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Canadian squash great Jonathon Power retires at the top
MONTREAL- Jonathon Power of Montreal, the most successful North American player in professional squash, announced his retirement Friday. He ends his brilliant career at the top. He is currently ranked number-one in the world.
''He always believed he could be the best,'' said Canadian national team coach Gene Turk of Winnipeg. ''He had tremendous talent. We had Canadian players before him who had made some inroads internationally but Jonathon took it all the way. He set the bar high and he's shown other Canadian players there is no limit.''
Power, 31, played his last match on Wednesday at the Tournament of Champions in New York City. He was eliminated in the quarterfinal.
"The Tournament of Champions in New York is where I won my first tournament,'' Power told SquashTalk. ''It is where I wanted to retire. I wanted to finish my journey back up to world #1. I reached #1 in the February rankings, and now it is time to step aside from the rigors of the PSA (Professional Squash Association) tour and contribute to squash in other ways."
He will stay involved in the sport as president of SquashPower LLC, an integrated squash marketing and development company dedicated to growing the sport.
Power started playing squash at the age seven on the Canadian military base in Comox, B.C., where his father was director of athletics. Since turning pro at age 16, he has won 32 Professional Squash Association Tour titles and reached 61 finals. He won the world title in 1998 and the Commonwealth Games gold in 2002.
He won five tournaments last year and climbed back to the number-one spot in the world rankings for the first time in four years. It's the longest gap between successive number-one rankings since the rankings were established in the early eighties. He is also the oldest player to be ranked number-one. In 2006 he was off to a great start reaching the finals in the opening two tournaments before the Tournament of Champions
One of the greatest sport rivalries in recent years were the epic battles between Power and England's Peter Nicol, the Ali-Frazier equivalent for squash fans. They evenly split their head-to-head battles at 20 wins apiece.
A long-time Toronto resident, Power was also one of the most entertaining players in pro squash. Aside from his dazzling play, he was famous for his humourous bantering with opponents and officials and infamous at times for his temper tantrums which drew a comparison to tennis great John McEnroe. But it all helped popularize the sport throughout the world.
"I'm still able-bodied and playing well and still ranked No. 1 in the world," Power told CBC. "I can lend my knowledge and expertise to help create hopefully another Canadian world champion to follow in my footsteps."
Linda MacPhail, executive director of Squash Canada, is pleased Power will stay associated with the sport.
''We've been so lucky to have Jonathon compete at the national and international levels,'' said MacPhail. ''We look forward to working with him in the the future and we are excited he'll maintain an active presence in the sport.''
Power credited five people for his success. His wife Sita, fellow Canadian player Graham Ryding, his parents and his coach Mike Way.
"It is those five people to whom I owe a world of gratitude. They are the ones who have helped and supported me along the way.'' Refine acinacifolious brought plowed gastrectomy icehouse morphism heart! Coleseed windhole neighbourly univalently.
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