Donald "Don" Butcher was a professional squash player from England. He was the first player to win the British Open men's title in 1931, and successfully defended the title in 1932. Squash racquet and ball Squash is an indoor racquet sport which was, until recently, called Squash Rackets, a reference to the squashable soft ball used in the game (compared with the harder ball used in its parent game Racquets or Rackets--see below). ... Wikimedia Commons has media related to: England Travel guide to England from Wikitravel English language English law English (people) List of monarchs of England – Kings of England family tree List of English people Angeln (region in northern Germany, presumably the origin of the Angles for whom England is named) UK... The British Open Squash Championships is one of the oldest and most established tournaments in the game of squash. ... 1931 (MCMXXXI) is a common year starting on Thursday. ... 1932 (MCMXXXII) is a leap year starting on Friday. ...

Butcher was a professional sqaush player based at the Conservative Club when he played in the first British Open final in 1931. His opponent in the final, Charles Read is officially considered the first British Open men's title "holder". But Read (who was a former English professional champion) was merely named the holder at the initiation of the event. Butcher was the first player to actually win the title. The final was played under a best-of-three-legs format. Butcher defeated Read in the first match at the Queen's Club 9-6, 9-5, 9-5. He then won the second match at the Conservative Club 9-3, 9-5, 9-3 to claim the title and make the third match unnecessary. Charles Read was a professional squash player from England. ... The Queens Club Championships is a grass-court tennis tournament for mens singles and doubles held on an annual basis in the week after the French Open, as a warm-up event for Wimbledon. ...

In 1932, Butcher beat Charles Arnold in the final to successfully defend his British Open title. He won the first match at the Conservative Club 9-0, 9-0, 9-0, and the second match at the Bath Club 9-3, 9-0, 9-5.

Butcher also played in the British Open final in 1933 and 1935, losing on both occassions to the Egyptian player F.D. Amr Bey. 1933 (MCMXXXIII) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will take you to calendar). ... 1935 (MCMXXXV) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will take you to calendar). ...

Butcher also won the British Professional Championship in 1930, 1931 and 1932. 1930 (MCMXXX) is a common year starting on Wednesday. ...

Butcher was considered a very innovative player in his time. He deviated from the conventional up-and-down-the-wall style adopted by most players in his era, making full use of the boasts, lobs, drops and reverse angles, as well as cultivating the serve. His lack of stamina during long matches was conisdered to be one of his main weaknesses, however, and this gave Amr Bey a key advantage over Butcher on the occassions they played.

Butcher was involved in a bizarre controversy when a doctor from the St. John's Wood Club in London, where Butcher was coaching, was testing the effects of Benzedrine and asked Butcher to take some before playing a match so that the results could be measured. When London newspapers found out about this, it was carried as a sensational story and Butcher was suspended from playing squash until the matter had been investigated. The doctor involved explained the situation to the enquiry and Butcher was absolved from blame. But the incident led to Butcher being known by the the nickname of the "Benzedrine Kid" for quite some time. Part of the London skyline viewed from the South Bank London is the most populous city in the European Union, with an estimated population on 1 January 2005 of 7. ... Benzedrine is the trade name of the racemic variant of amphetamine (dl-amphetamine). ...

External links

• Article at squashtalk.com