Charles Richard Read (1 March 1889 – date of death unknown) was a 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

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...

, where professional squash began in 1907. Read was based at the

Queen's Club The Queen's Club is a private sporting club in West Kensington, London, England. The club hosts the annual Queen's Club Championships men's grass court lawn tennis tournament (currently known as the "cinch Championships" for sponsorship ...

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

, and beat C. Bannister of the

Bath Club The Bath Club was a sports-themed London gentlemen's club in the 20th century. It was established in 1894 at 34 Dover Street. Its swimming pool was a noted feature, and it is thought that the swimming pool of the fictional Drones Club (also on D ...

15–5, 15–13 at the Bath Club to win the first English professional championship title. Read then defended his title as English champion three more times until 1928. Read was born in Kensington, London to Alfred, a

whitesmith A whitesmith is a metalworker who does finishing work on iron and steel such as filing, lathing, burnishing or polishing. The term also refers to a person who works with "white" or light-coloured metals, and is sometimes used as a synonym for tinsmi ...

, and Clara Read.''1891 England Census'' When the

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 ...

men's championship was instituted in 1930, Read was officially designated the first title holder, and thus played in the first final as the 'defending champion'. The 41-year-old Read, however, lost the inaugural final series, played in home and away legs, 6–9, 5–9, 5–9 and 3–9, 5–9, 3–9 in December 1930 to the 25-year-old challenger

Don Butcher Donald Butcher was an English squash player, and the first player to win the British Open men's title in open play. Butcher was a professional squash player based at the Conservative Club in London when he played in the first British Open fina ...

, a professional player from the

Conservative Club The Association of Conservative Clubs is an organisation associated with the Conservative Party in the United Kingdom. It represents and provides support to the largest association of political clubs in the country estimated at 1,100. The Assoc ...

. Read was a versatile sportsman, having also been British professional champion at

Lawn Tennis Tennis is a racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent ( singles) or between two teams of two players each ( doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket that is strung with cord to strike a hollow rubber ball c ...

and Rackets.

References

External links

History of Squash article at Worldsquash.org
1889 births Year of death missing Sportspeople from Kensington English male squash players English male tennis players Professional tennis players before the Open Era {{England-squash-bio-stub