Laura Massaro

2013 World Champion Laura Massaro is one of England's greatest female players of all time and began her glittering career in 2000.

It took her two years to break into the world's top 50 and she lifted her first Tour title in 2005 at the German Open.

A place in the world's top 20 swiftly followed and she lifted the Wolverhampton Open in both 2006 and 2007, defeating top seeds Vicky Botwright and Madeline Perry, respectively.

2008 was a strong year for Massaro as she climbed into the top ten in the World Rankings before lifting the Monte Carlo Classic title.

Three years later, she defeated Malaysian superstar Nicol David to capture the Cleveland Classic title and also won her first World Series event at the US Open, which meant she finished 2011 in the World No.3 spot.

She lost to Nicol David in the 2012 World Championship final but bounced back superbly to claim the KL Open title in early 2013 before becoming the first British person since 1991 to secure the British Open crown.

Despite losing to David in the US Open final at the back end of 2013, Massaro lifted her 15th Tour title in March 2014 and made history by becoming the first Englishwoman to hold both the British Open and World Championship titles after she bested Nour El Sherbini in the final of the 2013 World Championship in Penang.

Two silver medals followed for Massaro at the 2014 Commonwealth Games before she lost to Camille Serme in the final of the 2015 British Open in May.

Massaro had a hugely successful finish to 2015, capturing several PSA World Tour titles, including the Macau Open in September where She defeated rising star Nouran Gohar 3-0 in the final.

The Englishwomen also won back-to-back World Series events in the autumn of 2015, securing the US Open title in October before clinching the Qatar Classic crown in early November.

She went on to reach the final of the Hong Kong Open and, despite losing to Nicol David, became the new Women’s World No.1 for the first time in her career at the start of 2016.

A period of mixed form then followed for Massaro until she reached a third World Championship final in April of that year where, despite going 2-0 up, she eventually succumbed to El Sherbini - a defeat that also saw her concede her spot at the top of the World Rankings to the Egyptian a month later.

However, true to the mental fortitude and resilience that has epitomised her glittering career, Massaro bounced back from her World Championship disappointment in style - beating Raneem El Welily to become the first Englishwoman to win the PSA Dubai World Series Finals.

Two further titles were to come in 2016 for the Lancastrian as she triumphed in both the China Open and NetSuite Open.

Massaro began 2017 in strong form going on to win the 2017 British Open in the first all-English women’s final since 1991.

Massaro also became the first Englishwoman since Janet Morgan in 1951 to lift the prestigious British Open title twice after seeing off England teammate Sarah-Jane Perry over four games in the final.

The Englishwoman then successfully defended her PSA Dubai World Series Finals crown at Dubai Opera, where she defeated Egyptian El Sherbini in three games to lift the season-ending title.

Massaro made the semi finals of the Oracle NetSuite Open, only to be defeated by the eventual winner, and compatriot, Sarah-Jane Perry. She also made the last four of the US Open and Hong Kong Open before the end of the year. The Englishwoman continued her good form, by once again making the semi finals of a tournament in January. This time it was the Tournament of Champions in New York.

Massaro also reached the last four in the El Gouna International and British Open before the season’s end, with another last four appearance at the NetSuite in October 2018. She won the Monte Carlo Classic to round out the year, beating Tesni Evans in the final.