Ireland’s top squash player inspired by family legacy

When it comes to sporting genes it shouldn't be a surprise that Hannah Craig has risen to the top of the squash rankings in Ireland.

The 27-year-old from the north coast of Northern Ireland is the granddaughter of British and Irish Lions tourist Noel Henderson and his wife Betty, who is in the Hockey Ireland Hall of Fame.

Her grandmother is also the sister of Irish rugby legend Jack Kyle.

Henderson, who passed away in 1997, and Kyle, who died in 2014, toured with the Lions to New Zealand and Australia in 1950.

Both captained Ireland, with Henderson leading his country to their first ever win over a southern hemisphere side, scoring the winning try in a 9-6 win over Australia in 1958 while Kyle was a member of the 1948 Grand Slam winning side and is enshrined in the World Rugby Hall of Fame.

Betty was a stalwart of the Irish hockey team throughout the late 1940s and 1950s, earning 26 caps over an eleven year international career.

"I'm very, very grateful for the family that I was brought into because it was just second nature to hear a lot of stories of sporting excellence," explained Craig.

"My grandfather was a role model as an athlete and a person. The same goes for my granny. I mean, you can't ask for more in terms of that as a youngster who just loves sport."

After retiring from club rugby in 1963, Kyle embarked on humanitarian work as a consultant surgeon in Chingola, Zambia.

"Jack was alive when I was younger. So got a lot of inspiration from his rugby career and also his academia and his life in Zambia," added Craig.

The sporting excellence in the Craig family didn't stop with the grandparents.

Her late father, Paddy, who passed away at the beginning of May this year, represented Ireland at squash.

He postponed chemotherapy to watch his daughter win her fourth Irish National title in February.

"Both my mum and dad played squash. My dad played on the Irish team. He loved the game. Ever since I was born, all I remember is being at the squash club with my two brothers, Ben and Michael. I tried a lot of different sports but I felt like squash belonged in the family.

"I did try out for the rugby team at Belfast Harlequins when I was younger and I loved hockey.

"I played on the Strathearn school team for many years but it got to the stage with squash where it was a bit more demanding with more tournaments. So I made that decision to focus the attention there."

Craig's squash education couldn't have been at a more esteemed institution when she was accepted at Harvard University.

In her time there she went unbeaten going 41-0 while the team, that included future world medallists, won multiple NCAA national championships.

It was in the process of sitting a SAT exam to be selected by Harvard that Craig met for the first time another aspiring athlete from Northern Ireland who was also seeking a place at a college in the United States, but who lived just a few miles around the north coast in Coleraine - a certain Hannah Scott.

"We were the only two individuals in a small room sitting the SAT subject exams to get into the US," Craig recalled.

"We didn't really know each other and we didn't have too much time to talk but obviously we found out about being from Northern Ireland and what we were doing.

"So a couple of years pass and I see that she's roommates with a girl on the squash team at Princeton. It's just such a small world so I messaged her and saying congrats on just getting to Princeton and vice versa. So we kept in touch.”

Scott returned from Princeton in 2020 and went on to win rowing gold at the Paris Olympics two years ago.

"What were the odds that she was going to go on to win a gold medal in the Olympics? And now I really am inspired by her especially now that squash is in the Olympics as well.

"To see how confident she is and the preparation and hard work that she puts in on a daily basis, I think gives a lot of motivation to do that myself."

Craig moved to New York after graduating college and started working to earn money to be able to travel to play tournaments.

With the support of the company she was working for, Craig was able to take up the sport professionally and has just finished her third season on the PSA Pro Tour, moving up the rankings from outside the world's top 230 in 2023 to inside the top sixty and achieving her goal of qualifying for the the world championships.

Northern Ireland haven't had a player this successful since Madeline Perry.

The Banbridge player competed at five Commonwealth Games from 1998 to 2014 and reached her highest ranking of three in the world in 2011.

"I appreciate Madeline and what she's achieved more and more every month.

"Being from Northern Ireland and just knowing now a little bit more of what that takes to get to a level like top 10, you can't put it into words.

"From that perspective, it is incredibly inspirational."

The profile of squash will reach a worldwide audience over the next few years culminating in its Olympics debut in Los Angeles in 2028.

"It's been nothing but transformative for the game of squash especially in very small nations around the world, because it gives that global recognition.

"All the athletes on tour, we work so hard and I think deserve that chance to be playing at the Olympics. So I'm very excited for what it's going to bring to the sport."

It's only a draw of sixteen for the singles in Los Angeles so qualifying is a tough challenge, although with more than a third of the world's top 100 players in the women's game from Egypt and only one player per nation allowed to qualify, it's not impossible.

"I would say the short-term goals are definitely in the next year to break that top 50 ranking and make a lot of improvements in terms of technique.

"Physicality has definitely been a strong suit of mine. It's kind of developing the racket skills to compete with those Egyptian players.

"And then longer-term, I'm definitely looking to represent Northern Ireland at the Commonwealth Games and the Olympics."