Jonathon Tyler Power (born August 9, 1974) is a Canadian retired professional squash player. In 1999, he became the first North American squash player to reach the World No. 1 ranking. He won 36 top-level squash events during his career, including the World Open in 1998, and the British Open in 1999.

Career overview

Power began playing squash at the age of seven and turned professional at age 16. After joining the

Professional Squash Association The Professional Squash Association, or simply the PSA, is the governing body for the men's and women's professional Squash (sport), squash circuit. The body operates in a similar fashion to the Association of Tennis Professionals, ATP and the ...

(PSA) Tour in May 1991, he went on to win 36 PSA tournaments, and appeared in 58 finals. Career highlights included winning the World Open (1998), the British Open (1999), the Super Series Finals (2003 & 2005), the PSA Masters (2001, 2002 & 2005), the Tournament of Champions (1996, 1999, 2000 & 2002), and the men's singles Gold Medal at the

2002 Commonwealth Games The 2002 Commonwealth Games, officially known as the XVII Commonwealth Games and commonly known as Manchester 2002, were an international multi-sport event for the members of the Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth held in Manchester, England, ...

. Power is considered to be one of the greatest shotmakers in the history of the game, having perfected a wide range of drop shots and deception shots. He was often a crowd favourite, partly because of his emotional outbursts and verbal exchanges with referees, which sometimes led to him being compared with

John McEnroe John Patrick McEnroe Jr. (born February 16, 1959) is an American former professional tennis player. He was ranked as the world No. 1 in men's List of ATP number 1 ranked singles players, singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) ...

. Power's rivalry with

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

Peter Nicol Peter Nicol (born 5 April 1973) is a former professional squash player from Scotland, who represented first Scotland and then England in international squash. In 1998, while still competing for Scotland, he became the first player from the UK ...

was one of the most famous and extended in the history of the game. In January 2006, Power returned to the World No. 1 ranking, four-and-a-half years after the previous time he was ranked in the top spot (marking the longest gap between periods of holding the World No. 1 ranking of any player in history). He lost the No. 1 ranking in February 2006 to David Palmer, but regained it again on 1 March 2006. One day later, on 2 March, Power announced his retirement from professional squash. His wife, Sita, gave birth to their daughter named Parker on January 23, 2007. Power played for Canada at the 2007 and 2009 World Team Championships. He defeated several highly ranked players and showed he was still competitive at world level. He also won the 2008 Canadian Championships, defeating

Shahier Razik Shahier Razik (born November 18, 1977, in Cairo, Egypt) is a professional squash player who represented Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend f ...

in the final.

World Open final appearances

British Open final appearances

Commonwealth Games final appearances

External links

* * *
Page at Squashpics.com

BBC article on Power's retirement

Bruce Grierson article "Court Jester" on Power's rise
{{DEFAULTSORT:Power, Jonathon 1974 births Living people Canadian male squash players Commonwealth Games gold medallists for Canada Commonwealth Games silver medallists for Canada Commonwealth Games gold medallists in squash Commonwealth Games silver medallists in squash Medalists at the 1995 Pan American Games Pan American Games silver medalists for Canada Pan American Games silver medalists in squash Sportspeople from Comox, British Columbia Racket sportspeople from British Columbia Racket sportspeople from Ontario Squash players from Toronto Squash players at the 1995 Pan American Games Squash players at the 1998 Commonwealth Games Squash players at the 2002 Commonwealth Games Medallists at the 1998 Commonwealth Games Medallists at the 2002 Commonwealth Games