Laura Massaro

Laura Jane Massaro MBE (née Lengthorn; born 2 November 1983) is a retired professional squash player from England. She retired after the British Open, in May, 2019.

Laura Massaro
MBE

Full name	Laura Jane Lengthorn
Country	England
Residence	Preston, England
Born	(1983-11-02) 2 November 1983 Great Yarmouth, England
Height	5 ft 8 in (1.73 m)
Weight	66 kg (146 lb)
Turned Pro	2000
Plays	Right Handed
Coached by	David Pearson, Daniel Massaro
Racquet used	Head
Women's singles and doubles
Highest ranking	No. 1 (January, 2016)
Current ranking	No. 7 (March, 2019)
Title(s)	21[1]
Tour final(s)	41[1]
World Open	W (2013)
Medal record Women's squash Representing  England World Championships 2013 Penang Singles 2012 Grand Cayman Singles 2015 Kuala Lumpur Singles World Team Championships 2014 Niagara-on-the-Lake Team 2008 Cairo Team 2010 Palmerston North Team 2012 Nîmes Team 2016 Issy-les-Moulineaux Team 2018 Dalian Team Commonwealth Games 2010 Delhi Doubles 2014 Glasgow Singles 2014 Glasgow Doubles
Last updated on: March 2019.

She was born in Great Yarmouth. She attended Albany High School, Chorley,[2] which is now called Albany Academy. In July 2007, she married Danny Massaro and became Laura Lengthorn-Massaro. She subsequently dropped 'Lengthorn' from her name and is now known professionally as Laura Massaro.[3]

She won her first top-level title at the German Open in 2004 and went on to become British Open champion in 2013[4] and World Champion in 2014, so become the first Englishwoman to hold both titles at once.[5] She is also a three-time silver medallist for England in Commonwealth Games.

Massaro has been shortlisted for the Sunday Times Sky Sports Sportswomen of the Year awards.[6] She won the WISPA Player of the Year award in 2011.[7] She won the US Open and the Cleveland Classic in 2011, the Sharm El Sheikh Open in 2010, and the Monte Carlo Classic in 2008.

Massaro also won the British National Squash Championships in 2011, defeating Jenny Duncalf in the final 7–11, 11–9, 7–11, 11–7, 11–2. She had previously finished runner-up at the championships in 2008 (losing in the final to Alison Waters 11–6, 7–11, 8–11, 9–11).

At the 2010 Commonwealth Games, Massaro won a silver medal in the women's doubles (partnering Jenny Duncalf). She followed up four years later at the 2014 Commonwealth Games with two silver medals: silver in singles after finishing runner-up to Nicol David and another silver in doubles with Duncalf.[8]

Massaro won the British Open in 2013. She was the first English woman to do so in 22 years.

Laura's sponsors include 305SQUASH for clothing, Head for rackets, Asics for shoes and Technifibre for strings. She is also sponsored by UK Fast, Proto-Col and CourtCare and is provided with a sponsored car by Corkhills Volkswagen in Wigan.[9] Laura has also recently partnered with HFE (Health and Fitness Education) in order to expand on her existing knowledge and enjoyment of yoga.[10]

After starting 2014 brightly by winning the WSA World Tour title in Chicago, Massaro won the biggest title of her career to date at the 2013 World Open in Penang upon beating Nour El Sherbini in the final. Her achievement, alongside that of reigning men's world champion Nick Matthew,[11] meant that England had two reigning world squash champions for the first time.

Massaro's exceptional 2014 season continued when she was runner-up to David at the British Open in Hull in May.[12]

At the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow in July, Massaro went unbeaten through the women's singles – including a semi-final against compatriot Alison Waters – before falling to David in the gold medal match. She and Duncalf then joined forces in the doubles and won through to the final, where they lost to Indians Dipika Pallikal and Joshna Chinappa in straight games.

October saw Massaro reach the quarter-finals of the US Open, where she lost to Nour El-Sherbini.[13] After a string of lacklustre performances throughout late 2014 and early 2015, she progressed to her third British Open final in succession before losing out to eventual victor Camille Serme.

Massaro started her 2015/16 season in strong fashion as she achieved victory at the US Open and Qatar Classic. Upon beating world No. 1 Raneem El Weleily (who herself ended David's 9-year unbroken streak as world No. 1 several months prior) in the semi-finals of the Hong Kong Open,[14] she became the third Englishwoman (and first since 2004) to ascend to the top of the world rankings.[15]

She was appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the 2020 New Year Honours for services to squash.[16]

World Open

Finals: 3 (1 title, 2 runner-up)

Outcome	Year	Location	Opponent in the final	Score in the final
Runner-up	2012	Grand Cayman, Cayman Islands	Nicol David	11–6, 11–8, 11–6
Winner	2013	Penang, Malaysia	Nour El Sherbini	11–7, 6–11, 11–9, 5–11, 11–9
Runner-up	2015	Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia	Nour El Sherbini	6–11, 4–11, 11–3, 11–5, 11–8

Major World Series final appearances

British Open: 4 finals (2 titles, 2 runner-up)

Outcome	Year	Opponent in the final	Score in the final
Winner	2013	Nicol David	11-4, 3-11, 12-10, 11-8
Runner-up	2014	Nicol David	8-11, 11-5, 11-7, 11-8
Runner-up	2015	Camille Serme	11-3, 11-5, 8-11, 11-8
Winner	2017	Sarah-Jane Perry	11-8, 11-8, 6-11, 11-6

Hong Kong Open: 1 final (1 runner-up)

Outcome	Year	Opponent in the final	Score in the final
Runner-up	2015	Nicol David	15-13, 11-9, 11-3

Qatar Classic: 1 final (1 title)

Outcome	Year	Opponent in the final	Score in the final
Winner	2015	Nour El Sherbini	11-8, 12-14, 11-9, 8-11, 11-9

U.S. Open: 3 finals (2 titles, 1 runner-up)

Outcome	Year	Opponent in the final	Score in the final
Winner	2011	Kasey Brown	5-11, 11-5, 11-3, 11-5
Runner-up	2013	Nicol David	13-11, 11-13, 7-11, 11-8, 11-5
Winner	2015	Nour El Tayeb	11-6, 9-11, 6-11, 11-8, 11-7

Kuala Lumpur Open: 1 final (1 title)

Outcome	Year	Opponent in the final	Score in the final
Winner	2013	Alison Waters	11-9, 11-7, 11-6

Tournament of Champions: 1 final (1 runner-up)

Outcome	Year	Opponent in the final	Score in the final
Runner-up	2017	Camille Serme	13-11, 8-11, 4-11, 11-3, 11-7

See also

• Official Women's Squash World Ranking
• WISPA Awards

References

1. http://www.lauramassaro.co.uk/biography
2. "Final victory for Laura". Leyland Guardian. Johnston Press Digital Publishing. 15 October 2003. Retrieved 16 January 2009.
3. "Elevated Wolverhampton Open Attracts High Class Entries". Wolverhampton Open. Squash Player. Retrieved 16 January 2009.
4. Marianne Bevis (28 May 2013). "Laura Massaro beats Nicol David to take title". The Sport Review.
5. "Laura Massaro beats Nour El Sherbini to win world title". BBC Sport. 23 March 2014.
6. "Sportswomen of the Year Awards". Sky Sports. 26 October 2014.
7. http://www.wispa.net/NM/anmviewer.asp?a=1749&z=25
8. "Massaro claims second silver of Commonwealth Games". ITV News. 2 August 2014.
9. "Volkswagen drives sponsorship forward for local sporting legend". Wigan World. 25 September 2014.
10. "How Does Yoga Help Squash's World Number 1 Player?". HFE Blog. Retrieved 23 March 2016.
11. "World Squash Championship: Nick Matthew wins world final". BBC Sport. 3 November 2013.
12. "British Open Squash final: Nicol David defeats Laura Massaro". BBC Sport. 19 May 2014.
13. "Sherbini stuns packed house — and second seed Massaro — in quarterfinals". US Open Squash Championships. 16 October 2014.
14. https://psaworldtour.com/news/view/2840/hong-kong-update-massaro-downs-world-no-1-to-reach-third-consecutive-world-series-final
15. https://psaworldtour.com/news/view/2898/england-s-laura-massaro-crowned-world-no-1
16. "No. 62866". The London Gazette (Supplement). 28 December 2019. p. N20.

External links

• Laura Massaro official website
• Laura Massaro at WISPA (archived)
• Laura Massaro at PSA
• Laura Massaro at Squash Info

Sporting positions
Preceded by Raneem El Weleily	World No. 1 January 2016 – April 2016	Succeeded by Nour El Sherbini
Awards and achievements
Preceded by Shelley Kitchen	WISPA Most Improved Player of the Year 2008	Succeeded by Camille Serme
Preceded by Nicol David Nicol David	WSA Player of the Year 2011 2013	Succeeded by Nicol David Raneem El Weleily