7–9, 5–9, 9–6
2001	Melbourne, Australia	Sarah Fitz-Gerald	Leilani Joyce	9–0, 9–3, 9–2
2002	Doha, Qatar	Sarah Fitz-Gerald	Natalie Pohrer	10–8, 9–3, 7–9, 9–7
2003	Hong Kong	Carol Owens	Cassie Jackman	3–9, 9–2, 9–7, 9–3
2004	Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia	Vanessa Atkinson	Natalie Grinham	9–1, 9–1, 9–5
2005	Hong Kong	Nicol David	Rachael Grinham	8–10, 9–2, 9–6, 9–7
2006	Belfast, Northern Ireland	Nicol David	Natalie Grinham	1–9, 9–7, 3–9, 9–5, 9–2
2007	Madrid, Spain	Rachael Grinham	Natalie Grinham	9–4, 10–8, 9–2
2008	Manchester, England	Nicol David	Vicky Botwright	5–11, 11–1, 11–6, 11–9
2009	Amsterdam, Netherlands	Nicol David	Natalie Grinham	3–11, 11–6, 11–3, 11–8
2010	Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt	Nicol David	Omneya Abdel Kawy	11–5, 11–8, 11–6
2011	Rotterdam, Netherlands	Nicol David	Jenny Duncalf	11-2, 11-5, 11-0

Note:

• Cassie Jackman was known as Cassie Campion from July 1998 until 2002.
• Natalie Pohrer was later known as Natalie Grainger.
• Natalie Grinham switched allegiance to the Netherlands from 2009 onwards.

Women's World Open Finalists

Player Name	No. of Titles	Runner-up	Total Appearances
Nicol David	6	0	6
Sarah Fitz-Gerald	5	1	6
Susan Devoy	4	1	5
Michelle Martin	3	4	7
Heather McKay	2	0	2
Carol Owens	2	0	2
Cassie Jackman	1	3	4
Rhonda Thorne	1	1	2
Vicki Cardwell	1	1	2
Martine Le Moignan	1	1	2
Rachael Grinham	1	1	2
Vanessa Atkinson	1	0	1
Natalie Grinham	0	4	4
Lisa Opie	0	2	2
Leilani Joyce	0	2	2
Jenny Duncalf	0	1	1
Marion Jackman	0	1	1
Sue Cogswell	0	1	1
Liz Irving	0	1	1
Natalie Pohrer	0	1	1
Vicky Botwright	0	1	1
Omneya Abdel Kawy	0	1	1

See also

• World Doubles Squash Championships
• World Team Squash Championships
• World Junior Squash Championships
• British Open Squash Championships

External links

• World Squash Federation website
• Article at Squashtalk.com on the history of the Men's World Open