|
20/05/2019
Massaro to Retire at End of Season
Former World Champion Massaro
to Retire at End of Season
England’s former World Champion Laura Massaro has announced that she
will retire from professional squash at the end of the 2018/19 season.
Preston-based Massaro, 35, is the most successful female English player
of the modern era and became the first Englishwoman in 15 years to lift
the PSA World Championship title in 2014.
 She
also won the historic British Open twice, ending a 22-year wait for a
female English player in 2013, while she captured her second British
Open crown in 2017, becoming the first Englishwoman since 1951 to win
squash’s longest-running tournament on two occasions.
The only Englishwoman to win both the World Championship and British
Open titles - trophies which she held at the same time - Massaro also
topped the PSA Women’s World Rankings for four months in 2016, making
her one of just three female English players to hold the No.1 ranking.
Massaro has been ever-present in the world’s top 10 since May 2008 and,
since turning professional in 2000, has won 23 PSA Tour titles from 43
finals, with her most recent trophy win coming at the Monte Carlo
Classic last December, where she beat World No.9 Tesni Evans in the
final.
 Massaro
has played 543 matches on the PSA Tour, winning 371 of them, and her
final two PSA tournaments will be the Manchester Open - which begins
tomorrow - and the Allam British Open as she brings the curtain down on
a glittering career.
Away from the PSA Tour, Massaro also has three Commonwealth Games silver
medals and four British Nationals titles to her name, while she led
England to the Women’s World Team Championships crown in 2014 after four
runner-up finishes at the tournament.
"I’ve been really lucky to have a healthy body, a really long career,
and it’s probably been more that I’ve ever expected in terms of titles
and my achievements in the game," Massaro said.
"There’s no point in trying to chase the world’s best when my best level
of squash is probably behind me, and it’s going to be very hard to get
that back. I’ve always gone after being the best in the world and
winning titles. But I think it’s time to hang up the racket, give a
little bit back now and watch these amazing youngsters do their thing on
court.
"I’m hugely proud of what I achieved, I always wanted to be successful,
I wanted to hang up my racket feeling that I couldn’t have achieved any
more in the game than I have, whether it was titles or the level of
play.
"That’s down to everyone that’s helped me in my career. There are too
many people to mention, but DP [David Pearson] and Danny [husband
Massaro] go without saying. I owe my level of squash to them, along with
all the other coaches who have helped me on my way.
"They, along with the physios, fasciotherapists, Caroline, Jade, Vicky
and Sylvan, have helped my movement be so efficient and given me my
longevity, along with Mark Campbell, who has given me the strength and
fitness to maintain my level. Without all of them, my career wouldn’t
have been what it has been.
"I also want to say thank you to my family and friends who have been
there supporting me in the ups and downs of my career since I was a
young junior player."
PSA Chief Executive Alex Gough said: "Laura has always been a consummate
professional. Her success on the tour has been testament to her
hard-work and unwavering mental strength.
"Laura has been an incredible role model for aspiring squash players,
and everyone at the PSA wishes her well for the future."
Massaro will appear as the No.5 and No.8 seed at this month's Manchester
Open and British Open, respectively. The Manchester Open takes place
between May 9-13 at the National Squash Centre, while the British Open
will be held between 20-26 at the University of Hull’s new sports
complex.
|
|
