Ask any club player who the most dominant player in squash history was and many will instantly think of Jahangir Khan’s 555 match unbeaten streak in the men’s professional game during the 1980s – a run that has taken on an almost mythical status in the squash world. Others will look to Ramy Ashour’s unbeaten 2012 season or Nicol David’s incredible 11 year stretch as World No.1 – the defacto benchmark for any current or future professional to aspire to.
While all three are indeed incredible feats, there is one player whose on court record eclipses all three of those marks – yet her exploits in the game remain frustratingly unknown to many of the squash playing public – that player is Heather McKay (nee Blundell).
Over the course of an incredible 19-year spell between 1962 and when she retired in 1981 (two years before the first official women’s world rankings were created) McKay was simply unbeatable. Such was her dominance that, after losing the Scottish Open final in 1962, she affirmed that no one would ever beat her again. No one ever did.