Hunt Leaves Australia For Qatar

Australian squash legend Geoff Hunt is to leave his position as High Performance Manager at Squash Australia to take on the role of Head Squash Coach at the Qatar Sports Institute.

Hunt, one of the greatest players in the history of world squash, will move to Qatar in early May to become the gulf state's first ever head squash coach.

Hunt has been the High Performance Manager for Squash Australia since January 2001 and has been involved with the sport for many years as a player, a national selector and in various coaching capacities.

He was with the Australian Institute of Sport (AIS) squash unit from its inception in 1985 and was head coach there for 18 years, before opting to scale back his involvement and take on a consultancy role.

Hunt said the offer to head up the Qatar squash programme was an opportunity too good to refuse: "It is an extremely well-resourced institute," he said. "You don't often have the opportunity to work with the best people in the industry in fields such as sports science and sports medicine."

While Qatar does not have an established group of senior players, Hunt said a base of junior talent had been nurtured over the past few years and he would be overseeing their graduation to the higher level.

He said while he was sad to be leaving the Australian squash set up, he was confident the sport's future was in safe hands in both coaching and administration.

"I have particularly appreciated working with (Squash Australia CEO) Norman Fry - he is driving Squash Australia in a healthy direction," Hunt said.

"It is just that the Qatar role is simply an opportunity too good to resist."