Sydney squash player Tony Whackett has atoned for his defeat in last year’s Bathurst Masters grand final with a victory over Simon Hine in the 2015 edition on Sunday.

Whackett claimed his second win at the tournament to go with a number of finals appearances, with a straight sets win over Hine, though he admitted afterwards he feared for his ability if the match wore on any further.

Coming back from a serious rotator cuff injury, he said he was a bit behind his opponent in terms of fitness but did enough to kill the match off before that became a factor.

“It was a bit tougher this time around than the first time I won, I had a torn rotator cuff in my right shoulder that kept me off the court for a long time,” Whackett explained.

“But you have to start somewhere and for me this was it. I have been doing some training to try and get ready for it.

“The first two sets were fairly comfortable [9-5, 9-2] but it got a lot closer in the third. It got to 10-8.

“I started to tire and it was a bit of a danger period there for a while. Had I not been able to win that set, I don’t know that I would have been able to pull it back again in the last two.”

Last year Whackett was bested by Jeff Bond, but has always been a consistent performer in his visits to tournaments in the town.

He and Hine looked destined to meet in the decider as soon as the draw was released given their quality.

As the winner alluded to, the event was a stepping stone as he attempts to regain full fitness, and given what is around the corner for him, it is understandable that he is so intent on getting back to his best.

“I’ve got the Australian Champion-ships later in the year, but also I’ve been selected to play for the Australian team against New Zealand in October, so I really want to make sure the shoulder is ready for that,” he said.

“I was delighted to get the win in Bathurst, Simon is a good player and it is always a good match against him.”

In the other divisions, Peter Chang took out division two with Des Wood winning division three, Barry Wurth taking out the fourth grade title, and Bathurst’s Mick Farr winning division five.

John Hung (six), Bathurst local Brett Moulds (seven), Tara Harpley (eight), Jackie Kirk (nine), Debbie Bryant (10) and another local in Caroline Robertson (11) also had wins in the lower grades.

“It was a great weekend and we couldn’t be happier with how it all went, we need to thank the Blayney Squash Club for helping out with hosting the tournament as well,” co-ordinator Dave Fuller said.