Hunt wins British Open

Press, 9 April 1979, Page 6

Hunt wins British Open

NZPA London i The world squash champion, ■ Geoff Hunt, of Australia, won I his sixth British Open squash I title, and his fourth in a row, in : a match of fluctuating fortunes I at Wembley on Saturday, He beat Qamar Zaman, of i Pakistan, the No. 2 seed, 2-9. 9-7, i 9-0. 6-9. 9-3, in 81 minutes, bringing Hunt’s earnings on the British circuit to £7350 in six weeks. Hunt won because he was thej fitter and stronger, because he] had the mental reserves to re-1 cover from a near disastrous* start, and had the strength to polish off a tiring opponent. Zaman had patches of extraordinary squash, none more so than when he stood on the brink of defeat at 1-6 down in the fourth game, then reeled off winner after extraordinary winner to go 3-0 ahead in the fifth. In the end it was the champion’s combination of talents that won him a memorable matcß

against Zaman’s talent for pro-1 ; during every stroke in the book'; and a few that were not. "He j played superbly in the fourth, and frankly hit winners when he shouldn’t, but 1 couldn’t stop him,” said Hunt afterwards. “I tried to play my winning shots when 1 had prepared for them in the rally, but for a while I was struggling.” Zaman won the first game in 18 minutes, compared wdth the ’ dramatic 50 minutes that it took | him last year. i Hunt fought grimly, making Zaman work harder for every 1 rally, and once he got back to 7-all with a perfect length backhand the match turned around. Zaman saved one game ball but lost the second to Hunt’s immaculate length, the third game went in six minutes, and suddenlv the match was nearly over as Hunt stood at 6-1 in the fourth. But from the brink of defeat j Zaman suddenlv found the genius to turn the match back

! his way with backhand after backhand into the nick } At 0-3 in the fifth however, , Hunt, like a great champion, came again and this time it was i with front court winners. He hit a tine drop shot to gain serve, another to lead 4-3, and in spite . of a spell of lets w’ent quickly to 7-3. I Zaman left the court and changed his racket, but even that made no difference and shortly afterwards another nick and a hard cross-court drive won Hunt the title. ;; Afterwards he said: ‘lhe match was a> hard as any against 1 me, but I would have been disappointed to lose as I have beaten him three times recently. : I tried to lift the pace in the second game and keep him back i as much as possible, and winning - that was absolutely vital. “I don’t think much about re- > cords, but now I am one away from Hashims seven titles It ■comes to mind a little more and i [ it would be nice to equal it next t year,” Hunt said.