In the final of a 3 part interview, Toby Gray catches up with world number 5 Laura Massaro her year, the Olympics, and the increasingly struggle for squash to reach our airwaves, despite considerable and consistent success over the past few years.
You recently climbed to 5th in the world, your highest ranking yet, so how has the past 12 months been for your career?
The past 12 months has been mainly great but this time last year was a bit turbulent. I was recovering and trying to get fit from a bad ankle injury and didn't make a great start to the season. I reached my seeding in 3 of the 1st bunch of events but I was way off where I wanted to be and way off beating anyone above me. Since about Oct (when I won silver in the Commonwealth games) thing's started to pick up.
I made the final of Carol Weymuller in NY and then won Sharm El Sheikh. I had a great training period over xmas and then pushed hard beating the world number 1 and winning my first WISPA gold event in Cleveland.This was followed with winning National championships. Unfortunately after that I picked up an injury which meant I didn't play great In KL in March and had to withdraw from 2 events after that. After another good training and rehab phase I was fit again though and have just returned from Malaysia and Singapore where I managed to beat the world number 1 and 6. This took my ranking to a career high of 5 and I’m hoping the rest of the season will continue in the same vain.
How did you get into squash?
My Mum and Dad both played and I spent a lot of time at the squash club
when I was young.
What was it about the sport that made it so appealing?
It seemed like fun when I was young. I love that squash has so many aspects to it. Speed, agility, endurance, tactical, technical and mental.
The world’s top 20 for both men and women is filled with British players, so in terms of popularity and scope, what do you make of the state of squash in the UK?
It seems quite popular but it's all tied into publicity, funding and tournament. At the top end the men and women's tours are strong throughout the world but not very strong in the UK. We have very few events and England Squash struggle to get sponsors for big events like the British Open. Because of this we struggle to get any sort of publicity and even in the Commonwealth Games when we do very well we are over shadowed by other bigger sports. It's an uphill battle but everyone is dedicated to getting squash in the public eye and trying to get more people involved in the game.
With this influx of British talent, do you think there is enough coverage of the sport across the country?
I don't think squash or the players gets the recognition it deserves. We all train and work really hard and it's a shame people don't get to see the work we put in. I realise squash is a minority sport but it's just unfortunate that with England being so strong as a nation that the public aren't more aware of these successes regardless of the sport.
All of this Olympic talk is hotting up, what do you make of the decision not include squash in the Olympic Programme?
Obviously it's very disappointing. The closer the Olympics get the more disappointing it is that squash won't be part of it. I genuinely feel the athletes involved in squash deserve the chance to win an Olympic gold medal. Hopefully we will get there in the end.
You’ve already achieved massive things in squash, but where do you see yourself, and squash in 5 years time?
Well, hopefully still playing and injury free. To have challenged and won some big titles and to improve my squash level and world ranking.
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