2.45pm
New Zealand's world No 1 Carol Owens has announced her retirement from the international squash circuit.
It ends a 15-year career for her, although she has not ruled out representing New Zealand in doubles in future.
Owens has been contemplating her future since winning the World Open in Hong Kong last month,
and today decided to hang up her racquet.
Owens said she no longer had the desire to compete on the world circuit and wanted to leave while she was at the top.
Speculation has been rife that Owens would return for another season to try to capture the British Open which has eluded her.
But she said being No 1 in the world was as good as it got, and she had no regrets about calling it a day.
Owens said a number of factors, including a back injury which sidelined her briefly in the middle of last year, influenced her decision.
She said she had yet to figure out where her future lay, and that coaching was a possibility.
She said she would continue to play on the local scene, and hadn't ruled out representing New Zealand in the doubles at the 2006 Commonwealth Games in Melbourne.
- NZPA
