News

Ashaway, RI – Ashaway Racket Strings and Black Knight USA have jointly announced signing a sponsorship agreement with squash legend John White. A former world No.1 ranked player with 13 tour titles during his 17-year career, John is currently the Head Squash Coach at Drexel University. Still active as a singles and doubles player on the Legends Tour, John will be using a pre-release version of a new SuperNick® string from Ashaway, and a Quicksilver LT racquet and other equipment from Black Knight. Other terms of the sponsorship agreement were not released.

“We are honored to have a player of John’s caliber and experience represent Ashaway and Black Knight on the squash court,” said Ashaway’s Steve Crandall. “Not only does his stature as a player and coach speak for itself, but as one of the hardest hitters in the game, we can think of no one better to represent our new next generation SuperNick string, which will be introduced early next year.

A native Australian, John represented Scotland on European Teams, World teams, and the World Cup from 1999 to 2008, playing in 34 finals matches and winning 13 titles. He finished runner-up at both the World Open and the British Open in 2002, won both the PSA Masters title and English Open in 2003, and won the British National Championships in 2004. He was ranked #1 in the world in March, 2004, and until October 2011 held the record for the fastest recorded shot at 172 mph. John became Head Squash Coach at Drexel in 2011 after a four-year stint as the head coach at Franklin & Marshall.

Said John, “My career goals are to bring a national title to Drexel Athletics, and to continue to play on the Legends Tour as long as possible! I am delighted to be affiliated with Ashaway and Black Knight, and to represent and endorse their great squash products.”

“Very few players have the playing and coaching talents of John White,” said Black Knight USA co-owner, President, and former World Champion, David Palmer, a legend in his own right. “We are very excited to have John join our Black Knight Team. Being a former World no.1, the hardest hitter in the game, and one of the most exciting players of all time, John has a great reputation worldwide from his playing days and more recently as Head Coach at Drexel University in Philadelphia. John will be starting with our new model, the Quicksilver LT, and we have started working on a custom racquet (“the great White”) to be released early in 2016.”

Black Knight USA is the US arm of top Canadian squash and badminton racquet maker, Black Knight. Founded in Vancouver in 1976, Black Knight has been first to market with many key developments in squash and badminton racquets, such as full graphite shafts; true one-piece graphite racquets; wide body frames; inverted racquet heads; 67 and 68 cm racquet lengths in badminton; graphite/aluminum hybrids; TurboFlex shafts; high tension frames; the Control 2000 speed adjustment system; TUF Grip; Power Channel; VibraPlate; the Knight Trainer; Magnum oversized frames in squash and badminton; and more.

Ashaway Racket Strings are made by Ashaway Line & Twine Mfg. Co., the only U.S. manufacturer of string for squash, tennis, racquetball, and badminton. Operated by the Crandall family since 1824, Ashaway has been making racquet strings since 1949, and is responsible for several important technical innovations. Ashaway has been the Official String of USA Racquetball for more than ten years, and is also the Official String of Professional Tennis Registry. Ashaway Line & Twine Mfg. Co. also makes braided products for medical and industrial applications. For more information visit ashawayusa.com.