Currently the highest ranked Australian on the world ranking- men’s and women’s - this professional squash player reached a career high of 13 in the world before an injury halted her rise. She is now fighting back to the top echelon once again and was a threat last November at the DAC to win our Pro Classic tournament where she reached the semi final. An amazing junior career where she won 5 junior national titles and in 2003 she was a finalist at the junior British Open. She won her first career pro title in 2007 and broke into the top 20 just 3 years later. In 2018 she won the gold medal in the Commonwealth Games in the squash doubles event with partner - and cousin - Cameron Pilley. Currently ranked 22 in the world, one of the smoothest movers and cleanest techniques on the women’s circuit…
MEET… DONNA LOBBAN
The Squash Joint (TSJ): G’day Donna! We are very grateful that you have agreed to talking with us! Tell us how you have been keeping yourself occupied during the lockdown and how do you keep yourself motived not knowing when the next tournament will be played?
Donna Lobban (DL): I’ve still been keeping myself very active with off court training which takes up a good part of my day. Other than that though I enjoy cooking so with this extra time at home it’s been nice to experiment with lots of new recipes. In terms of keeping myself motivated I’m lucky that my husband is also a professional squash player so that’s a massive bonus to have a training partner everyday to keep each other going.
TSJ: You grew up in Yamba, New South Wales. For those who don’t know where that is (which would be most of us!) it’s about a 3 hour drive south from the closest capital city, Brisbane. Not exactly a squash hot-spot. How did you manage to get so good so young being so isolated? I imagine you had to spend a lot of time traveling?
DL: Yamba is a tiny town of about 5000 people but I was lucky that squash was in the family. My mum played and my cousin's family owned the local squash centre across the road from my house. My mum and my uncle were my first coaches and I guess I got good at it because we were able to play whenever we wanted. The hard part being from Yamba was that most of the competitions happened in the biggest cities like Sydney (over 10 hour drive away).
TSJ: You play a style of game which could be described as a shot-maker, hitting numerous clean winners and wrong-footing your opponent. How did you learn this and what is your favorite way to set up and finish a point?
DL: My style has certainly evolved during my career but it’s still funny for me to hear myself described as a shot maker as I’ve never thought of myself as having the best technique or racket skills. I guess I learned this from enjoying playing this way and practicing until I got good at it. I’ve learned to use my strengths of my height and reach by setting myself up for winners on the volley.
TSJ: I have no doubt you would have reached the top 10 ranking had you not been sidelined with injury. How mentally difficult was it to come back from these injuries and to keep motivated? I believe you have the game to still get there, can you tell us how (or if) your training methods have changed with these experiences.
DL: Any injury is difficult to mentally overcome and during my career I’ve had my fair share including 4 surgeries which sidelined me for extended periods. As disappointing as it was every time I always knew I had the strength to come back from it as I could use my experience of having done it before. Because of these injury layoffs I feel like I haven't reached my potential yet and that is what keeps me motivated. You learn from any experience and over my career I’ve adapted my training in lots of different ways to try and prevent injuries as much as possible.
TSJ: Back when I was growing up, Australia was the power-house in the world of squash. Looking at the world ranking now, you are highest ranked woman at 22 and the highest ranked player on the men’s side is an unbelievable 160. What happened to Australian squash and what do you think needs to happen in order for them to start to look even half-respectable again?
DL: Squash in Australia was booming in the 80s and 90s, we had World Champions in both the men's and women's rankings and as a kid I was fortunate to grow up idolizing these players. Things are very different now and no matter how you look at it there’s going to be a big gap, but things are looking up with lots of new initiatives including a new National Training Centre on the Gold Coast. I would love to see Squash become as popular as it used to be in Australia.
TSJ: Let’s lighten the mood. What’s the first thing that comes to mind when I say…:
- Vegemite and Cheese sandwich… Aussie Aussie Aussie, Oi Oi Oi!
- Twilight movie series… Liked it at the time, haven't seen it since!
- Skateboarding in the Olympics… Face palm.
- Alaskan boat cruise… responsible for most of the Covid cases in Australia?
- Nick Kyrgios… Amazing tennis player, bit of an idiot!
- 45 minute interval session… Good warm up.
TSJ: Who was your biggest influence in your squash career as a junior? Who is the biggest influence now?
DL: When I first started playing squash it was as a 5 or 6 year old kid running around the court in between my mum’s ladies daytime matches. She used to get on court and play with me a lot. I had a double handed backhand and she used to challenge me to put one hand behind my back to help me learn how to play with a one handed backhand. After that my uncle Steve Pilley and my cousin Cameron Pilley were big influences throughout my junior career.
My biggest influence now is my husband Greg Lobban, he's often the one there in my corner at tournaments and we spend a lot of time talking through each others games and ways to improve.
TSJ: What would you consider to so far be your greatest achievement in squash? Would you mind sharing with us what goals you have for the future?
DL: Winning a Gold medal at the Commonwealth Games in 2018 (squash’s equivalent to the Olympics) was a dream come true for me.
I would love to win Gold at the next Commonwealth Games in 2022 and also improve on my highest world ranking of 13.
TSJ: Who is the toughest player who have ever come across and what made them so difficult to beat?
DL: Nicol David, I played against her in that period where she was basically untouchable. On a good day, I felt I could match it with all the top girls at the time but with Nicol I could barely come close. I remember her playing at an incredible pace but what stood out more than anything was that there was nowhere in the court that you could put the ball that she wouldn’t be able to get it back. Even if you got to game ball she would go into this incredible retrieval mode where she just wouldn't let you win one more point.
TSJ: This may be a tad controversial. Recently, I have become more and more confused at many decisions at the pro tournaments. It looks to me as if PSA is trying to minimize awarding a ‘let’ as much as possible and it is causing plenty of uncertainty amongst the players. What do you think of the current quality of the refereeing in professional squash and do you have any ideas to improve it?
DL: I would love to see the quality of the refereeing in professional squash improved. In my opinion the best solution would be an initiative to get ex professional players refereeing the World Tour as they have the best understanding of the game and the subtleties of whats going on on the court. They would also have the respect of the players for this reason.
TSJ: Complete these sentences…
- The one house chore I refuse to do is… touching Greg’s sweaty kit!
- The one dessert I can never resist is… chocolate lave cake.
- My favorite shot to play on the court is… backhand drop off the back wall.
- My favorite major tournament to play in is… Tournament of Champions in New York's Grand Central.
- If I didn’t play squash, I would be playing… Field Hockey or Surfing.
- My favorite Star Wars character is… Yoda.
TSJ: Let’s tackle the Olympics. I am sure you have been asked countless times about this! Have we missed the opportunity? Do you think squash should continue to try to get in? If so, what ingredient are they missing?
DL: I have become disillusioned with the Olympics and how unfair the IOC process is of choosing new sports for inclusion. That being said I would still love to see squash in the Olympics one day. My opinion is that squash as a sport should stop trying to 'change to please', but instead concentrate its focus - funding/time/resources on just getting better and better, until the Olympics comes to us.
TSJ: You are married to another squash professional - Greg - and now live in Sheffield, England. How does living there compare to Australia and do you have any plans to return back Down Under after your playing career?
DL: The obvious difference is the climate and the weather, the other main difference for me is that I grew up living a 10 minute walk from the beaches and now in Sheffield I’m in the middle of the middle of the UK, about as far from any coastline as I could be - so I miss the beach! I’ve spent a number of years now living away from my family and I would love nothing more than to live in Australia again one day. Hopefully in the future life circumstances will make that possible. Luckily Greg loves Australia too!
TSJ: If Hollywood were to make a movie of your life, which actress would you like to portray you, and which actor would play Greg?
DL: I’m going to say Rachel McAdams to play me (I don't even know why?), and Ryan Reynolds to play Greg because he’s just hilarious.
Thank you so much to Donna for taking the time to answer these questions. Her perseverance and determination through multiple injuries to bounce back and once again compete at a world class level is something to be respected and admired. I love her pick for Ryan Reynolds to play Greg in their Hollywood movie… Deadpool is a classic! And Rachel McAdams… can’t complain there either! We very much hope to see her again at our next Pro Squash Classic this November challenging for the title.
