Angela Smith (squash)
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Angela Smith (born 3 July 1953 in
Stoke-on-Trent Stoke-on-Trent (often abbreviated to Stoke) is a city and unitary authority area in Staffordshire, England, with an area of . In 2019, the city had an estimated population of 256,375. It is the largest settlement in Staffordshire and is surroun ...
, Staffordshire,
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 ...
) is a retired professional English
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: she was one of the world's top ranked squash players from 1979 to 1990. She was also the first female squash player to turn professional and was widely recognized for changing the face of women's squash by doing so. Her first overseas position was as squash coach at the prestigious Vertical Club in Manhattan, New York, where
Vitas Gerulaitis Vytautas Kevin Gerulaitis (July 26, 1954 – September 17, 1994) was an American professional tennis player, known as Vitas Gerulaitis. In 1975, he won the men's doubles title at Wimbledon, partnering with Sandy Mayer. He won the men's single ...
was the tennis pro. Her contract there was said to be the most lucrative of its kind in the sport at that time. There she coached many famous personalities of the time, such as
Jackie Kennedy Jacqueline Lee Kennedy Onassis ( ; July 28, 1929 – May 19, 1994) was an American socialite, writer, photographer, and book editor who served as first lady of the United States from 1961 to 1963, as the wife of President John F. Kennedy. A po ...
. Following her successful period in the States and her significant input into the Women's Sport Foundation of America, Smith took up an even greater challenge in Nassau, Bahamas where she took squash from the realms of an expat sport to one embraced by locals. She was instrumental in Shell sponsoring the squash programme. Several of the juniors that Smith coached later went on to play on the world circuit themselves. Following her six years in Nassau, she was based in Barcelona, Spain at the Can Melich club where she was again a great success, helping to organise amongst other events the European Junior championships. She also coached and helped further develop the game in Hong Kong, Bermuda, Trinidad and Tobago, St Vincent and Kenya. She did all this whilst jetting to and from the UK and world circuits to compete in the necessary events to allow her to represent her country and also maintain her place in the world rankings. After Smith's immediate success as a professional, making a career from tournament play rather than just coaching,
Sue Cogswell Sue Cogswell (born 7 September 1951 in Birmingham) is a retired squash player from England. She was runner-up at the 1979 Women's World Open Squash Championship, where she lost in the final to the Australian player Heather McKay 6–9, 9–3, ...
followed suit at the end of 1980 and the UK women's squash game was quickly forced to become "open"; the rest of the world swiftly followed suit and today's female professionals owe a debt to Smith and those brave enough to join her in those early days, namely the Australians
Sue Newman Sue Newman (married name Sue King) is an Australian former professional squash player. She won the British Open in 1978, beating her fellow Australian player Vicki Hoffman in the final 9–4, 9–7, 9–2.Barbara Wall Barbara Wall (born 25 May 1948) is an Australian former professional squash player.''W.A. Hall of Champions'' inductee booklet. (2006) Published by the Western Australian Institute of Sport Wall turned professional in 1973, the first Austral ...
and
Lyle Hubinger Lyle may refer to: People Surname * Lyle (surname) Given name * Lyle Alzado (1949–1992), American NFL All-Pro football player * Lyle Beerbohm (born 1979), professional mixed martial arts fighter * Lyle Bennett (1903–2005), head coach of t ...
.


Career

Smith was coached by Nasrullah Khan, who also coached Jonah Barrington. She enjoyed a meteoric rise to the top, reaching a ranking of 2 in the UK upon her first entry into the list. She reached the semifinals of the
British Open Squash Championships The British Open Squash Championships is the oldest tournament in the game of squash. It is widely considered to be one of the two most prestigious tournaments in the game, alongside the World Squash Championships (prior to the establishment ...
eight times, and won the Spanish, Portuguese, Canadian, US, Norwegian, Israel (a record six times) and Bermuda Opens. She was British champion in
1976 Events January * January 3 – The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights enters into force. * January 5 – The Pol Pot regime proclaims a new constitution for Democratic Kampuchea. * January 11 – The 1976 Phil ...
. Smith was part of the winning British team during the
1979 Women's World Team Squash Championships The 1979 Women's World Team Squash Championships were held in England and took place from March 15 until March 20, 1979. Results Round Robin Final See also *World Team Squash Championships The WSF World Team Squash Championshi ...
and runner-up in the
1981 Women's World Team Squash Championships The 1981 Women's W.I.S.R.F World Team Squash Championships were held in Canada and took place from October 25 until November 2, 1981. Results Group 1 Group 2 Positional Play Offs Final References See also *Worl ...
. On two further occasions, when England reached the World Team Championships final, both against Australia, she won her matches whilst the team were defeated 2-1. Her pride in playing for her country was obvious and she was undefeated whilst on International duty for Great Britain. Smith captained and played in the World International Team in test matches against South Africa. Along with
Rhonda Thorne Rhonda Thorne (born 6 February 1958, in Toowoomba, Queensland) (also known as Rhonda Clayton and Rhonda Shapland) is an Australian former World No. 1 squash player. She was one of the leading players on the international squash circuit in the ...
, she was invited to open the courts in Monaco for and in the presence of Prince Rainier and his family. She held dozens of English domestic and regional titles in her career. Smith coached the national teams for the
Bahamas The Bahamas (), officially the Commonwealth of The Bahamas, is an island country within the Lucayan Archipelago of the West Indies in the North Atlantic. It takes up 97% of the Lucayan Archipelago's land area and is home to 88% of the archi ...
, Spain, and Hong Kong and was also the
United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., federal district, five ma ...
men's squash team coach from 1980 to 1982. The US Squash team that travelled to South Africa to train and onto Australia included Gil Mateer (as captain), Ned Edwards, Mark Alger and Jon Foster. She was also Britain's first squash representative in the Australia Games. Smith had a long rivalry with
Sue Cogswell Sue Cogswell (born 7 September 1951 in Birmingham) is a retired squash player from England. She was runner-up at the 1979 Women's World Open Squash Championship, where she lost in the final to the Australian player Heather McKay 6–9, 9–3, ...
for the British number one spot over many years, and her matches against Vicki Hoffman (now Cardwell) were felt to be pure theatre, especially those taking place in the
British Open Squash Championships The British Open Squash Championships is the oldest tournament in the game of squash. It is widely considered to be one of the two most prestigious tournaments in the game, alongside the World Squash Championships (prior to the establishment ...
. Smith was one of a very few players to win a game against Australian player
Heather McKay Heather Pamela McKay (née Blundell) (born 31 July 1941) is a retired Australian squash player, who is considered by many to be the greatest female player in the history of the game, and possibly also Australia's greatest-ever sportswoman. S ...
, at the
1979 Women's World Open Squash Championship The 1979 Women's World Open Squash Championship was the women's edition of the 1979 World Open, which serves as the individual world championship for squash players. The event took place in Sheffield in England during 6–12 March 1979. Heather ...
. Smith was considered to be one of the fittest players competing on the ladies' circuit throughout her career. She was the first female squash player to appear on ''Superstars'' and ''A Question of Sport,'' hugely popular and successful British TV shows. Smith also organised and promoted the first women's squash events in the Middle East, in
Dubai Dubai (, ; ar, دبي, translit=Dubayy, , ) is the most populous city in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and the capital of the Emirate of Dubai, the most populated of the 7 emirates of the United Arab Emirates.The Government and Politics ...
and
Bahrain Bahrain ( ; ; ar, البحرين, al-Bahrayn, locally ), officially the Kingdom of Bahrain, ' is an island country in Western Asia. It is situated on the Persian Gulf, and comprises a small archipelago made up of 50 natural islands and an ...
. Along with Jayne Ashton of England and
Sue Newman Sue Newman (married name Sue King) is an Australian former professional squash player. She won the British Open in 1978, beating her fellow Australian player Vicki Hoffman in the final 9–4, 9–7, 9–2.Barbara Wall Barbara Wall (born 25 May 1948) is an Australian former professional squash player.''W.A. Hall of Champions'' inductee booklet. (2006) Published by the Western Australian Institute of Sport Wall turned professional in 1973, the first Austral ...
and
Lyle Hubinger Lyle may refer to: People Surname * Lyle (surname) Given name * Lyle Alzado (1949–1992), American NFL All-Pro football player * Lyle Beerbohm (born 1979), professional mixed martial arts fighter * Lyle Bennett (1903–2005), head coach of t ...
of Australia, she formed
WISPA Wispa is a brand of chocolate bar manufactured by British chocolate company Cadbury. Using aerated chocolate, the bar was launched in 1981 as a trial version in North East England, and with its success it was introduced nationally in 1983. I ...
, the professional ladies' body for squash, in 1979. To this day, WISPA remains the governing body of the ladies game. Smith is currently General Manager of the ladies teams and an ambassador for Stoke City football club and set up the successful academy operating out of Shanghai. She is a commentator for
BBC Radio Stoke BBC Radio Stoke is the BBC's local radio station serving Staffordshire and South Cheshire. It broadcasts on FM, DAB, Freeview and via BBC Sounds from studios in the Hanley area of Stoke-on-Trent. According to RAJAR, the station has a weekl ...
on Stoke City F.C. matches


Personal life

Smith is a lifelong fan of Stoke City Football Club. She is also a trustee of Xpro, the charity for ex-professional footballers, MacariFoundation, a charity for the homeless and chair of Stoke City Supporters Council.


References


External links


World Women's Team Championship
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Smith, Angela 1953 births Living people English female squash players