Legendary squash player Heather McKay is destined for Forbes next month, where she will be a special guest at the annual Forbes Squash Open.
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While she retired from the sport more than 30 years ago, the 72-year-old Queanbeyan-born athlete is still considered one of Australia’s best ever sportswomen, having won the sport’s crowning achievement, the British Open, a record 16 times.
Organisers of the March 15-16 Forbes Squash Open met McKay at the Australian Open last year and Forbes president Garry Dempsey extended an invitation to attend the Forbes Golf and Sportsman’s Hotel event at a more recent meeting.
Club spokesman Graham
Coombs said it is hoped McKay will give a talk at a squash open dinner function, held on the second night of the tournament.
Heather McKay is described on Wikipedia as perhaps Australia’s greatest ever sportswoman, due to her complete dominance of the game in the 1960s and ‘70s. She was unbeaten in competitive squash between 1962 and 1981, when she retired from top level play.
She only ever lost two competitive matches, in 1960 and ’62 respectively.
Graham Coombs said it was a big coup to have her attend the tournament, if only in a purely non-competitive fashion.
The tournament is expected to bring up to 100 players to Forbes, including visitors from Sydney, the ACT, the NSW South Coast, the Central Coast and the Central West.
Coombs said top level men and women had expressed interest in returning.
“High standards in both men’s and women’s squash is the hope, and the expectation,” he said.
