Jonathon Tyler Power (born August 9, 1974) is a Canadian retired professionalsquash player. In 1999, he became the first North American squash player to reach the World No. 1 ranking. He won 36 top-level squash events during his career, including theWorld Open in 1998, and theBritish Open in 1999.
Power began playing squash at the age of seven and turned professional at age 16. After joining theProfessional Squash Association (PSA) Tour in May 1991, he went on to win 36 PSA tournaments, and appeared in 58 finals. Career highlights included winning the World Open (1998), the British Open (1999), theSuper Series Finals (2003 & 2005), thePSA Masters (2001, 2002 & 2005), theTournament of Champions (1996, 1999, 2000 & 2002), and the men's singles Gold Medal at the2002 Commonwealth Games.
Power is considered to be one of the greatest shotmakers in the history of the game, having perfected a wide range ofdrop shots and deception shots. He was often a crowd favourite,[according to whom?] partly because of his emotional outbursts and verbal exchanges with referees, which sometimes led to him being compared withJohn McEnroe. Power's rivalry withScotland'sPeter Nicol was one of the most famous and extended in the history of the game.
In January 2006, Power returned to the World No. 1 ranking, four-and-a-half years after the previous time he was ranked in the top spot (marking the longest gap between periods of holding the World No. 1 ranking of any player in history). He lost the No. 1 ranking in February 2006 toDavid Palmer, but regained it again on 1 March 2006. One day later, on 2 March, Power announced his retirement from professional squash. His wife, Sita, gave birth to their daughter named Parker on January 23, 2007.
Power played for Canada at the 2007 and 2009 World Team Championships. He defeated several highly ranked players and showed he was still competitive at world level.[citation needed] He also won the 2008 Canadian Championships, defeatingShahier Razik in the final.
Canada
