Two All-Time Great Squash Photos

The above photo is one of my favorite squash shots taken during a Men's Open match at the U.S. Nationals hosted in Portland, OR.  I can't pinpoint the year.  From left to right is the team of Eric Eiteljorge and Dave Rosen. And the two on the right is the team of the prone Keen Butcher and his partner Kevin Jernigan. To me the shot is comical mostly because I have been on the court with each of them at one time or another either playing against them or with them: so I know them.  

There was a turning called by Rosen and Butcher, fully expecting his opponent to hold up his shot, doesn't move an inch, doesn't clear, as was his habit, and put himself in harm's way, 

To his dismay, Butcher quickly realized that Rosen might not hold up on his shot and hits the deck like a discarded wet towel, thus hoping to avoid the anticipated whizzing ball, and stayed down kissing the court floor creating melodrama which he was then noted for.

This photograph momentarily captures their match demeanors perfectly.  

Eiteljorge just wants to get on with the match; so he was quick to pick up Butcher's racquet .  Rosen is bemused at Butcher's predicament,  and Jernigan is assessing his partner's unpleasant situation and seems to understand that Butcher is going to milk this for all of that it is worth and patiently waits for this melodrama to play out.  

From my point of view in the gallery....great fun!

Another great photo was shot in the early 80's by Ham Biggar, a long-time contributor to Squash News: the chronicler of all that was squash at the time.  Squash is ballet.  Michael Desaulniers, the former Harvard great, and Sharif Khan, son of Hashim Khan, and one of the all time greats on the Pro Hardball tour perform their pas de deux.

Desaulniers is probably best remembered for his win over the legendary player Sharif Khan in the final of the 1982 North American Open (the most prestigious title in hardball squash at the time) captured in this photo. Desaulniers' 10-15, 15-12, 15-8, 15-9 win over Khan ended a run of six consecutive titles at the championship for Khan, and marked only the second time that Khan had failed to win the title since 1969. Khan never won the title again. (from Widipedia)

John