Mike Corren is a PSA touring pro, currently recuperating from injury in New Zealand. Mike's world ranking peaked in 2004 at #38, but he has vowed to threaten that again next year when he returns to the circuit. With some luck we should see quite a bit of Mike in 2007 when he bases with Sport and Health to attack the US circuit later in the year. In this story Mike discusses past greates Geoff Hunt and Jonah Barrington, and the age old bar pastime of comparison of the eras (Ed.).

 

A quite popular game that is played today, and at times fiercely fought I might add, is the comparison of generations and the players that graced them. The guidelines that the 'players' use to back up their claims is varied, some put a lot of thought into their arguments while others seem to argue a lot without much thought! The 'battle' is often fought between the recent troupe of top players which comprised of Nicol, Power, Palmer, White, Lincou, Beachill and the young but not so pretending talents of Shabana, Darwish, Gaultier  of course James Willstrop and now Ramy Ashour.

The above group is cast against the late eighties-early nineties (some longer) stable which consisted of the two great Khans, Jahangir and Jansher, Ross Norman, Peter Marshall and a horde of convict-inspired wrecking machines, namely Chris Dittmar, Rodney and Brett Martin, Chris Robertson, Rodney Eyles and Tristan Nancarrow. This is indeed a healthy battle, with potential for many good debates and with a level playing field in terms of glass courts, American scoring, seventeen inch tins etc etc. The only area that may give an advantage is of course, racket technology, which is definitely in favour of the current breed.

My story begins, though, while at a recent tournament and attending the after-event dinner. A certain individual was making it quite clear to one and all that the mercurial Canadian ace Jonathon Power would 'wipe the floor' with the members of Jahangir's era. Upon hearing this I threw a couple of 'random' names in to the comparison to see what would arise.

'What about Hunt and Barrington'? I ventured.

The fellow almost choked on that amusing thought. Why, surely Jonathan would flick-flick, hold-hold and generally bedazzle those old timers with rocket science!

In fact the two statements that stick in my mind were 'mismatch', and 'as boring as watching paint dry'. I won't go into the content of my reply at this time, but the thought struck me that I have actually encountered this opinion before and I might add, from people more closely involved with the game than my pal at the dinner. So, what is it about this era that people tend to cough and splutter and generally choke on? Perhaps the not so clear old video footage, perhaps the playing style itself, maybe the “crown-jewel-crushing” shorts or the fantastically coloured playing attire (canary yellow, ice blue, lime green etc all in vogue, perhaps the wind splitting collars?!)  Seriously, though, the so-called playing style generally seems to be the issue with most critics, especially when Hunt and Barrington are the examples, because, after all, they were the best at it.

OK then, so what is the measurement of a champion? Are the critics trying to say that Geoff and Jonah, given the equipment of today, would not succeed and if so, why not? Did they lack in courage, tactics, fitness or the many other qualities that make up the best from the rest? Did they not have the depth of competition that today's champs face? Ever heard of guys like Zaman, Taleb, Mohibullah, Jahan, Allaudin, Awad, Brownlee, Safwat, Hiscoe, Jawaid, and of course, a young guy by the name of Jahangir? Well, Hunt and Barrington overcame all of the above in the process of winning titles and more, and yes, Jonah DID defeat Jahangir in the 1980 British Open and in the final of the 1980 Irish Open.

So let's take a closer look at what made Mr Hunt of Victoria, Australia, and Mr Barrington of Cornwall, England, tick. First, in most sports the difference between the champions and the rest is that the champions possess the ability to change, to add to their greatness as required, they learn from their defeats and strengthen their armoury until they are like the ultimate battle machine. Also, the fundamentals of sports, squash included, rarely change a great deal. Boxing, for example, thrives on one person hitting his opponent extremely hard, over and over until...the opponent falls down! I use this as the most simple example, of course. But it is without doubt, a great tactic and not unlike length in squash, punishing length mixed with iron fitness and commitment. Jonah Barrington started his epic crusade into the record books at the now unheard of age of 23 and, by the time he was 26, he was champion of the world and, in doing so, shook the game to it's very foundations. The guiding force behind Jonah's charge was the legendary Pakistani coach Naz Khan, who gave Jonah the simple mantra of 'You must be strong....EVERYWHERE'! Jonah applied this mantra with gusto and, through gruelling training in all areas of development and fantastic attention to detail, became the first example of the complete champion. Government funding, sponsors and bonuses were nowhere to be seen. In their place lay dishes to be washed at a restaurant, milk to be delivered and ummm...”tackle” to be displayed as a nude model for art students!

Looking back at Jonah's rise, another amazing factor is the actual lack of experience he possessed at the very top level, which he took on and conquered anyway. While years of hardened top level experience were not in his list of weapons, pure heart and guts, the will to win, a game that was grooved to perfection by endless practise, and work with Naz on and off court were his bullets, not to mention match practice with legendary four times British Open champion, Azam Khan. What this added up to in the end product was a 100% commitment to winning the battle. Indeed, Jonah was a warrior, a warrior who would change his style of play in order to defeat any challenger to his throne. The early battles between Jonah and Geoff were prime examples in this ability. At this early stage in Hunt's rise to greatness, the order of the day was pace, volleying everything in sight and generally overcoming his opponents with pure aggression (within his game of course). There was only one player in the world who could handle Geoff's onslaught and Jonah did so by pushing the younger Australian into punishing physical battles, employing clinging lengths, pinpoint accurate drops and lobs, and wonderful variations of pace. Not quite the hare and the tortoise but, definitely a quickened up version!

However, when dealing with lesser opponents, Jonah could display skill of the highest degree, an ability to execute the 'shop window' style of game as well as anybody, but against Hunt he would react like a hunted animal intent on survival. He did what was required to come through the battle and more often than not did so, the winner. There was no doubt that Jonah completely changed the game. He brought to it a completely new level of dedication and attention to detail. He was also the force behind the creation of the pro circuit as we know it today and also the prime motivation behind the squash boom in the late sixties, seventies AND early eighties, at which time he was still ranked top eight in the world at the age of 39 (1981).

Amazing!

So how would Jonah fare if put into today's game under the same circumstances? I fail to see how you could possibly stop this extraordinary man from repeating what was achieved 38 years ago. He would be a champion, no doubts.

I spoke earlier in regards to the young Hunt and the style of game that he possessed. In a career that was to boast no fewer than eight British Open crowns and seven World titles (four Open), Hunt's game was to see a further three distinct changes. First was the greater attention to fitness brought about due to his battles with Barrington. Second was the attention to detail in his technique and a new ability to undercut the ball which coincided with the classic Hunt game of slowing things down, penetrating length, soaking his opponents pressure and generally, being a wall that even the toughest competitors couldn't scale. This was brought about due to the Pakistani attack force of Qamar Zaman, Gogi Allaudin, Mohibullah Khan and Hiddy Jahan. An amazing collection of opponents and all with varied weapons, all aimed at taking Hunt's crown back to Pakistan.

·       Hiddy brought raw power and ferocious hitting to the battle. It was said that he once drove the ball so hard that the ball stopped dead on the front wall, and dropped straight to the floor....dead as a dodo!

·       Zaman was the little magician who used cuts, chops, holds (yes, there were holds BEFORE Jonathon) all in all, anything that came into his head at the time. The thought of Zaman playing in today's conditions whets the enthusiast's appetite!

·       Gogi was the quiet but deadly lob and drop merchant who would place the ball at the furthest possible point away from his dying opponents.

·       Mohibullah was the seventies Jansher (in fact, they are from the same family) with heart breaking speed but armed with massive power in his strokes and a fine volley.

Hunt took on this challenge and emerged the victor, in doing so cementing his name in the record books. The last phase was a work in progress when injury claimed the great man's career. This phase was necessary due to the emergence of the young man who would go on to be, arguably, the greatest player the game has seen, or may ever see...Jahangir. Hunt's new 'work of art' included even more variation of pace, use of the working boast, reverse angle and all of course still armed with his legendary fitness and torture like length pattern. The theme again, like Jonah, was the champion's total commitment to blocking the holes, eliminating the chinks and becoming the greater champion in the process.

In boxing, one only has to look at the legendary bout between Ali and Foreman in Zaire to see a champion's ability to change, to adapt to opponents and circumstances, bringing out so called 'hidden gifts' to get the job done. Anybody who witnessed the 1981 Australian Open final between Hunt and Dean Williams would stand as witness to Hunt's ability to change at will when he defeated the younger man with a display of winners that would make John White blush. (Sorry Whitey!!) What is even more interesting is that Dean was a cut from the style that is employed today, athletic movement, exciting racket skills and shot selection, and a highly charged and entertaining on court persona! Yet on this day, Hunt made Dean look like a beginner in the art of the spectacular winner, and all of this with a racket that would not be a handy weapon when draining spaghetti, never mind slashing a cross court nick from the back court! You could see the total frustration and indeed, humiliation on Williams' face as the match progressed. Dean entered the match I am sure confident in the fact that while Hunt was champion, that it was he with greater skill, the ability to hit that great winner....yes, Hunt might win, but he would have to use attrition tactics to do so.

Wrong, how very wrong!

Whatever it was that was slipped into Geoff's porridge that morning is unknown, but it is a lesson to all that if an individual has the ability to hit paint scraping tightness and length over two hours than a volley cross court nick is a piece of cake! In short, Hunt could put the ball away as well and as often as anybody in history, bar none. But Hunt had that invaluable knowledge, he realised through sheer competitive spirit that in order to come out on top, year after year, title after title, to survive the predators in the jungle, that he had to produce the 'winning' game, the game that would break down all of his opponents in relation to the abilities they brought to the court. Add to this a total refusal to be bettered in combat, to never give up, an unrelenting fire that drove him on through punishing training and matches. A lot of people misunderstood what they saw in Hunt due to his polished exterior, the perfect manners and sportsmanship on court....underneath this exterior was a man with total pride, like Barrington, a warrior.

Two matches in particular display the warrior ingrained in Hunt’s makeup and both matches were played against the young conqueror Jahangir, yet both were fought under entirely different circumstances. The first was the 1981 British Open final, coming in Hunt was the higher ranked player, but the press were predicting a Khan victory especially as the week before had seen the younger man reduce Hunt to exhaustion at the end of the final in Chichester. Hunt felt though that he had the background, despite that loss, to claim his record breaking eighth title, it was to him…meant to be ,destiny if you like.

Hunt had put in punishing background work for that British season, rumours of thirty 400 metre sprints with minimal rest were talked of, more than ever before.

In their first encounter that season, Jahangir had crushed a match rusty Hunt 3-0, but in the following two encounters Hunt came roaring back with two equally convincing victories, then came Chichester. Both made the final as predicted and what was to follow was described by Jonah Barrington as the cruellest thing he had ever witnessed in sport. The first two and a half games saw the latest additions to Geoff's master game bearing fruit, victory was in sight, it could be taken in three games despite the clock nearing the two hour mark. Then however, a couple of points to the good, Hunt collapsed, the perfect length and width deserted him, tired errors came and Jahangir, despite being tired himself, rushed at Hunt and took the game.

The break did Geoff no favours at all and he quickly found himself six one down, looking grey and ill, holding his lip as if to stop himself vomiting, the air of authority clearly shown earlier was nowhere to be seen. But then...IT...happened...I am not sure whether the average spectator would have seen the significance of this brief moment, but I am sure that veteran warriors like Barrington would have picked it up immediately. The moment was this; Jahangir had six one and an easy backhand drop from mid court with Geoff hopelessly out of position. This easy shot would give him seven one which would surely bring proceedings to a fifth game, in which case the younger, fitter man would gobble up the tired and obviously exhausted, older man. It seemed the British Open was going back to Pakistan, indeed, taken back by the new pride of the country, Jahangir. If Jahangir was thinking about these future glories, then the clattering sound of ball meeting tin must have been a rude awakening. Jahangir’s reaction to this event though could not be measured for on the outside, there was none, there was no drop of the head or tantrum, no throwing of the racket. But to Hunt, the sound of that tin must have been like the ringing of a dinner bell to the ears of a starving man, indeed Hunt’s hunger for the kill came back with a deadly earnest.

From some deep reserve, from the very deepest of wells that only the champions seem to be able to draw from, Hunt rallied, the length came back, as did the width, the movement was not the usual silky Hunt dance, but everything was chased down with renewed vigour and returned with interest. Hunt fought back and took the game 9-7, the match 3-1 and the record eighth title in two hours and fifteen minutes and duly passed blood that night from the effort. What would have happened had the match gone to a fifth game? I believe, the same thing, Hunt would have pushed again and again, he would have pushed until total collapse if need be, but the belief was there...the belief that the record would surely be his.

The second match saw Jahangir now firmly seated as world number one and also the holder of the World Open title, a title he took from Hunt in Canada over four games in late 1981. The venue was Chichester, the scene of Hunt’s collapse the previous season. Hunt arrived for the 1982 British season with chronic lower back and hip pain. Indeed, getting out of bed in the mornings was a minor victory in itself! Come the day, Hunt would do his all to coax some mobility into his seized up joints by walking from the Hotel to the tournament venue, each round he thought surely to be his last. Yet in true Hunt fashion he battled his way through to the final and faced the opponent that made grown men cry when fully fit! That was of course, Jahangir.

Geoff goaded his wrecked body that day into keeping perhaps the greatest player ever on court for ninety minutes, and while there was no winner’s trophy or cheque for the great Australian that day, he perhaps claimed the greatest victory of his life, to fight through injury, fear and the prospect of sure defeat to go out in true, proud, warrior fashion. Geoff retired shortly after, leaving behind a legacy that went much further than titles won.

So where does this bring us in terms of the comparison of the eras?

I believe the key is to look past the obvious which includes racket technology, courts, tins etc etc and to look at the individuals themselves, how they won their titles, how they responded to challenges in their career, their ability to peak for the big titles. In short, defining a champion is about defining the spirit of man. What an insult to men the calibre of Hunt and Barrington to say they could not adapt and win in the game as it stands today, or in any future period for that matter! One only has to look at Peter Nicol and the qualities that he is praised for to prove this point. Peter proudly showed the ageless defining core' of the champion with a complete all court game, attention to detail in training and preparation and exemplary behaviour on court. Also, as his opponents will attest, he possesses the never say die attitude of all great defining champions of the past. Peter has respect for the game and it's traditions which includes, carrying the mantle that Geoff and Jonah did so successfully in being an ambassador for the sport both on and off the court. The role I might add, that to this day Geoff and Jonah still play in their roles as coaches to the sports up and comers.

Only time will tell, throughout their deeds on and off court whether today’s players will be considered in the same light as the past champions we have talked about here. David Palmer, for example, with a world and British titles to his name, is well on the way. He holds all of the fighting values displayed by the greats.

But ask me who would take the win head on in a play off between Hunt and Palmer? That my friends, is easy......the Australian, of course!

AussieNick, a squash information center for adults and juniors based on the Potomac in the USA, with an emphasis on meeting the needs of squash players in the Washington DC, Suburban Virginia and Maryland regions. It was created to provide information about Junior and Adult squash, coaching, equipment, pro tips and more. AussieNick programs are associated with squash courts at RIO (Rockville and Gaithersburg, Maryland), Tenley (North-West Washington DC), Bethesda, Regency (Mclean, Virginia), Arlington and Worldgate (Herndon and Reston areas, Virginia) Sport and Health Clubs.