Geoff Hunt: There is nothing like representing Australia

Geoff Hunt, who is widely considered to be one of the best squash players to have graced the game, knows what it is like to represent Australia.

From his five years at world no.1 to winning four consecutive World Open titles and eight British Opens, he is a living legend of the sport.

Getting his start in squash at the age of 12, three short years later he had won his first Victorian State Junior Championship. More success followed at the 1963 Australian Junior Championship and Victorian State Championship, before becoming the youngest player to win the Australian National Championships in 1965 - the first of seven Hunt would win.

One of his most memorable moments came when he won his eighth British Open crown in 1981.

“For me, it was winning my eighth British Open which was a record at the time against Pakistan's Jahangir Khan,” said Hunt of Khan who would go on to beat the Australian’s record - winning 10 titles.

“The British Open Championship was the Wimbledon of squash in my day.  

“Each game you play is a new game,  even if you’ve won a few before but being able to win the record at that time was fabulous,” Hunt added.

However, one of Hunt’s highlights throughout his career, even as an amateur, was pulling on the green and gold.

“There is nothing like it and I think it is one of the best things you can do as an athlete,” he said.

Even after his retirement in 1982, at the age of 35, Hunt continued to maintain a strong connection to the squash community, especially as head coach of the Australian Institute of Sport (AIS) from 1985 to 2003. 

During that time, he led Australia to numerous international tournaments including the Kuala Lumpur 1998 Commonwealth Games where squash made its debut at a multi-sport event.

Hunt, who never got the chance to compete at a Commonwealth Games, said it was an unbelievable experience to be part of.

“I will never forget the first time I went into the arena in Kuala Lumpur. There were thousands of people in the stadium, I can’t even remember walking around now, I was in such awe,” Hunt said. 

“It was one of the most exciting things I’ve ever done. I would have loved to have played myself, but squash wasn’t in the Games in my time. It was an honour to even be a coach. 

“Sometimes you get more satisfaction from coaching someone than playing because it's a bit more difficult to do.”

Being included in the Commonwealth Games at that stage was an exciting moment for the sport. Until that stage, while squash had World Championships which were played around the world, it hadn’t been included with other sports on this scale.

Hunt saw it as an enormous opportunity for the game to grow with more opportunities to play doubles competition, which was played very little before that. 

“In the early days, it took a long time to win the matches but now the excitement is there and also with the glass courts, the spectacle of the stage and at the Games itself you're mixing with the other athletes and coaches there so you learn a lot from your experience.”

With under a month until the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games gets underway, it is set to be a blockbuster event with eight players set to strongly represent Australia. 

In a team that has three debutants, amongst veteran players who have a combined 15 Commonwealth Games including 17 medals between them, anything is possible when they step out onto the University of Birmingham Hockey and Squash Centre courts.

Hunt hopes that by playing at events such as the Commonwealth Games it can also inspire the next generation of players to take up the sport.

“Hopefully having the Commonwealth Games and having some of the players do well or just being able to be seen that they can represent Australia in the sport might encourage more people to play,” he said.

“Once people get on the court and have a game, they are going to love it.”