David Polkinghorne August 20, 2012
One winner backed the Australian Squash Open to stay in Canberra, while the other wants it moved to Sydney Harbour.
Canberra has the hosting rights for next year's centenary, but the Open will again be up for bids after that.
After winning her second consecutive title in straight sets against Laura Massaro, world No.1 Nicol David has backed the tournament to stay in the capital.
David has been to the ACT the last two years - winning the tournament both times - and the 28-year-old from Malaysia cited the knowledgeable crowd as a major factor for the event staying in the Australian capital. And she'll back to defend her title next year.
''They're doing a good job with this event and having it in the convention centre has been amazing,'' David said.
''The crowd has been tremendous and we just feed off the squash knowledge that people have and they just appreciate what's on the court.''
But men's champion, Ramy Ashour from Egypt, thought four years was enough for Canberra and he wanted the tournament to move to either Sydney or Melbourne - mainly because he's never been to either city.
Ashour was far too good when it mattered against countryman Omar Mosaad, also winning in straight sets to claim back-to-back titles.
The 2010 runner-up and former world No.1 thought there were some exciting venues the Australian Open could go to in either of Australia's major cities.
''We have this portable court, we can put the court anywhere, so maybe in a big historic occasion in Sydney or Melbourne on a nice view on the harbour or sea that would be great,'' Ashour said.
Queanbeyan squash legend Heather McKay said she'd like to see the Open kept in Canberra, but thought it should go to wherever delivered the best bid.
McKay lost only two games in her entire career and won the British Open - the Wimbledon of Squash - an amazing 16 times in a row from 1962-1977.
She also won the World Open in 1976 and 1979.
''Yes it would be fabulous if we could have it again the following year, but it's very competitive and we'll just have to wait and see,'' said McKay, who watched both finals.
One thing both Ashour and David agreed upon was squash should be an Olympic sport and they are part of the push for it to be included in the 2020 Games.