Former World No.35 Shawn Delierre Announces Retirement From PSA Tour

Former World No.35 and 2x Canadian National Champion Shawn Delierre has announced his retirement from the PSA Tour, bringing the curtain down on a staggering 25 year career in squash. One of the longest careers by a squash professional ever.

The 42-year-old held a top 100 ranking for an incredible 18 years, only moving out of that bracket for four months during that time due to injury. Delierre also featured in eight World Championships with his best finish coming in 2012 where he reached round two, losing out to former World No.1 James Willstrop in Qatar.

Delierre first competed on the PSA Tour in 2000 at the Dartmouth Snowflake Challenger event. Since then he has played in 265 tournaments, amassing 551 career matches, which puts him tenth on the all-time PSA appearance list for the men’s tour and claiming won 17 titles. Delierre explains that the COVID-19 pandemic had a part to play in his decision to retire at this time but is excited for the future.

“My career as a whole was fantastic!” said Delierre reflecting on his career.

“Forgetting the highs and lows from wins and loses, it was about the sacrifice to have this dream of always trying to better myself as an individual and as an athlete. The countries visited and friends made is priceless.” 

“It was a process starting with the pandemic that was quite tough to weather. I had the opportunity 4 years ago to use my qualities in the health industry, which intrigued my values of helping others in need, I found a community and love in another discipline whilst still competing. Then this year, I wanted to challenge myself to take on the responsibilities as a top tier coach.”

Delierre has left a legacy on the PSA Tour, having been involved in three of the longest matches of all-time. Delierre was part of a match with Hong Kong, China’s Leo Au which broke the record for the longest PSA match, lasting 170 minutes! Read more about the match here.

“I am proud of myself for the perseverance, strength and willpower it required to either win or lose the matches that went over 2 and a half hours. If my ‘A’ game (fakes & deceptions) was not executed, my ‘B’ game was to retrieve as much as possible until the sun goes down. 

“The court I shared with Leo was hot and bouncy. We had a few controversial calls finishing in lets, more then a few may I add. In addition to all the tie breaker sets… it was almost like each game was worth two games. A few years later, I lost 3-0 to Ben Coleman on the same court in a match that lasted 2 hours 15 minutes. It must have been something about that court.

Delierre reached a highest world ranking of World No.35 in March 2013. Delierre admits that he reached his best level around this time and recalls a particular battle with the ‘Baby-Faced Assassin’ Karim Abdel Gawad just three years before the Egyptian would claim his World Championship title.

“My game at that time was of a better quality than the previous rankings I had. I remember Karim Gawad beating me in a close five-games match in Hong Kong. The next week at the World Open in Qatar, I managed to score a lot of points beating Adrain Waller in a close 4 games match reaching the last 16, bringing me to the top 35 in the world.”

Delierre represented Canada at 3 Commonwealth Games, 6 World Team Championships and 8 Pan-American Games, totalling 64 matches for his country.

“It’s an honor to represent one’s country and I definitely felt proud in those moments as the flag went up on my behalf! The anthem being played to my fellow countrymen back home was an amazing feeling. I will still represent Canada at the highest level so that element is not completely done yet.”

With 24 years of PSA experience under his belt, Delierre advises new professional players that patience is key and share good spirits with other players as you never know what relationship you could strike up.

“My advice would be to understand that the process of moving up the rankings will be tedious at times but look to share your good spirits with the players around you on the PSA Tour as each one may hold something beneficial to learn from that will make you a better person and in turn a better player.”

Delierre has now taken up the Head Coach role at Vancouver Racquets Club and is determined to improve all areas of squash at the club and give back to the sport that has given him so much.

“At the moment I am the Head Professional Squash Coach at the Vancouver Racquets Club which has over 600 players. I want to provide the best programs possible for Juniors and Adults to improve their games and run every kind of event to give back to the game which has given so much to me. 

“Squash has an unbelievable community with the biggest hearts.”

The PSA would like to congratulate Shawn on an incredible career and wish him all the best for all future endeavours.