SquashZAG

Mick Joint is the first of many profiles we hope to bring you of squash personalities that contribute greatly to our game, but may not often get the spotlight or recognition they deserve.

I've had the good fortune to be in regular contact with Guy Cipriano, a well-known hardball and doubles squash player and aficionado. He and I don't always agree on all matters related to squash, but I have definitely come to respect and look forward to receiving his musings on the sport. We both hold to the same core belief: namely, that squash is a fantastic, wondrous, multi-layered game, and that we are privileged to play it.

By Michael Traikos
From National Post

It was after going a perfect 16-0 as a freshman at Harvard this year that squash player Laura Gemmell was featured in Sports Illustrated's Faces In The Crowd section. Based on the lack of attention she has receives north of the border, a more fitting title might have been Lost In The Crowd.

Heather McKay (née Blundell) enjoyed a career of unparalleled dominance in her chosen sport and is one of Australia's greatest ever sportspeople.

Nickname: Cops    

School : Hilton College

University : University of Birmingham

Club/s: Duffield (UK), Vaduz (Swiss), Fish Hoek (Cape Town)

Marital status : Single

Profession : Squash Professional

Hobbies : Kitesurfing, wakeboarding & reading among others

Other sports: I dabble in all racket sports

Online presence: Facebook

Squash Sponsors:
PRINCE: Racquets, bags, shoes, clothing, financial insentive bonuses
Pointfore: Strings & grips

Squash achievements :
 SA National Junior Champion U16 & U19
 2 x SA National Champion (’07 & ’08)
 4 PSA tour titles including Honk Kong Challenge, Austrian Open, Swiss Open and Leinster Open
SA number 1 in World Men’s Team Championships ’09, team coming 6th after being seeded 11th & best personal win over World ranked 14 Amir Atlas Khan.

Current World Ranking of 45

Training regime:
During the season 90% of training is on court; practice matches, routines, ghosting etc with fellow professionals. Training at least twice a day.
During the off season most of my training is off-court; strength work in the gym, endurance running & cycling, circuits and speed work. I do some on court training too in the form of ghosting, pressure sessions and solos. Again at least twice a day but often 3 times.

Favourite shots: Forehand smash/volley, counter drop and trickle boast (sorry coach)

Toughest game ever: I have a few to choose from but one that is most painful to remember is an 18-16 in the 5th loss to Germany’s Simon Rosner early in 2008. For shear pace though I must add a 3-1 loss to Ramy Ashour in Richmond, Virginia in ’09. I felt like I could have fried an egg on my calves or quads towards the end they were burning so much.
Fun stuff

Favourite food: I’ve yet to find a food that I don’t like but a good calamari is hard to beat.

Funniest moment in squash: I once accidently (I think) broke wind during a rally in a closely contested match, I struggled to contain a giggle while I was waiting to see whether my opponent would notice. When he realised and reacted it sent us both into stitches while still trying to finish the rally. It’s really difficult to play while laughing, I have no idea who won the rally.

Heroes: The Jamaican Bobsled Team of ‘Cool Runnings’ for showing you can have fun while achieving remarkable and improbable things with people laughing in their faces.

Favourite movie/book: Into the Wild & Shantaram

Worst faux pas: See ‘funniest moment’. I reckon that counts.

Star sign: Libra

Favourite quote: Make everything as simple as possible, but no simpler. Albert Einstein

Courtesy of www.squashball.co.za

By Kashif Shuja

One of the characteristic personalities on the PSA World Squash Tour - Davide has been around for a long time. He is as Italian as they come,  relaxed, emotional and passionate about life - you cant help but like Davide Bianchetti. He is also one of my favourite players with his style of play and elegant, smooth movement. Not much is known about him and I got a chance to chat to him on our long drive from to Toulouse.

World #5 Alison Waters on parents, brown bear, losing her temper, famous people on her mobile, ambitions, hobbies, Olympics and much, much more.

3 Videos below:

Celebrations, training regimens and injuries.

Travelling the world, my biggest rivals and why isn't squash in the Olympics?

How I got in to squash, turning pro and my top squash moment so far!