James Willstrop
Willstrop and Karim Darwish in action
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| Nickname(s) | The Marksman |
|---|---|
| Country |
 England United Kingdom
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| Residence | Leeds, West Yorkshire, England |
| Born |
15 August 1983 North Walsham, Norfolk |
| Height | 1.90 m (6 ft 3 in) |
| Weight | 88 kg (194 lb) |
| Turned Pro | 2002 |
| Retired | Active |
| Plays | Right Handed |
| Coached by | Malcolm Willstrop |
| Racquet used | Unsquashable |
| Website | www.willstrop.co.uk/ |
| Highest ranking | No. 1 (January, 2012) |
| Current ranking | No. 6 (March , 2017) |
| Title(s) | 18 |
| Tour final(s) | 38 |
| World Open | F (2010) |
| Last updated on: July, 2016. | |
James Willstrop (born 15 August 1983) is an English professional squash player from West Yorkshire, England. He was born in North Walsham, Norfolk, United Kingdom. He reached a career-high world ranking of World No. 1 in January 2012.
Willstrop has a large build for a squash player, being 6 feet 3 inches (191 cm) and 194 pounds (88 kg). He trains at Pontefract Squash Club in West Yorkshire, where he is trained by his father, Malcolm Willstrop.
Willstrop crowned a sensational junior squash career in 2002 when he claimed his third consecutive British Junior Under-19 National Championship title, to establish himself as England's most successful junior player of all time – having won National titles at all age groups (under-12, under-14, under-17 and under-19), and British Junior Open trophies at under-14, under-17 and under-19. In the same year, he established himself as the world's top junior player, claiming both the European and the World junior titles.
Willstrop went on to be one of the youngest players ever to play for the senior England team, representing his country for the first time at both the European and World Team Squash Championships in 2003.
In 2004, he won the Pakistan Open title in Islamabad (upsetting Amr Shabana in the quarter-finals) in his first appearance in a PSA Super Series final. In 2005, he finished runner-up at the British Open as the seventh seed, then followed this by lifting the Qatar Classic trophy in only his second Super Series final appearance. This first-time success led to Willstrop leaping six places to a career-high World No. 2 in the PSA world rankings published that December. The new ranking catapulted Willstrop to the position of top-ranked Englishman – which led to his promotion to squad number one in the England team for the 2005 World Team Championships in Pakistan later in the month, when he led the team to victory for the first time in eight years.
In the 2006 Commonwealth Games in Melbourne, Willstrop partnered Vicky Botwright to a Silver Medal in the Mixed Doubles. Willstrop also won the 2007 British National Squash Championships title, beating John White in the final. In December 2007, Willstrop helped England retain the World Team Championship title in Chennai, India, and won the English Open, beating fellow Yorkshireman Nick Matthew in the final.
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