SINGAPORE – Seeking to lift its game ahead of the 2029 SEA Games, the Singapore Squash Rackets Association (SSRA) has appointed Jamie Hickox, a squash guru with a proven track record, as its new national head coach.

The 60-year-old brings a wealth of experience having led Malaysia to success over two stints. The first was as a national elite coach from 1993 to 1997. That was followed by a second spell as its national head coach from 2006 to 2010.

Now on the other side of the Causeway, Hickox wasted no time to get himself familiarised with his new work environment.

He was at the Kallang Squash Centre on April 13, a day after flying in from Canada, to observe local players in action against their regional counterparts in a Professional Squash Association satellite tour event.

“In three months, I’ll have a much better idea of what more specifically can be done after I have a real sit-down with everyone, I just need to catch up on everything,” Hickox, who is on a two-year contract, told The Sunday Times.

“But to raise the level of Singapore squash would be wonderful.”

His achievements with Malaysia included back-to-back bronze medals at the 2008 and 2010 Women’s World Team Championships.

Malaysia also swept the men and women’s individual and team titles at the 2008 Asian championships in Kuwait, repeating their 2006 feat.

This earned Hickox the Asian Squash Federation Coach of the Year accolade for 2008.

Among those he worked with were eight-time world champion Nicol David – although he was not her primary coach – and Ong Beng Hee, a former world junior champion who reached a career-high ranking of world No. 7.

While the Malaysians have established themselves globally, Hickox noted that they were underdogs behind Singapore and Hong Kong in his first stint with them.

He sought to implement a more professional approach to the sport, increasing the number of training sessions to aid in their technical development, and building up their fitness and mental strength.

“They had a handful of athletes who were really dedicated, who wanted to do well. I’m feeling a lot of similarities here,” said Hickox, who holds Canadian and British citizenship.

“Singapore squash isn’t thriving level-wise as compared to some of the powerhouses...

“I’d really like to think that with so many good things in place, with the right planning and vision of the Singapore squash board, if we’ve got the players, we should be able to do a great thing here.”

Hickox, who was also Squash Canada’s performance director from 2011 to 2017, is no stranger to the Singapore scene, having been here many times since his playing days and as Malaysia’s coach.

He recalled watching players like Zainal Abidin, Peter Hill and Anthony Chua, who finished sixth in the 1985 World Team Championships in Egypt.

So it was no surprise that Hickox’s interest was piqued when he saw an online advertisement for the Singapore position at the end of 2023.

“I’m very familiar with Singapore, with South-east Asia and Asia, so it wasn’t too much of a step in terms of my mental side to think about it, get excited by it and get back into high performance coaching,” said Hickox, who was mainly coaching freelance before taking on his new role.

Hickox replaces Yap Kok Four, who left in April 2022 for personal reasons.

Following the Malaysian’s departure, national assistant head coach Gurshan Singh had filled the position in an acting capacity.

SSRA general manager Alex Wan believes that Hickox will play a key role in developing Singapore’s squash players, ahead of the 2029 SEA Games on home soil.

The association is also looking to hire two or three more full-time coaches to oversee about 50 athletes across the junior development and elite juniors programmes, as well as the intermediate and national teams.

Wan said in a media statement on April 13 that Hickox’s experience and dedication to excellence make him an invaluable addition.

“With Jamie’s leadership and track record, we are confident that Singapore Squash will continue to thrive and produce some quality squash athletes in the coming years,” he added.