Defending champion Vic Niederhoffer lost his Cowles Invitation Squash Tournament championship to veteran Henri Salaun yesterday.

Salaun, five-time former U.S. Amateur squash champion, whipped Niedorhoffer 15-1, 15-12, 15-8 in a semifinal match, and went on to trip current amateur champ Ben Hecksher in the finals, 9-15, 15-11, 12-15, 15-10, 15-7.

Niederhoffer has never beaten Salaun in tournament play, and the veteran has been the only amateur to beat Niederhoffer this year. Salaun also topped Vic in the Middlesex Bowl Squash Tournament during Christmas vacation.

The Harvard captain had hoped that the 1964 squash ball, lighter than the one which has been in use previously, would give him an edge against Salaun, who wasn't supposed to have the necessary strength to keep the light ball deep in the court. It didn't work out that way.

Niederhoffer had won two earlier matches to gain the semifinals. In the opening round he beat Richard Stewart in five games, and in the quarterfinals he ousted Claude Beer.

In the Harvard Club Invitational Tournament, held in New York simultaneously with the Cowles event, Harvard's number five man, Alan Terrell, was the only Crimson player to win a match.

Terrell won a four-game match from Rolan Addis in the first round of the 32-man tournament before bowing to Richard Carter of Australia, 10-15, 15-10, 15-13, 15-11.

Terry Robinson, the Crimson's number four player, got a first-round bye and lost his second round match to Delbert Fuller, 8-15, 15-8, 17-14, 15-9.

The only other Harvard player entered, number six man John Thorndike, dropped a first-round match to Ramsey Vehslage, 15-10, 6-15, 15-10, 10-15, 15-8.