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Austin Adarraga-Almirall
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   His outstanding story includes:

Austin, at 11 years of age  won the U13 National Junior Age Championships, in Brisbane (Australia, 1978) He defeated Rodney Martin (who would eventually win the World Open Title in 1991) 10-9 in the fifth, in an epic 90 minutes duel.

   The same year Austin travelled to Spain for  holidays with his yayos (grandparents) from Barcelona. They entered him in the First  Spanish Squash Championships (Open event for all ages) which was held in  Madrid. Austin eventually went on to lose the final to Carlos Sainz, the future World Car Rally Champion, 5 years his senior. But he was the “idol” of the enthusiastic crowds.

  At the age of 17 Austin reached the quarter-finals of the World Junior (U19) Championships in Calgary (Canada) He lost to Jansher Khan who would eventually take over the reins from the legendary Jahangir Khan, as the number one in the world. The Australian Institute of Sports (AIS) rewarded his performance with a squash scholarship, under the direction Geoff  Hunt, former world champion and top coach,

  As a Junior Austin represented Australia (U19) and toured New Zealand defeating the Kiwis in the Challenge Test series.

  At 19 he moved to Madrid and gained a contract, as professional player, with the Abascal club. Austin went on to represent Spain as their number one player for eleven years until  his retirement from the sport in 1995. In that time Austin won virtually every tournament in spanish competition. In 1992, his  brother Xavier, an excellent player, joined him in the Spanish Team.

   In 1992, he reached the Semi-finals of the World Open Championships in Johannesburg (see paper article)  In a a Television interview, Chris Dittmar, ex-world champion and an authority in squash, reponded to the question of: "How will Adarraga perform against Jansher in the semifinal?" Chris said : Adarraga is about the best retriever in the world and he is playing well. Jansher will have to put his very best if he wants to win. After 92 minutes of a very competitive mach, the superior stamina of Jansher won on the day, in 4 games.

  Having won that year the Spanish Championships and his excellent results in Johannesburg he rounded up the year winning the European Champion of Champions Tournament.

  Austin's efforts and successes por Spain,  were rewarded by been nominated by "Marca" (The Spanish Sports Magazine) the
Spanish Squash Player of the XX centur

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