Heather McKay Honoured

From MARTIN BRONSTEIN AT THE RAC CLUB IN LONDON

Journalist and author Dicky Rutnagur honored last night (photo © Martin Bronstein )

The third World Squash Awards, held at the prestigious RAC Club in Pall Mall, saw the Lifetime Achievement Award go to Heather McKay of Australia, who went unbeaten for 17 years and lost only twice in her entire career. The awarded was warmly applauded, as was Anthony Ricketts who received the award on her behalf.

There were few surprises in the other categories: Nicol David got the WISPA Player of the Year award, narrowly beating out Rachael Grinham, the reigning World Open Champion. David was unable to accept the award being at home in Malaysia. The same went for Amr Shabana, who got the equivalent PSA award. He sent a taped message from sunny Cairo. 

Ramy Ashour  took the Young Player of the Year Award for the second year running (the other two nominess were also Egyptian:  Mosaad and  Shorbagy). Needless to say Ashour was another absentee.

The WISPA Young Player of the Year Award was quite rightly won by  Camille Serme of France and she was there to pick up her award and give a charming acceptance speech in English, finishing by asking Jacques Lafontaine, president of the French Squash Federation, to join her on the podium. He made the most of it by reminding the mainly English audience that two French players had made it to the final of the British Open. He also said that the French Open would return to the calendar in September  2008.

WISPA had an award for the Most Improved Player of the Year and that went to New Zealand’s Shelley Kitchen  who looked radiant  - as she had boyfriend Anthony Ricketts sitting beside her.

Camille Serme: WISPA Young player of the year. (photo © Martin Bronstein )

The much-loved journalist Dicky Rutnagur  was given the Special Services to Squash  Award to recognize his 50 years of squash journalism. As  James Willstrop said in his introduction, no other man has seen so much professional squash nor has written as many words.  Dicky  (that’s the name on his birth certificate) was born in India and loved cricket first and squash second. It says much for his passion and craft that he was able to write on both sports at a high level for all his professional life. He wrote for the Daily Telegraph and The Guardian in England, and an array of Indian and Australian newspapers as well as contributing to the top agencies.  He hated sub-editors with a passion and had an endless supply of jokes against them.

That his second wife was a sub-editor was another endless source of amusement.Dicky has now retired, but will be remembered by all for his practical jokes, huge supply of anecdotes and the cigarette that was never far from his mouth.

The Squash Awards is another Eventis promotion and partners Peter Nicol, Tim Garner and Angus Kirkland should be congratulated on getting this much overdue event off an running.