The current World No.4 and Commonwealth Silver Medalist James Willstrop burst onto the scene when in 2002 he crowned a sensational junior career with his third consecutive British Junior, European Junior and World Junior titles. In the very next year he would become one of the youngest players in history to represent the senior England team at the European And World Team championships.

The 6 foot 4 inch Yorkshireman, trained by his father Malcolm Willstrop at the famous Pontefract Squash Club, became the world’s top-ranked Englishman just two years after becoming a ‘senior’. In December 2005, after reaching a career-high world No2, he led England to victory  for the first time in eight years at the World Team Championships in Pakistan James had well and trully announced his arrival on the world stage.

After a glorious 2008 in which the Yorkshireman reached five Tour finals, with success in the Swedish Open, Virginia Pro Championship and Canary Wharf Classic (for the second time) his career suffered a major setback in April 2009 when he was forced to undergo ankle surgery. Thankfully James proved his remarkable strength of character to bounceback and, in September, battled through to the British Open final for the second year in a row.

James’s 2010 campaign began in sensational style when he won the JP Morgan Tournament of Champions, beating Amr Shabana in the quarter-finals before going on to overcome Karim Darwish in the semis and Ramy Ashour 12-10, 11-5, 9-11, 11-3 in the final. Later describing it as the best week of his squash career. The formidable Englishman extended his rich vein of form by reaching four further finals in the year, including the Swedish Open, British Grand Prix and the PSA Masters in India. But perhaps his standout achievement of the year was his first appearance in the World Open final in Saudi Arabia where he finished again as runner-up to his national rival Nick Matthew. Willstrop kicked off 2011 in fourth place in the world rankings – and semi-finals berths in all events so far in the year, including the Tournament of Champions, North American Open and Canary Wharf Classic, have consolidated this position as England’s second-highest-ranked player.