Carol Owens (squash player)

Carol Owens (born 4 June 1971) is a former New Zealand-based squash player who won the World Open in 2000 and 2003.

Carol Owens

Country	Australia,  New Zealand
Residence	Auckland, New Zealand
Born	(1971-06-04) 4 June 1971 Melbourne, Australia
Retired	2004
Women's singles
Highest ranking	No. 1 (November 2002)
Medal record Women's squash Representing  Australia World Championships 2000 Edinburgh Singles 1997 Sydney Singles World Team Championships 1994 Saint Peter Port Team 1996 Petaling Jaya Team 1998 Stuttgart Team Commonwealth Games 1998 Kuala Lumpur Doubles Representing  New Zealand World Championships 2003 Hong Kong Singles 2001 Melbourne Singles 2002 Doha Singles Commonwealth Games 2002 Manchester Doubles 2002 Manchester Singles
Last updated on: 3 March 2010.

Owens was born in Melbourne, Australia, and would eventually change her nationality when she moved to Auckland, New Zealand. A right-hander, she made her competitive debut in 1990 in the Swiss Open where she finished 17th. Her first final was the 1993 Japan Open where she was a runner-up to the Canadian Heather Wallace. She didn't have to wait long for her first major victory, which came in October in Adelaide, South Australia.

She was part of the Australian winning team at the 1994 Women's World Team Squash Championships, 1996 Women's World Team Squash Championships and 1998 Women's World Team Squash Championships.

She has the unique achievement of representing both Australia and New Zealand at the highest level and is the first female player to win medals for two countries at the Commonwealth Games.[1]

Carol began to challenge for the world championship whilst still representing Australia and her first World Open title came in 2000 when she beat New Zealander Leilani Joyce 7–9, 3–9, 10–8, 9–6, 9–1. This was after an equally epic semi-final against Sarah Fitz-Gerald.
In 2001 Carol changed nationality becoming a New Zealander and at the 2002 Commonwealth Games she won the gold in the doubles and a silver in the singles. The elusive second world title came in 2003, when she beat Cassie Campion 3–9, 9–2, 9–7, 9–3. It was in 2003 that she became – for the first time – the World No. 1 ranked player.

At the beginning of 2004, Carol announced that she had retired from the professional game.[2]