# David Palmer (squash player)

David Troy Palmer OAM (born 28 June 1976 in Lithgow, New South Wales) is an Australian retired professional squash player. He won the Super Series finals in 2002, the World Open in 2002 and 2006; the British Open in 2001, 2003, 2004 and 2008; and the Australian Open in 2008. He attained World No. 1 ranking in September 2001 and again (for one month) in February 2006.

## Career overview

At the 2018 Commonwealth Games, Palmer won a Gold Medal with partner Zac Alexander in the men's doubles. At the 2006 Commonwealth Games, Palmer won a men's singles Silver Medal after losing in the final to England's Peter Nicol. At the same 2006 Commonwealth Games he also won Bronze Medals in the men's doubles (partner Dan Jensen) and the mixed doubles (partner Rachael Grinham). In the 2002 Commonwealth Games he won Bronze Medals in both the men's singles and the men's doubles (partner Paul Price).
In technical terms, Palmer plays a classic all-court attrition game with hard-hitting attacking shots from his opponent's loose shots. He is known for the power of his striking, and the strength of his physical play, contributed to by rigorous attention to fitness. His training regime involves completing the multi-stage fitness test five times with a three-minute break between tests.
Palmer has served as president of the Professional Squash Association (PSA). Following the 2004 World Doubles Squash Championships in Chennai, India, he was banned from playing in events run by the World Squash Federation (WSF) for 13 months after a disciplinary panel found him guilty of verbally abusing the referee.
In 2009, Palmer was approached by the Wallabies coach Robbie Deans to help increase his team fitness.
Following his retirement as a professional squash player in 2011, Palmer maintained his status as a successful, high-level coach at his David Palmer Squash Academy in Orlando, Florida. In November 2016, Palmer made his college squash coaching debut as he was named The James Broadhead '57 Head Coach of Squash at Cornell University. Palmer now leads both the men's and women's squash team at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York.

## World Open final appearances
### 2 titles & 1 runner-up

| Outcome | Year | Location | Opponent in the final | Score in the final |
| Winner | 2002 | Antwerp, Belgium | John White | 13–15, 12–15, 15–6, 15–14, 15–11 |
| Runner-up | 2005 | Hong Kong | Amr Shabana | 11–6, 11–7, 11–8 |
| Winner | 2006 | Doha, Qatar | Grégory Gaultier | 9–11, 9–11, 11–9, 16–14, 11–2 |

## Major World Series final appearances
### British Open: 4 finals (4 titles, 0 runner-up)

| Outcome | Year | Opponent in the final | Score in the final |
| Winner | 2001 | Chris Walker | 12–15, 13–15, 15–2, 15–9, 15–5 |
| Winner | 2003 | Peter Nicol | 15–13, 15–13, 15–8 |
| Winner | 2004 | Amr Shabana | 14–16, 11–7, 13–11, 11–7 |
| Winner | 2008 | James Willstrop | 11–9, 11–9, 8–11, 6–11, 13–11 |

### Hong Kong Open: 1 final (1 title, 0 runner-up)

| Outcome | Year | Opponent in the final | Score in the final |
| Winner | 2001 | Thierry Lincou | 15–13, 15–6, 15-9 |

### Qatar Classic: 4 finals (0 title, 4 runner-up)

| Outcome | Year | Opponent in the final | Score in the final |
| Runner-up | 2001 | Peter Nicol | 15–12, 15–5, 10–15, 12–15, 15-10 |
| Runner-up | 2002 | Peter Nicol | 15–9, 13–15, 15–6, 13–15, 15-7 |
| Runner-up | 2005 | James Willstrop | 11–1, 11–7, 11-7 |
| Runner-up | 2007 | Ramy Ashour | 8-11, 11–9, 11–9, 11-6 |

### US Open: 3 finals (1 title, 2 runner-up)

| Outcome | Year | Opponent in the final | Score in the final |
| Winner | 2002 | Stewart Boswell | 15–13, 15–10, 15-11 |
| Runner-up | 2003 | Peter Nicol | 15–10, 14–15, 15–14, 17-15 |
| Runner-up | 2005 | Lee Beachill | 11–7, 9-11, 8-11, 11–1, 11-8 |

## Commonwealth Games final appearances

2006 Melbourne Games, Men's Singles Runners-up (1) :
| Year | Opponent in final | Score in final |
| 2006 | Peter Nicol | 9–5, 10–8, 4–9, 9–2 |
2018 Gold Coast Games, Winner (1) Men's Doubles with Zac Alexander :
| Year | Opponent in final | Score in final |
| 2018 | Daryl Selby and Adrian Waller | 11–9, 3-11, 11-6 |
Total medals won, 1 Gold, 1 Silver, 4 Bronze

## Career statistics
### Singles performance timeline (since 1999)

Terms :
| W–L | Win–loss | NWS | Not a World Series event |
| NG50 | Not an international event | NH | Not held |
| A | Absent | LQ/#Q | Lost in qualifying draw and round number |
| RR | Lost at round robin stage | #R | Lost in the early rounds |
| QF | Quarterfinalist | SF | Semifinalist |
| SF-B | Semifinalist, won bronze medal | F | Runner-up |
| F | Runner-up, won silver medal | W | Winner |
To prevent confusion and double counting, information in this table is updated only once a tournament or the player's participation in the tournament has concluded.
| Tournament | 1999 | 2000 | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | Career SR | Career W-L |
| PSA World Tour Tournaments ||||||||||||||||
| World Open | 3R | Not Held | Not Held | W | 3R | SF | F | W | SF | SF | 2R | 3R | QF | 2 / 11 | 35–9 |
| British Open | 2R | SF | W | 2R | W | W | A | SF | SF | W | QF | Not Held | Not Held | 4 / 10 | 31–6 |
| Hong Kong Open | 1R | 2R | W | SF | NH | SF | NH | SF | SF | QF | 2R | 2R | A | 1 / 10 | 21–9 |
| Qatar Classic | Not Held | Not Held | F | F | QF | NH | F | F | SF | QF | QF | 2R | 2R | 0 / 10 | 27–10 |
| PSA Masters | NH | 1R | F | SF | A | F | 2R | QF | Not Held | Not Held | QF | Absent | Absent | 0 / 7 | 16–7 |
| Tournament of Champions | NA | 2R | 1R | 2R | SF | 2R | SF | 2R | QF | SF | QF | QF | QF | 0 / 12 | 21-12 |
| North American Open | Not Held | Not Held | Not Held | Not Held | Not Held | Not World Series | Not World Series | Absent | Absent | 2R | QF | 2R | QF | 0 / 4 | 6–4 |
| Kuwait PSA Cup | Not Held | Not Held | Not Held | Not Held | Not Held | 1R | A | NH | SF | 2R | NH | Absent | Absent | 0 / 3 | 4–3 |
| US Open | Absent | Absent | NH | W | F | SF | F | SF | A | NH | SF | A | 2R | 1 / 7 | 18–6 |
| Saudi International | Not Held | Not Held | Not Held | Not Held | Not Held | Not Held | 2R | SF | SF | SF | SF | Not Held | Not Held | 0 / 5 | 13–5 |
| Pakistan International | A | Not Held | Not Held | SF | NH | QF | F | A | NH | NWS | Not Held | Not Held | Not Held | 0 / 3 | 9–3 |
| Win Ratio | 0 / 3 | 0 / 5 | 2 / 5 | 2 / 8 | 1 / 6 | 1 / 8 | 0 / 7 | 1 / 8 | 0 / 6 | 1 / 7 | 0 / 9 | 0 / 5 | 0 / 5 | 8 / 82 (9,8%) | NA |
| Win–loss | 3 / 3 | 5 / 5 | 18 / 3 | 25 / 6 | 14 / 5 | 19 / 7 | 20 / 7 | 23 / 7 | 20 / 6 | 21 / 6 | 17 / 9 | 7 / 5 | 9 / 5 | NA | 201 / 74 (73,1%) |
Note: NA = Not Available