Squash star Anne Stephens in hall of fame

In her time, Hamilton's Ann Stephens was pretty handy with a squash racquet.

In recognition of her sporting talents she was recently inducted into the New Zealand Squash Hall of Fame where she features alongside Kiwi greats such as Susan Devoy, Neven Barbour and Bruce Brownlee.

Ann rose to the top of her game in the mid to late 1950s, winning six national titles and playing at the top level for more than 15 years.

At the same time she was also making her name in badminton, winning singles, doubles and mixed doubles national titles and representing New Zealand in 1957, 1959 and 1960.

Playing squash singles, the sport would take a back seat to badminton because Ann felt committed to her badminton partner.

However, in 1957 she managed both sports championships when the squash nationals were held in Palmerston North and the badminton in Feilding.

She says the timing couldn't have been better with the squash being played in the day and the badminton in the evening and Ann commuted by bus between the two events.

She believes the key to her squash success was playing against the men in Oamaru.

Coming from small town Oamaru, Ann excelled at other sports as well, representing her hometown in netball, swimming and diving.

At 16 she started playing badminton and says if it wasn't for squash's great benefactor Roy Mitchell she may never have taken up the sport.

"He built one of the first badminton halls, purpose built built for the game," she says.

The facility also housed squash courts and Ann would have a hit around while she waited for her badminton game.

Because of her start in badminton, Ann says she played squash with the wrong grip but without the coaching available today she retained her badminton style.

"I just managed and it got me to where I got to," she laughs.

Ann met her husband, top badminton player Albie Stephens, moved to Hamilton and won her last two national titles.

She won three titles in a row from 1956-1958 a feat unmatched until Susan Devoy made her mark in the 1980s.

Ann has also been named in the Otago Daily Times 150 greatest sporting moments.