Name: John White
Country: Scotland
Date of Birth: 15 June 1963
Height: 1.84m
Place of Birth: Mount Isa, Australia
Place of Residence: Nottingham, England
Current World Ranking (May 02): 6
Highest World Ranking (Jan 02): 3
National Ranking: 1
PSA Titles: 5
PSA Final Appearances: 12
Born and raised in Queensland, Australia, where his parents owned a squash club, White moved to Belgium in the late nineties and, after a spell in The Hague in the Netherlands, moved to Nottingham in England with his wife and two children in 2000. In September 98, he changed his allegiance to Scotland (his father was born in Edinburgh) and, after winning the Scottish Nationals in December, represented his new country the following year in the European Championships, the World Cup and the World Team Championships.
After an indifferent period up until 1996 (he admitted later that he ‘didn’t enjoy it much back then’) his squash career took off in 1997 when he won his first two PSA Tour titles in Italy – and was runner-up in three others.
White’s move to Nottingham in England in 2000, to train at the University Sports Centre under its Director Vaughan Williams, proved to be the significant turning-point in his career.
The hard-hitting Scot made an immediate impact in his opening event of 2001, racing through the field of the Greenwich Open in the USA to reach the final, where he lost in four games to British Open champion David Evans.
In February, he achieved his career-best result – in the Flanders Open in Belgium where he was 15th seed. After his second win over Peter Marshall in a week, White beat Thierry Lincou, then Lee Beachill, before upsetting top seed Peter Nicol 12-15 15-12 15-10 17-16 in the semi-finals. After his first ever victory over the world No1 and world champion, John fought back from 2-1 down in the final to beat his former compatriot Paul Price 15-10 13-15 13-15 15-13 15-7 to win the Belgian trophy, and his first ever Super Series title.
After a second round defeat to Jonathon Power in the April’s PSA Masters in Egypt, White scored two successive semi-final berths on the PSA Tour. In the Irish Open in May, he ended local hero Derek Ryan’s run in the quarter-finals before losing a four-game a revenge match to former Scot Peter Nicol.
In June’s British Open in Birmingham, White improved on his best-ever quarter-final position (in the 1998 event) after taking out Graham Ryding and Del Harris – then lost a close semi-final battle with England’s event hero Chris Walker.
Seeded three in the Scottish Open in Perth in late June, White reasserted his status as the Scottish National champion on the eve of the event, then marched through to an incongruous semi-final battle – between top seed Peter Nicol, the former Scot just turned English, and White, the ex-Australian now flying Scottish colours. The ex-Scot prevailed, as Nicol beat White in straight games on his way to clinching the title.
In October, White led Scotland to a best-ever 4th place in the World Team Championships in Australia.
But earlier in the month, he achieved “one of the biggest wins of my career” when he crushed world No2 Jonathon Power 15-14 15-11 15-9 in the quarter-finals of the Qatar Classic in Doha. It was the Canadian’s first defeat on the permanently-sited all-glass court since winning the World Open title on it in December 1998. White lost in four to Peter Nicol in the semi-finals – but the Qatar success was enough to push him up to a best-ever No3 in the PSA world rankings in January 2002
White’s 2002 campaign began shakily with a second round defeat by qualifier Joseph Kneipp in the US Open at the beginning of January. Later in the month, he achieved his seeding in the Tournament of Champions in New York by reaching the semi-finals after wins over Rodney Durbach, Del Harris and David Evans. He took the first game against Nicol, but eventually went down in four to the top seed.
Beaten in the quarter-finals of the Pakistan Open in March by compatriot Martin Heath, White went on to reach his second successive British Open semi-final in April where he spectacularly overpowered in-form Jonathon Power – winner of the three previous major PSA Tour events.
“That’s the best I’ve played for a good few months,” said an ecstatic White after his 11-15 15-13 15-12 9-15 15-13 victory in 100 minutes. “Making the British Open final is very special – but doing it by beating Jonathon is even better.”
White lost in three to Nicol in the first all-British men’s final for more than 60 years - but had achieved enough to qualify for the Super Series Finals in London in June for the first time.
TOURNAMENT SUCCESSES:
Aug 94 Runner-up L'Acqua di Fiori Open BRA
Jul 95 Runner-up Cairns City Open AUS
Jun 96 Runner-up Western Australia Open AUS
Mar 97 Runner-up Grasshopper Cup SWI
May 97 Winner Bolzano Open ITA
May 97 Runner-up Italian Circuit No3 ITA
Jun 97 Winner Italian Circuit No4 ITA
Nov 97 Runner-up Lakeshore Classic USA
Feb 98 Winner Flanders Open BEL
Apr 98 Quarter-finalist *British Open ENG
May 98 Winner Mega Italia Open ITA
Dec 98 Quarter-finalist *World Open QAT
Dec 98 Winner Scottish Nationals SCO
Jun 99 Semi-finalist Libertel Open NED
Dec 99 Semi-finalist US Open USA
Feb 00 Quarter-finalist *Tournament of Champions USA
Sep 00 Quarter-finalist *Hong Kong Open HKG
Nov 00 Quarter-finalist Florida Open USA
Jan 01 Runner-up Greenwich Open USA
Feb 01 Winner *Flanders Open BEL
May 01 Semi-finalist Irish Open IRL
Jun 01 Semi-finalist *British Open ENG
Jun 01 Winner Scottish Nationals SCO
Jun 01 Semi-finalist Scottish Open SCO
Sep 01 Quarter-finalist *Al-Ahram International EGY
Oct 01 Semi-finalist *Qatar Classic QAT
Oct 01 (4th-placed team) World Team Championships AUS
Jan 02 Quarter-finalist US Open USA
Jan 02 Semi-finalist *Tournament of Champions USA
Mar 02 Quarter-finalist *Pakistan Open PAK
Apr 02 Runner-up *British Open ENG
Apr 02 2nd round *PSA Masters QAT
* Super Series event
