Name: ANTHONY HILL  Date of Birth: 9 June 1969 Country: Australia  Place of Birth: Melbourne  Place of Residence: Belgium

Hill first appeared in the PSA world rankings in August 1987 at 125. It was not until July 1989, after falling as low as 187, that he made his top 50 debut at 43 - and then November 1991 when he secured a top 20 entry at 20. He achieved his top ten debut at 10 in November 94, but it was a full five years later that he reached his career-high world No.6 ranking - in November 1999. 

The 29-year-old from Melbourne, now based in the Holland, first made a name for himself on the PSA Tour in 1989, winning four events including the Swiss Open and three in the USA - the San Francisco, San Antonio and Los Angeles Opens. 

Sadly it is controversy, not his undoubted talent, for which Hill is best known: His performance in the 1994 British Open was largely overshadowed by the unsavoury "head-butting" incident in the first round match against Mir Zaman Gul, where he won the game lying flat on his back as the Pakistani was disqualified for putting him there. 'Hilly', however, was back on his feet to defeat former world champion Ross Norman of New Zealand in straight games in the second round, before finally going out to England's Peter Marshall in the last eight. 

The following year (1995) started with a bang with a straight games victory over England's Stephen Meads in the final of the Stroh's Open in Calcutta, India. In May he reached the final of the Internationaux de France in Paris, this time losing 3-0 to England's Simon Parke. Later he achieved a semi-final berth in the World Open in Cyprus, before losing to the eventual champion Jansher Khan. 

1996 again saw Hill hitting the headlines for the wrong reasons: His on-court antics in both the World Open in Karachi and the Mahindra International in Bombay at the end of the year earned him a 3-month ban and £1,400 (pounds sterling) fine by the PSA for 'violation of the Association's code of conduct' during the two events. 

He achieved mixed success in 97 - falling at the first hurdle in the Al-Ahram International (to Welshman Alex Gough) and the Hong Kong Open (to England's Peter Marshall), but reaching the quarter-finals of the Mutualite Francaise Finals and the US Open - in both cases losing to Simon Parke. He made the last eight in both the Egyptian Open and World Open in Malaysia (losing to eventual champion Rodney Eyles), and reached the last four of the HCI Cup in Hamburg, where he fell to Jansher Khan. His best result was his first appearance in a Super Series final - the Pakistan Open in Karachi where he was runner-up to Jansher. 

Hilly's 1998 was characterised by highs and lows - the high of reaching the semi-finals of the World Open in Qatar in December, coinciding with the low of crashing down from 8 in the world in January to 23 in December! Indifferent results through the year included first round exits in the Hong Kong Open and the Al-Ahram International, and a second round finish in the British Open. Not until November did things start to go right, when he beat England's Mark Chaloner in the first round of the Heliopolis Open in Egypt before losing to Dan Jenson in the quarters. 

The all-glass World Open court in Doha seemed to lift the Australian: the seventh seed took five games to overcome Finland's Juha Raumolin and France's Thierry Lincou, before beating English qualifier Marcus Berrett in stright games to reach the last eight. Here he swept past fourth-seeded Welshman Alex Gough 13/15 15/11 15/10 15/7 to reach his second career World Open semi-final, and a rendezvous with long-time PSA Tour friend Jonathon Power. The Canadian, however, was on the way to a historic first ever world title, but Hilly took the first game of the tournament from Power before submitting 15/3 13/15 15/10 15/8. 

Hill's 1999 campaign began with a quarter-final appearance in the Marsh & Mclennan Apawamis Open in New York (where he lost to Chris Walker), followed by a first round departure from the Tournament of Champions, also in New York, where he lost 3-2 to the eventual runner-up Ahmed Barada. Back in Europe, he reached the quarter-finals of the Flanders Esso Open in Belgium after beating Canada's Graham Ryding 3-2 in the opening round. 

In the May Dunlop PSA World Rankings, Hilly moved up to No.8 - a position which not only equalled his then highest-ever placing back in January 1996, but also made him the highest-ranked Australian, ahead (for the first time in his career) of 1997 world champion Rodney Eyles. 

The hierarchical turnaround was noted by Squash Australia back home, who announced Hill as Australian No.1 for the first time. Hill and Eyles met within weeks, in the pool rounds of the PSA Super Series Final in London, for which Hill had qualified for the second time. Appropriately, Hill recorded a 13/15 15/14 15/12 victory to endorse his new-found status. 

The following month, Hill was back in the headlines for the wrong reason again - after being disqualified during his first round match against England's Paul Johnson in the Libertel Open in the Netherlands. The PSA later fined him £200 for 'Verbal Abuse' of match referee Jack Allen, but dropped the case of 'Unsportsmanlike Behaviour' towards England coach David Pearson. 

By September, Hill was back in action in the World Open - this time in Egypt, hoping to repeat his 98 glory in Qatar. He justified his seeding by making the last eight, and consolidated his domestic authority by beating Australians Byron Davis and David Palmer on the way to the quarter-finals where he lost to local hero Ahmed Barada. 

Now spending most of his time in continental Europe, Hill is a player with tremendous natural ability, who undoubtedly has the ability to climb further up the rankings. "I know that when I am firing on all cylinders, I can beat anyone in the world," he says. "However, I know that I must learn to be more consistent." He is a former world junior finalist who gave up Australian Rules Football when he was sixteen to concentrate on squash. His interests away from squash include surfing, boxing, and videos. 

He admits that his strengths as a squash player are "not my fitness" - and, when asked in a PSA player questionnaire 'Do you see yourself as different in any significant way from your fellow professionals?', answered succinctly: "Yes, I get suspended more!"