King Wins Record Breaking 11th National Squash Title
Joelle King has made history, becoming the first ever athlete to win 11 New Zealand Squash Championship Titles.
Up against young up-and-comer Ella Lash in the women’s final at Tauranga’s Devoy Squash and Fitness Centre, King was a cut above, dropping one game as she cruised to another national title, beating 18-year-old Lash 11-5, 7-11, 11-3, 11-8.
The win sees King break squash legend Dame Susan Devoy’s 32-year-old record of 10 national titles.
“To dream of winning one was huge when I was a child, so to be on my 11th is surreal,” said King.
“I’ll never match some of Suzie’s records but to beat one of them is no mean feat and I’m, really pleased.”
King was sidelined from the sport for eight-months from last October with a disc problem in her back and a torn meniscus.
“It’s been the toughest time of my career. To just be back on court playing is a big win, I’ve been extremely emotionally but I’m so happy to have got through the weekend pain free.”
(Words and images courtesy of Squash NZ)
“Sometimes I Couldn’t Get Out Of Bed, My Back Was So Bad” – Joelle King Looking To Put Injuries Behind Her
New Zealand’s Joelle King has been sidelined from the PSA World Tour since October 2023, unable to complete due to ongoing injuries.
King’s last match was during the U.S. Open 2023, where she lost out to Egypt’s teenage sensation Amina Orfi in the last 16. The New Zealand No.1 was ranked at No.4 in the world at the time but has now slipped outside of the top 50.
We caught up with the 35-year-old to discuss exactly what the injury was, how her recovery is going and how her injury has allowed her to return to New Zealand for longer than expected, something that King hasn’t been able to do for a long time.
“It’s been eight months back in New Zealand for me,” said King, speaking with SQUASHTV Lead Commentator Joey Barrington.
“It started as two months to go back and try and sort my back out, I had a prolapsed disc, but there was a complication with a trapped nerve so it ended up being three months with that, then a month into starting to train again, I blew my meniscus. So it was two months which turned into eight, but it was kind of nice that for the first time since I was 18 I was home for a long period. When I’m there usually, my time is filled with exhibitions and coaching and things like that, so it was nice to live like a New Zealander again.”
Marigold Singapore Open Champ!
Joey is on fire. After a great NZ Open win she's picked up the Singapore Open title with a conclusive win over Egypt’s Nour El Tayeb.
Joey was seeded at No.2 for the PSA World Tour Gold event, put in one of her most impressive performances of recent times as she completely nullified El Tayeb’s attacking skills to record an 11-6, 12-10, 11-4 victory in 40 minutes.
NZ Open Champion 2022
"Waikato’s King ran out a relatively comfortable winner in straight games, 11-4, 11-6, 11-5 to improve her head-to-head against Wales’ Tesni Evans to 5-3. King showed the greater composure on the big points, having the edge in tour finals experience.
King, 34, from Cambridge, but based in Bristol, England, was emotional to lift the Murphy Rosebowl on which her name will be etched alongside illustrious squash greats in Vicki Cardwell, Michelle Martin and eight-time winner, Susan Devoy."
“It was a tournament I’ve been waiting for so long to play in front of my fans and family, who haven’t seen me play since I was a little girl.” ~Stuff
450 PSA Tour Matches
A big milestone for Joelle King when she takes to the court at the Oracle NetSuite Open Squash 2022!
Joey's just hit her 450th PSA tour match. That's a heap of squash on the pro tour.
Still heaps left in the tank!
More GOLD for Joey
After the disappointment of the SIngles, Joey has bagged 2 Gold Medals in the Mixed Doubles and now with long term womens partner, Amanda Landers-Murphy the Women's doubles gold.
A magic game from the pair has rounded out a brilliant Comm games for New Zealand with the last Gold medal for this assault on Birmingham.
GOLD
Commonwealth Gold medal for Joey with her doubles partner Paul Coll.
Easily accounting for their British counterparts, the pair did us proud winning Gold.
Joey has the women's final coming up with her long time friend Amanda Landers-Murphy.
A Proud Moment for Joey!
Three-time Commonwealth Games champion Joelle King has been named as the female New Zealand Team Flag bearer for the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games.
Such a proud moment for Joey, competing in her fourth Commonwealth games.
From Squash New Zealand.
"Squash New Zealand is thrilled that Joelle King has been chosen for the prestigious role as the New Zealand team flagbearer for the opening ceremony at the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games.
King, 33 and ranked fifth in the world is attending her fourth Commonwealth Games having won a total of six medals at three previous Games, Dehli 2010, Glasgow 2014 and Gold Coast 2018 where she claimed gold in women’s singles, women’s doubles with Amanda Landers-Murphy and bronze in mixed with Paul Coll.
“It’s a great honour for Joelle and also for the sport itself. Joelle has been a great representative for New Zealand around the world for a number of years and at Commonwealth Games as well,” said Squash NZ Chief Executive Martin Dowson.
“The whole squash community in New Zealand is very proud of Joelle and no doubt the whole squash world and PSA World Tour are as well. Joelle is a leader in the sport and looked up to by her peers, but also by young players in New Zealand who aspire to be like her. We congratulate her on the flagbearer role and wish her all the best for the competition. All of New Zealand will be supporting her in what is going to be a very tough competition.”
The New Zealand team at Birmingham is made up of seven players; King, Coll, Landers-Murphy, Kaitlyn Watts, Abbie Palmer, Lwamba Chileshe, Temwa Chileshe and runs for 11 days of the Commonwealth Games."
Joey wins Manchester Open
Joelle King has had an assertive win over England's Sarah-Jane Perry to claim victory at the Manchester Open this morning and gain extra confidence against one of her main rivals for the Commonwealth Games title.
King, the 2019 tournament winner started the match in good form, finding her targets with accuracy and stretching Perry into all four corners of the court. King took the opening game 11-8 in just nine minutes to take the lead in the match.
The New Zealand No.1 continued her momentum into the second game, taking time away from her English opponent and firing the ball short with pace. King earned herself a game ball at 10-9 and after a video referee decision, King doubled her lead.
She converted at the first time of asking to win her second Manchester Open title 11-8, 11-8, 11-9 in 41 minutes.
"I'm actually quite emotional," admitted King afterwards.
"It's been three years since I've seen anyone in my family, and I love them, this is what all the sacrifices are for. I wanted to give my squash everything that I have and this one is for them and to everyone who stood by me. When you're doing well there's so many friends and people but it's those that are there when things aren't doing so well that mean so much," said King who will return home for the first time in three years for the NZ Championships at the beginning of July.
"Everyone has the World Championships at the top of their minds. I'm choosing to miss the other tournaments to be at my best for that but everyone will go about it in different ways so let's see what happens."
The World Championships are 13-22 May in Cairo, Egypt.
"It's been a long time since I won an event, a lot has happened in my life since then. I've been through a lot of downs and to be at this point winning a tournament against the calibre of players we have on tour means so much. It's nice to have so much support, some of my team aren't here and my body is in bits so it's just so nice and emotional," said the 33-year-old from the Waikato.
Perry had to find something different in the third game to give herself a lifeline in the match but started poorly as King ran out to a 5-2 lead. Perry gathered some momentum to claw back to 8-9 but after a solid rally from world No 5 King had two championships balls.
Another win for Joey!
The Cambridge, Waikato squash pro produced a formidable performance to take out fourth seed Hania El Hammamy by an 11-7, 11-9, 11-8 scoreline in the quarter finals of the PSA Black Ball Open in Cairo.
The Kiwi was on top of her game and did not put a foot wrong with her accurate hitting and ability to nullify El Hammamy's usual attacking game.
“Hania is class, there’s no doubt she’s a class player,” said the 32-year-old Joey afterwards. “I’m ecstatic with that performance and to beat a player like her in three but the job’s not done, so I don’t want to relax too much and get too excited when I’ve got another match to play. It’s a good feeling but I just feel like it’s not done yet.
Joey will play world No.1 Nour El Sherbini (Egypt) for a place in the final! The match is shown live on Sky Sport NZ 9 at 7am!
LET'S GO JOEY! 
250th PSA Win
Great win for Joey to make the Quarters of the 2021 CIB Blackball Open. Her 250th PSA win, awesome work!
Her next opponent is world number 5 Hania El Hammamy, who will be a toughy.
KING: EL SHERBINI IS STILL THE ONE TO BEAT
Joelle King believes that Nour El Sherbini is still the one to beat ahead of this weekend’s 2021 CIB Black Ball Open.
The World No.8 came within a whisker of making the final in the previous Black Ball championship when she let slip a match ball after saving three of her own against Sarah-Jane Perry in a nerve-shredding 74-minute encounter before losing 13-11 in the final game tie-break.
While King admits that El Sherbini’s big title experience may well give her an edge, she points to the fact that the four semi-finalists, Hania El Hammamy, Amanda Sobhy, herself and English No.1 Perry. were all ranked outside the top four and hailed from four different nationalities, as concrete proof that the women’s game has never been so open.
Joey giving us an update on the year it's been for her!
PSA World Tour back on!
WOOP WOOP!
The six-month suspension of the PSA World Tour due to the global COVID-19 pandemic will end on Wednesday September 16 at the Manchester Open, with a number of the world’s leading players lining up at Manchester’s National Squash Centre to battle for the PSA World Tour Silver title.
Follow Joey in her quest to win back to back British Open titles here https://allambritishopen.com/
What an Image!
A view that will never get old, even @joelleking24 couldn’t resist taking it in during her warm up 😍
courtesy PSA World Tour
Joelle learns to jeté in UK isolation
Joelle King's decision to stay in England during lockdown has allowed the squash star to refresh, reconnect with her roots and discover the power of dance.
Holed up in her apartment in the English city of Bristol, Joelle King is learning ballet for the first time.
The Kiwi squash No.1 is doing dance training online in lockdown, now in her ninth week on her own indoors.
Ballet was never contemplated by the tomboy Joelle as she grew up in Cambridge; she was happier trading NBA basketball cards with her brothers. But in these unusual times, she needed something new to keep her inspired.
Joelle King has won her eighth New Zealand squash title
King beat second seed Amanda Landers-Murphy 11-2, 11-4, 11-6.
"Eight? Really. I didn't know that. I thought it was seven," King said. "It's actually hard to play Amanda. She's such a nice person. It's hard to play someone you really like.
"It's nice to play in New Zealand which I hadn't done for a while, so it was great to play in front on a home crowd. It's pretty cool to win your national title.
"I'm going to take a little bit longer to rest and look at how to approach the new season."
Kiwi Squash Player Wins Manchester Open Title
A top win for Kiwi squash pro, Joelle King as she dismantled her Welsh opponent, world No.9 Tesni Evans in the final of the inaugural PSA Manchester Open this morning.
For world No.5 King the victory was sweet leading into the prestigious British Open in just over a week and will give her plenty of confidence in her game and ability to dominate the front of the court.
Joelle King - New Zealand Order of Merit
If ever one person could personify the idea of a phoenix rising from the ashes in the world of New Zealand sport, squash champion Joelle King is probably it.
The Cambridge comeback queen has been made a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit in the New Year's Honours list, for services to the sport she has played professionally since 2004.
JOEY WINS HONG KONG
New Zealand's world No 7 squash player Joelle King has secured her first Platinum PSA title in Hong Kong.
The Kiwi defeated second-ranked Egyptian Raneem El Welily in straight games in the final of the Hong Kong Open to secure not only her first Platinum title, but also automatically qualify for the season-ending PSA World Tour finals.
"It hasn't really sunk in yet, but to be on a stage like this means a lot. I just want to go on from here."
King becomes the fourth New Zealand woman to win the prestigious title in Hong Kong, joining Dame Susan Devoy, Leilani Rorani and Owens as winners.
