Campbell Grayson

Campbell Grayson (born 4 March 1986 in Auckland, New Zealand) is a professional squash player who represents New Zealand. He reached a career-high world ranking of World No. 25 in December 2019.[1][2]

Campbell Grayson
Country New Zealand
ResidenceNew York City, New York, United States
Born (1986-03-04) 4 March 1986
Auckland, New Zealand
Height1.80 m (5 ft 11 in)
Weight77 kg (170 lb)
Turned Pro2007
RetiredActive
PlaysRight-Handed
Coached byPaul Hornsby
Racquet usedDunlop Rackets
Men's Singles, Team Doubles
Highest rankingNo. 24 (February 2020)
Current rankingNo. 25 (March 2020)
Title(s)9
Tour final(s)15
Last updated on: January 2020.

Early life and education

Grayson first picked up tennis at the age of six, along with golf and cricket. From the ages of six to twelve, Grayson was selected to be a part of Auckland's elite tennis junior squad, and went on to win numerous Auckland Championship titles. Grayson represented Auckland in tennis at the New Zealand Junior Tennis Nationals in 1996 and made the semi-finals of the U-12 Doubles Event.

Training at Titirangi Rackets Club, Grayson's first home-club, Grayson's attention shifted to the game of squash, which his father played.[3] Grayson picked up the squash racket and converted his attention to squash at eleven years old, after winning his first U-13 New Zealand Nationals title in 1997.

Grayson attended Kaurilands Primary School, Glen Eden Intermediate School and Avondale College. In 2003, Grayson was awarded the NZ Prime Minister's High Performance[4] Scholarship to enroll in Unitec Institute of Technology, majoring in Sports Management. In 2006, Grayson was awarded the Sportsperson of the Year Award at Unitec,[5] and in 2009, Grayson was awarded Sportsman of the Year by Squash Auckland.[6]

Career

Throughout his junior career, Grayson won the U-13, U-15, U-17, U-19 New Zealand age group national titles. In the final year of his junior career, he also won the U-19 New Zealand International Junior Open, Australian International Junior Open, and the Scottish International Junior Open. In the same year, he was placed 9th at the prestigious British Junior Open, and reached the last 16 at the 2004 World Junior Championships.

Following a successful junior career, Grayson's made his debut senior appearance at the 2005 World Senior Team Championships, which was held in Pakistan. A year later, in 2006, Grayson won the Bronze Medal at the 2006 World Doubles Championships[7] in Melbourne, Australia, with his partner, Martin Knight (squash player).[8] This performance gained him a position in the 2006 New Zealand Commonwealth Games team. During the 2006 Commonwealth Games, Grayson was placed 4th in the Men's Doubles Event.

Grayson started competing full-time on the PSA World Tour in 2007.[9] As part of the New Zealand High Performance Program, Grayson relocated to Halifax, West Yorkshire, England (2007 - 2009). Thereafter, he moved to Harrogate, where he trained under the tutelage of David Pearson (2010 - 2012). He broke into the World's Top 50 ranking in October 2009, and the Top 40 in April 2010.

He has won two New Zealand Nationals Senior Titles (2010, 2012[10]), and won the New Zealand PSA Classic in 2009.[11]

Outside of New Zealand, Grayson has won 9 PSA Professional Tour Titles, and has represented New Zealand at 5 World Senior Team Championships, and 3 Commonwealth Games (2006, 2010, 2014

Career highlights include:

  • Semi-Finalist, 2008 Australian Open
  • Quarter-Finalist, 2008 Pakistan Open
  • Finalist, 2010 Vancouver Open
  • Round of 16, 2013 US Open
  • Top-8, 2014 Commonwealth Games (Singles Event)
  • Winner, 2019 Houston Open

In late 2012, Grayson relocated to the US, but returns to New Zealand twice a year. Grayson is currently based in New York City,[12] and is the touring squash professional at New York Athletic Club. Previously, Grayson was based in Boston, as the touring squash professional at Cross Courts Academy,[13] in Natick, MA.

Grayson is a member of the New Zealand Sports High Performance Squad. When he is back in New Zealand, Grayson also represents Auckland[14] and the Herne Bay Club.

Personal life

Grayson participates in urban squash initiatives such as Harlem-based StreetSquash , which aims to improve the lives of inner-city children in Harlem through the game of squash; Grayson played for the Harvard Club of New York at the 2015 StreetSquash Cup.[15]

gollark: Well, it would be cool, but you can do that without opting into full borg-style merges.
gollark: Also the hub thing would be annoying.
gollark: Well, you, and you'd need to use techcorp branding.
gollark: The only participating servers will be Terra's own and probably ones they're admin on and can pressure the owners into meddling with.
gollark: Oh, no, almost certainly not.

References
  1. PSA Player Profile
  2. SquashInfo Player Profile
  3. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hLYXq7NtX68, retrieved 10 August 2015 Missing or empty |title= (help)
  4. "Squash NZ Annual Report" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 24 September 2015.
  5. "Unitec Student Union Awards Top Athletes | Scoop News". www.scoop.co.nz. Retrieved 12 August 2015.
  6. "Squash Excellence Awards - Squash Auckland". interclub.squashauckland.org.nz. Retrieved 12 August 2015.
  7. "3rd World Doubles". www.squashsite.co.uk. Retrieved 10 August 2015.
  8. "Squash NZ Annual Report 2009" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 25 January 2016.
  9. "Campbell Grayson - Professional Squash Association". psaworldtour.com. Retrieved 10 August 2015.
  10. "Archive - Squash News - Squash Auckland". interclub.squashauckland.org.nz. Retrieved 10 August 2015.
  11. "Squash NZ Annual Report 2009" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 25 January 2016.
  12. "Catching Up With…Campbell Grayson | U.S. Open Squash". www.usopensquash.com. 4 September 2014. Retrieved 10 August 2015.
  13. "Junior Squash Academy | CrossCourts Squash". crosscourtsquash.com. Retrieved 10 August 2015.
  14. "Squash Auckland". Squash Auckland. Retrieved 12 August 2015.
  15. "StreetSquash Harlem Raises Record $1.1 Million for Urban Squash (United States Squash)". World News. Retrieved 10 August 2015.
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