Fitz-Gerald Plays On To Win 62nd WISPA Title

More than four years after retiring from the professional squash circuit, Australia's Sarah Fitz-Gerald made a brief comeback on home soil to net her 62nd WISPA World Tour title today in the Topend Open Series at Darwin Squash Centre in Darwin.

The 38-year-old from Melbourne was ruthless in her 9-1, 9-3, 9-0 defeat of No2 seed Peta Hughes, the reigning Australian junior champion from Queensland. Fitz-Gerald despatched top seed Amelia Pittock in straight games in the semi-finals.

The title success extends the former world number one's unbeaten run on the WISPA World Tour to 83 matches since August 2001.

Fitz-Gerald retired from the professional tour in 2003 but still plays squash to keep fit.

"I'm still playing at a high level, so it's not like I dropped off the face of the earth when I retired from the tour," said the record five-times World Open Champion after notching up her 90th appearance in a WISPA Tour event final.

"Hopefully Peta will use today's final as a learning experience. I'm hoping to have chat with her to give her my perspective on how she played. I want these girls to learn as much as they can."

Reigning Australian men's junior champion Ryan Cuskelly had better fortune then Hughes in the men's final as he eased to a straight games win over Luke Margan.

The 19-year-old from northern New South Wales showed why he is considered a top prospect by outlasting the 23-year-old Margan, who has recently returned to the court after a foot injury.

Women's final:
[5] Sarah Fitz-Gerald (AUS) bt [2] Peta Hughes (AUS) 9-1, 9-3, 9-0

Men's final:
[2] Ryan Cuskelly (AUS) bt [1] Luke Margan (AUS) 11-7, 11-6, 11-5