World squash champion, Geoff Hunt of Australia, was beaten by Pakistan's Mohibullah Khan in the finals of the International Grand Prix Squash Series at Wembley in London on Thursday night (18 March).

The tournament was seen as a warm-up for the first World Team Squash Championship to be held in Karachi, Pakistan next month.

It was the first time Hunt had been beaten since August last year. On that occasion it was also Mohibullah Khan who beat him in the Australian open title. The two are drawn to meet again in the final of the Pakistani Open which also starts in Karachi next month.

Khan's win on Thursday night was his first over Hunt if five matches in Britain. He had been runner-up to the Australian in the other four, which included the world championship.

He won Thursday's game 1-9; 9-7; 9-4; 2-9; 9-6, in a match which lasted nearly two hours.

The squash world will be watching keenly to see how Hunt performs in the Karachi tournament, where he will be playing against the cream of the Pakistani players. Squash is rivalled only by field hockey as Pakistan's national sport, and a new squash complex has been built for next month's tournament.