Derek Ryan (born 10 December 1969) is a retired Irish professional

squash Squash most often refers to: * Squash (sport), the high-speed racquet sport also known as squash racquets * Squash (plant), the fruit of vines of the genus ''Cucurbita'' Squash may also refer to: Sports * Squash (professional wrestling), an extr ...

player who at the peak of his career rose to No. 7 in the world rankings, and for many years was the Irish men's number 1 player. Ryan was born in

Dublin Dublin is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Situated on Dublin Bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, and is bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, pa ...

. He began playing squash along with his brother Noel, as his parents both played. Living in Killiney he played at various local clubs including ''Squash Ireland'' and from the age of 14 he played league squash with Sandycove TSC. Ryan was ranked first in Ireland by the age of 19. He completed his school Leaving Certificate and decided to study

accountancy Accounting, also known as accountancy, is the process of recording and processing information about economic entities, such as businesses and corporations. Accounting measures the results of an organization's economic activities and conveys ...

which he discontinued after a year. Aged 19 he decided to play professionally and in 1991 he moved to

Manchester Manchester () is a city and the metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England. It had an estimated population of in . Greater Manchester is the third-most populous metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, with a population of 2.92&nbs ...

. After a successful international career as a professional player, including appearing a record 188 times for the Irish national team, he retired from the professional circuit in 2002. He continued to play national squash with Fitzwilliam, the current Irish champions, and studied

physiotherapy Physical therapy (PT), also known as physiotherapy, is a healthcare profession, as well as the care provided by physical therapists who promote, maintain, or restore health through patient education, physical intervention, disease preventio ...

at the

University of Salford The University of Salford is a Public university, public research university in Salford, Greater Manchester, Salford, Greater Manchester, England, west of Manchester city centre. The Royal Technical Institute, Salford, which opened in 1896, be ...

. Ryan now practices as a physiotherapist in Dublin. In 2008 he played the then current world number 2

Grégory Gaultier Grégory Gaultier (born 23 December 1982, in Épinal, France) is a former professional squash player from France. He has won the 2015 World Open Squash Championship, the British Open three times, in 2007, 2014 and 2017, the Qatar Classic in ...

in his testimonial match. Ryan currently plays at Irish number 2 and has reached 200 caps for his country. He plays below Arthur Gaskin, the world number 80 and considered to be one of the greatest coaches in Britain.

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* * * 1969 births Living people Sportspeople from County Dublin Alumni of the University of Salford Irish physiotherapists Irish male squash players World Games silver medalists Medalists at the 1997 World Games Health professionals from County Dublin People from Killiney 20th-century Irish sportsmen {{Ireland-squash-bio-stub