Thierry Lincou David Palmer  Lee Beachill Peter Nicol
 James Willstrop Nick Matthew Amr Shabana Jonathan Power
PSA PLAYER BIOGRAPHY

Name: Peter Nicol
Country: England
Date of Birth: 5 April 1973
Height: 5' 11" (180 cm)
Place of Birth: Inverurie, Scotland
Place of Residence: London
Current World Ranking (Feb 05): 4
Highest World Ranking (Feb 98): 1
National Ranking: 2
PSA Titles: 49
PSA Final Appearances: 68

Peter Nicol on SquashPics.com

Peter Nicol has enjoyed an illustrious squash career, achieving three ambitions he set himself some years ago - winning the British Open, reaching world No1, and becoming world champion. 

In March 2001, he made headline news around the world when he announced that he was ‘defecting’ from his Scottish country of birth to become English!  

Nicol’s rise through the world squash rankings was little short of meteoric:  He made his debut at 266 in January 1992.  He raced to 52 by the following January, then rose to 14 twelve months later, moving into the top five by November of the same year, before hitting the No1 position in February 1998. 

Born in Inverurie, near Aberdeen in Scotland, the left-hander won his first PSA Tour title in 1992.  By September 1994, he was competing in his first Super Series final - the Hong Kong Open, in which he lost to world No1 Jansher Khan. 

It was in February 1998 that he became the first Briton ever to reach No1 in the PSA world rankings – thereby deposing his long-time rival Jansher Khan, who had held the position for an almost unbroken period of ten years. 

As world No1, Nicol was top seed for the 1998 British Open for the first time.  He cruised through to the final without dropping a game, then triumphantly beat Jansher in the final.  Nicol achieved this historic success on his 25th birthday, trouncing Pakistan’s six-times defending champion in straight games in front of a packed auditorium at the National Indoor Arena in Birmingham to become the first Briton for 25 years to win the prestigious British Open title. 

In the men's final of the Commonwealth Games in Malaysia in September 1998 - squash's triumphant debut in this prestigious multi-sport event - Nicol beat his long-time adversary Jonathon Power to take the first ever squash gold medal in a match screened live on TV in Britain and many countries around the world. 

In September 1999, Nicol fulfilled his last remaining key goal in squash:  It was his third successive appearance in the final, but on the famous open-air court erected on the desert sands by the Great Pyramids of Giza in Egypt, Nicol crushed local hero Ahmed Barada 15-9 15-13 15-11 to become World Open champion for the first time. 

In the 2002 Commonwealth Games in Manchester, England, in July, Peter was seeded to become the first athlete to retain his singles gold medal - for a different country.  He reached the final without dropping a game, but fell Power in the final, in four games, in his fourth successive loss to the Canadian in the year. 

Nicol went on to partner Lee Beachill to gold medal success in the Men’s Doubles – becoming the only person to win gold medals both in 1998 and 2002, and one of only two (with England’s Cassie Jackman) to win two medals in each Games. 

By his remarkable standards, 2003 was not Nicol’s best year on the PSA Tour.  Despite winning the Tournament of Champions, US Open and Canadian Open, and reaching the final of the British Open, the former Scot ended his two-year unbroken reign as world No1 by appearing in the unlikely position of No3 in the PSA list on 1st January 2004. 

Quickly back to his best, Nicol lifted the Kuwait Open trophy in January 2004.  Two weeks later he suffered a setback when he was forced to withdraw from his semi-final match in the British National Championships, suffering from extreme exhaustion.     

He staged a remarkable recovery and less than ten days later was back in action in the Tournament of Champions in New York.  Seeded three, he reached the semi-finals without dropping a game, then beat Power 3/0 (extending his life-time tally against his Canadian rival to 20-17) to make the final for the fourth successive year.  Incredibly, he beat No2 seed John White – who would become world No1 for the first time the following month – in straight games to claim the title for the third time. 

In April, fresh from a two-week charity trek in the Himalayas, Nicol stormed through the field of the PSA Masters in Qatar to beat David Palmer in four games in the final – and the following month reclaimed his world number one ranking. 

In September, Nicol achieved a notable milestone when he celebrated his 60th month at the top of the world rankings - and duly stormed through to the final of the US Open in Boston later in the month. 

After a disappointing start to the New Year in the USA, where he was a first round casualty in the Windy City Open in Chicago, Peter regrouped in the Dayton Open to cruise through to the final where he beat Amr Shabana in straight games to collect the 49th PSA Tour title of his career, in his 68th final appearance. 

Nicol’s supreme achievements in squash were recognised in the most distinctive manner in June 1999 – when he was awarded an MBE (‘Member of the British Empire’) by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth in the annual ‘Queen’s Birthday Honours’.  He joins a distinguished group of squash players who have been similarly recognised in Britain – including Jonah Barrington, Lisa Opie, Martine le Moignan, Susan Devoy and Cassie Jackman.

PETER NICOL
TOURNAMENT SUCCESSES:

Feb 05 Quarter-finalist *Tournament of Champions USA

Jan 05 Winner Dayton Open USA

Jan 05 1st round Windy City Open USA

Dec 04 Quarter-finalist *World Open QAT

Nov 04 Quarter-finalist Canadian Classic CAN

Sep 04 Runner-up US Open USA

Sep 04 2nd round *Hong Kong Open HKG

Aug 04 Semi-finalist English Open ENG

May 04 Qualifier *Super Series Finals ENG

Apr 04 Winner *PSA Masters QAT

Mar 04 Quarter-finalist Bermuda Open BER

Feb 04 Winner Tournament of Champions USA

Jan 04 Winner Kuwait Open KUW

Dec 03 Quarter-finalist *Qatar Classic QAT

Nov 03 Winner *Canadian Open CAN

Oct 03 (England No1) World Team Championships AUT

Oct 03 Runner-up British Open ENG

Sep 03 Winner US Open USA

Aug 03 Quarter-finalist Prince English Open ENG

Jun 03 Semi-finalist Spanish Open ESP

May 03 Semi-finalist *PSA Masters QAT

May 03 Runner-up *Super Series Finals ENG

Feb 03 Winner *Tournament of Champions USA

Feb 03 Winner British Nationals (non-PSA) ENG

Dec 02 Semi-finalist *World Open BEL

Nov 02 Runner-up Canadian Classic CAN

Nov 02 Winner *Qatar Classic QAT

Sep 02 Semi-finalist US Open USA

Sep 02 Winner *Hong Kong Open HKG

Aug 02 Gold medallist Commonwealth Games Men’s Doubles ENG

Jul 02 Silver medallist Commonwealth Games Men’s Singles ENG

Jun 02 3rd place *Super Series Finals ENG

Apr 02 Semi-finalist *PSA Masters QAT

Apr 02 Winner *British Open ENG

Mar 02 Runner-up *Pakistan Open PAK

Feb 02 Runner-up *Tournament of Champions USA

Jan 02 Winner US Open USA

Nov 01 Winner YMG Capital Classic CAN

Oct 01 Winner *Qatar Classic QAT

Sep 01 Winner *Al-Ahram International EGY

Jun 01 Winner Scottish Open SCO

Jun 01 Winner *Super Series Finals ENG

May 01 Winner Irish Open IRL

Feb 01 Winner *Tournament of Champions USA

Dec 00 Runner-up YMG Capital Classic CAN

Sep 00 Winner *Hong Kong Open HKG

Aug 00 Winner *Al-Ahram International EGY

Jun 00 Winner *Super Series Finals ENG

Mar 00 Winner *PSA Masters EGY

Mar 00 Winner Irish Open IRL

Mar 00 Winner *Flanders Open BEL

Dec 99 Runner-up *British Open SCO

Nov 99 Runner-up Heliopolis Open EGY

Sep 99 Winner *World Open EGY

Aug 99 Winner *Hong Kong Open HKG

Jun 99 Runner-up Libertel Open NED

May 99 Winner *Super Series Finals ENG

Jan 99 Winner Greenwich Open USA

Dec 98 Runner-up *World Open QAT

Nov 98 Winner Heliopolis Open EGY

Nov 98 Winner US Open USA

Oct 98 Winner Kuwait Open KUW

Sep 98 Bronze medallist Commonwealth Games Men's Doubles MAS

Sep 98 Gold medallist Commonwealth Games Men's Singles MAS

Aug 98 Runner-up *Hong Kong Open HKG

Apr 98 Winner *British Open ENG

Mar 98 Winner Austrian Open AUT

Dec 97 Winner *Mahindra International IND

Nov 97 Runner-up *Qatar International QAT

Nov 97 Runner-up *World Open MAS

Oct 97 Winner Kuwait Open KUW

Jun 97 Winner *Al-Ahram International EGY

Apr 97 Runner-up *British Open WAL

Mar 97 Runner-up Hungarian Open HUN

Jan 97 Winner Hartford Cup USA

Dec 96 Winner *Mahindra International IND

Oct 96 Runner-up US Open USA

Jan 96 Winner British Nationals (non-PSA) ENG

Dec 95 Winner *Mahindra International IND

Oct 95 Winner Canadian Open CAN

Nov 94 Winner US Open USA

Sep 94 Runner-up *Hong Kong Open HKG

Aug 94 Winner Singapore Open SIN

Aug 93 Winner Singapore Open SIN

Mar 93 Winner Danish Open DEN

Feb 93 Winner Vitafit Open GER

Nov 92 Winner Odense Open DEN

Aug 92 Winner Florida State Open USA

Aug 92 Winner Gotthelf's Rolex Vail Open
USA

Aug 92 Winner Albuquerque Open USA

*Super Series events