England’s Tom Richards has announced his retirement from the PSA World Tour at the age of 35 after spending 17 years competing across the globe.
The Surrey-born player appeared in 230 PSA competitions, reaching 15 finals and winning six, his biggest title coming in 2012 in the Open de Squash Banque Nationale Groupe Financier in Montreal, a 35k event. Richards, seeded four, beat top seed Hisham Ashour in the semis and French legend Thierry Lincou 3-2 to lift the trophy.
Tom also featured in 12 World Championships and achieved e a highest world ranking of #12 in the 2012/13 season.
He represented the senior England team on 20 occasions at five European Team Championships, never losing a match in his 20 matches for his country and helped England win the competition both in 2016 and 2019.
Tom’s final tournament appearance came at the London Open 2021 where he finished as the runner up, losing out to James Willstrop in the final.
Richards admits that injuries have played a big part in his retirement decision but won’t be hanging up his rackets completely :
“It won’t come as a surprise to many but in the past few months, I have decided to officially call an end to my touring days. Having undergone two knee surgeries in the space of a year I wasn’t able to achieve the fitness levels that are vital for squash, and whilst it would have been fun to play a few more events, my mind and body are ready to move on!
“I feel incredibly lucky to have had such a lengthy career, playing all around the world, meeting plenty of brilliant people and all whilst doing something I love. From getting to play my heroes as a youngster, to be able to compete against several of the greatest players to have played, all whilst playing in teams alongside my mates is something I will always cherish.
“I feel privileged to have been supported by so many amazing people along the way, it really is far more than the individual you see on court and I couldn’t be more grateful. I owe plenty of people a drink!
“I look forward to being able to support from the sidelines, there’s plenty of talent domestically and abroad so it’s exciting to see how squash can grow and no doubt I’ll be sneaking a few leagues in here and there in the future so I won’t put my rackets in the garage just yet!”
