Australian courts trouble again

Squash

Australia's Anthony Hill was in trouble again yesterday after receiving a conduct warning for verbal abuse during his first-round win over England's Mark Chaloner in the Hong Kong Open.

Hill, who completed a three-month ban from squash earlier this year for his misbehaviour at last November's World Open, received the warning during the second game of a physical match. He now faces a fine of up to $312 (pounds 200) from the Professional Squash Association and will be suspended for 12 months if his penalties this year exceed $780.

Hill will face another test of his temperament tomorrow, when he meets Pakistan's Mir Zaman Gul. There has been bad blood between the two since incidents at the 1994 British Open, when Gul was disqualified for butting Hill, and last year's World Team Championship, when Hill physically and verbally abused Gul.

Del Harris complained about squash's new seeding system after losing to his fellow Englishman Mark Cairns in the first round. The PSA reduced the number of seeds in major tournaments from 16 to 8 in January, which Harris claims has led to lopsided draws.

While Harris faced a player ranked just six places below him in the first round, two qualifiers ranked 60th and 36th played each other. "I think the draw is crazy," Harris said. "The sooner they change it the better."

The top seed Jansher Khan, aiming for an eighth Hong Kong Open title, beat wild-card entry Jackie Lee of Hong Kong to go into the second round.