Home
  News
  Draw
  Players
  Gallery
  Sponsors
  History
  Messages
  Celebrity-Am
 
Thierry Lincou David Palmer  Lee Beachill Peter Nicol
 James Willstrop Nick Matthew Amr Shabana Jonathan Power
PSA PLAYER BIOGRAPHY

Name:
LEE BEACHILL
Country:
ENGLAND
Date of Birth:
28/11/77
Height:
6' 1" (183 cm)
Place of Birth:
Huddersfield
Place of Residence:
Pontefract
Current World Ranking (Jan 05):
2
Highest World Ranking (Oct 04): 1
National Ranking: 1
PSA Titles: 5
PSA Final Appearances: 9

Lincou on SquashPics.com

A single career-threatening injury would be a major blow to any top sportsman.  Three in succession, however, would surely enforce early retirement in all but the most determined. 

Lee Beachill, a hero of England’s world junior championship-winning team of 1996, suffered three such accidents within twelve months from September 1997.  After contracting salmonella in Portugal and losing two-and-a-half stone (16 kg) in weight while seriously ill in hospital, Lee then suffered a serious road accident, writing off his car and breaking his back in two places! 

Despite a hospital diagnosis that would spend at least the next four months on his back – and would never play squash again – he was back on court after some eight weeks and made his tournament comeback at the 1998 British Open!   

Then ranked 127 in the world, he was required to compete in the pre-qualifying preliminary competition.  Incredibly, six victories later the 20-year-old qualified for a debut appearance in the prestigious event’s first round – where he was drawn to play the favourite and world No1 Peter Nicol, who went on to win the title after ending Beachill’s brave run in straight games. 

In October 98, Lee won his first PSA Tour title, the Adelaide Club Open in Toronto, Canada.  Three days later, however, a freak accident led to further hospitalisation – when a go cart crushed his foot after mysteriously leaving the indoor circuit track which he and friends were visiting! 

The lean Yorkshireman has since become England’s fastest-rising squash star – in February 2001 becoming the lowest seed ever to capture the British National title, then in June reaching the semi-finals of the British Open.  In February 2002, Lee became the first man in history to successfully defend the British National title. 

In the 2002 Commonwealth Games in England, Lee partnered Peter Nicol in the Men’s Doubles and collected England’s only Gold medal of the Games, beating Australians Stewart Boswell and Anthony Ricketts in the final. 

After being forced to retire from the quarter-finals of the Tournament of Champions in New York in February 2003 – which was his third successive withdrawal from a PSA Tour event after persistent problems with his right ankle – Beachill rushed back to England where he underwent surgery which kept him out of action for two months. 

He made his comeback for England in the European Team Championships in May, and returned to the PSA Tour later in the month at the Super Series Finals in London – where he was making his debut in the annual event for the top eight players who achieve the best results in the previous year’s Super Series events.   

After disappointing draws in three successive PSA events which saw him face – and lose to – world No1 Peter Nicol, Beachill produced his best in the Qatar Classic in December.  Seeded nine, he beat Stefan Casteleyn and Mohammed Abbas to reach the quarter-finals where he again faced Nicol.  This time he triumphed over the top seed in straight games, and went on to beat England team-mate Nick Matthew to make his debut in a Super Series final.  A stunning 15-12 15-5 11-15 12-15 15-9 victory over Scotland’s John White, the No2 seed, gave Beachill his biggest PSA title to date. 

Three months later, Lee was again on the winner’s podium – after beating Australia’s David Palmer in the final of the PSA Tour’s five-star Bermuda Open in May 2004. 

His glorious year continued with victories in the English Open in August and the US Open in September – in the latter triumphing over David Palmer in the semis and Peter Nicol in the final. 

The long-awaited reward came the following month when Lee reached No1 in the Dunlop PSA world rankings – becoming the first true Englishman to achieve this accolade. 

Lee finished the year by reaching the final – the 12th of his career – of the World Open in Qatar, where he lost in five games to Thierry Lincou. 

In the New Year, Beachill was a semi-finalist in the Windy City Open and reached the quarter-finals of the Tournament of Champions – but his most notable achievement of the year to date was his triumph in the British National Championships in Manchester where, in his fifth successive appearance in the final, he brushed aside close friend and Pontefract club-mate James Willstrop to win the title for the third time. 

Born in Huddersfield in Yorkshire, Lee took up squash when he was eight, guided by noted coach Malcolm Willstrop, his mentor still today.  By his late teens, Beachill had won British junior titles at U12, U14, U16 and U19 – becoming only the second person (after world top five player Simon Parke) to win all four national junior championships.

LEE BEACHILL
TOURNAMENT SUCCESSES:

Feb-05 Quarter-finalist *Tournament of Champions USA

Feb-05 Winner #British National Championship ENG

Jan-05 Semi-finalist Windy City Open USA

Dec-04 Runner-up *World Open QAT

Nov-04 Quarter-finalist Canadian Classic CAN

Nov-04 Semi-finalist British Open ENG

Sep-04 Winner US Open USA

Sep-04 Semi-finalist Hong Kong Open HKG

Aug-04 Winner English Open ENG

May-04 Qualifier *Super Series Finals ENG

Apr-04 Semi-finalist *PSA Masters QAT

Mar-04 Winner Bermuda Open BER

Feb-04 Semi-finalist Tournament of Champions USA

Feb-04 Runner-up #British Nationals ENG

Jan-04 Quarter-finalist Kuwait Open KUW

Dec-03 Quarter-finalist *World Open PAK

Dec-03 Winner *Qatar Classic QAT

Nov-03 Quarter-finalist *Canadian Open CAN

Oct-03 (England No2) #World Team Championships AUT

Oct-03 Quarter-finalist British Open ENG

Aug-03 Quarter-finalist Prince English Open ENG

May-03 Quarter-finalist *PSA Masters QAT

May-03 (Quarter-finalist) *Super Series Finals ENG

Feb-03 Quarter-finalist *Tournament of Champions USA

Feb-03 Runner-up #British Nationals ENG

Jan-03 Semi-finalist Dayton Open USA

Aug-02 Quarter-finalist *Hong Kong Open HKG

Aug-02 Gold medallist #Commonwealth Games Men’s Doubles ENG

Jul-02 Quarter-finalist #Commonwealth Games Men’s Singles ENG

Apr-02 Quarter-finalist *PSA Masters QAT

Apr-02 Quarter-finalist *British Open ENG

Mar-02 Quarter-finalist *Pakistan Open PAK

Feb-02 Winner #British Nationals ENG

Nov-01 Semi-finalist Canadian Classic CAN

Oct-01 (3rd-placed team) #World Team Championships AUS

Jun-01 Semi-finalist *British Open ENG

May-01 Semi-finalist Irish Open IRL

Feb-01 Winner #British Nationals ENG

Feb-01 Quarter-finalist *Flanders Open BEL

Jan-01 Winner Pittsburgh Open USA

Jan-01 Quarter-finalist Apawamis Open USA

Dec-00 Quarter-finalist Malaysian Open MAS

Nov-00 Semi-finalist MAAA Invitational CAN

Sep-00 Winner South African Challenge RSA

May-00 Semi-finalist Italian Open ITA

Apr-00 Quarter-finalist Mega Italia Open ITA

Nov-99 Semi-finalist Pittsburgh Open USA

Nov-99 Runner-up Lakeshore Classic USA
 
Oct-99 Quarter-finalist Motor City Open USA

Aug-99 Quarter-finalist Exterieur Open FRA

May-99 Runner-up Mega Italia Open ITA

Oct-98 Winner Adelaide Club Open CAN

Apr-98 Runner-up Windy City Open USA

Apr-98 Runner-up Hashim Khan BOA Pro Championships USA
 
Jun-97 Semi-finalist Lisbon Open POR

May-97 Semi-finalist Bolzano Open ITA
 
Nov-96 Winner #British U19 Nationals ENG

Apr-96 Winner #European Junior Championships GER

Feb-96 Winner #British U19 Nationals ENG

Mar-93 Winner #British U16 Nationals ENG

Oct-91 Winner #British U14 Nationals ENG

Mar-89 Winner #British U12 Nationals ENG

# non-PSA    
* Super Series event