Notable Moments in Men's Professional Squash

1904: The first professional squash tournament in the world was held at the Huntingdon Valley Country Club outside Philadelphia. Six players entered.

1928: The United States Professional Squash Racquets Association (USPSRA) was founded.

1930: USPSRA holds its first pro event in Boston.

1930: 41 year old Charles Read is "appointed" British Open Champion without playing a match.

1931: Don Butcher becomes the first player to actually win the British Open as he beat Charles Read in the unique Challenger format.

1938: Professional doubles squash begins with the founding of the Heights Casino Open in Brooklyn, NY.

1954: Henri Salaun beats Hashim Khan to win the first U.S. Open (hardball tournament) in New York.

1958: Pro squash players Henri Salaun and Diehl Mateer are on the cover of Sports Illustrated

1966:  U.S. Open combines with the Canadian Open to become the North American Open. Mo Khan beats Victor Niederhoffer to win the first tournament title.

1970: Six-time British Open Champion Jonah Barrington organizes a five-man barnstorming tour of Asia to promote and grow the game. 

1973: Based on Barrington's successful efforts, the International Squash Professionals Association (ISPA) is founded with the goal of building a global tour.

1976: ISPA hosts its first World Open tournament.

1978: The USPSRA becomes the World Professional Squash Association (WPSA). All of its tournaments are staged in North America.

1980s-1990s: Doubles squash becomes more active with the growing WPSA tour. They promote six to eight doubles tournaments annually in the 80s and approximately a dozen annually in the 90s.

1983: Jahangir Khan (Pakistan) beats Gamal Awad (Egypt) 3-1 in Chichester, England. The match is the longest in history at 2 hours 46 minutes. Game one lasted 1 hour 15 minutes.

1985: Jahangir Khan (Pakistan) beats Ross Norman (New Zealand) to win the re-launched U.S. Open, now a softball tournament.

1986: Jahangir Khan's winning streak ends at 555 consecutive matches when  Ross Norman  beats him in the finals of the World Open. Khan had not lost a match in 5 years 8 months.

1993: Softball becomes the standard as the WPSA (hardball tour) and the ISPA (softball tour) merge and form the Professional Squash Association (PSA). The ISPA is notably in debt at the time of the merger.

1993: The newly formed PSA struggles mightily for a year and a half losing most of its cash reserves.

1994: Concerned for its survival, the PSA invites former WPSA Board Chairman and successful businessman Jack Herrick to join the PSA Board and to serve as its Chairman. 

2000: Doubles players separate from the singles tour and form the International Squash Doubles Association (ISDA) Tour.  It remains a hardball game.

2004: PSA switches to point a rally scoring to 11 in their match play.

2008: After 14 years as PSA Chairman, Cleveland, OH based Jack Herrick retires. At the time of his retirement, PSA is financially solid and the tour's annual player purse has grown from $1.2 million to $3.1 million.

2009: US Pro Squash hosts its first tournament at Cross Courts Squash Club in Natick, MA.

2010: US Pro Squash re-brands to become Pro Squash Tour (PST).

2010: Ivan Yuen (Malaysia) beats Mudh Asyraf (Malaysia) 3-2 in Kolkata, India.The match lasts 2 hours 43 minutes, the longest match under the Point a Rally scoring system.

2010: Expressing concern for its own future, PSA bans its players from competing in PST tournaments.

2011: PSA financial statements show a sizable operating loss in 2010 and liabilities substantially exceeding assets. An independent auditor has "significant doubt about [PSA's] ability to continue as a going concern." Current PSA Chairman Ziad Al-Turki pledges substantial financial support to cover any short term needs.

2011: Bradley Ball (England) is crowned PST's first World Champion.

2012: PST completes season having promoted more tournaments in the U.S. than any other squash tour.

2012: Wael El Hindi (Egypt) beats David Palmer (Australia) to win the first Pro Squash Tour World Championship Tournament, hosted by the Detroit Athletic Club.

2012: Top ISDA players announce their intent to leave the tour and form a new SDA Pro Tour.

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