Highland trio help Scotland to eighth place finish at World Squash Team Championship
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Scotland, whose squad included three former Inverness Tennis and Squash Club members, finished eighth at the 2023 World Team Squash Championship.
Taking place throughout last week in New Zealand, Black Isle stars Alan Clyne and Greg Lobban were joined by Alasdair Prott from Inverness, making his World Championship debut, and Perth’s Rory Stewart.
The week started well for the Scots, easing through their group.
Having seen off Canada and Samoa, Scotland dispatched Hong Kong in the last 16 before going up against top seeds Egypt in the quarter finals.
It was always going to be a tough ask, and defeat left them battling it out in the 5-8th place play-offs.
First off was a loss to the USA, meaning Scotland faced Germany with a seventh-place finish on the line.
Stewart was up first for Scotland, losing out to Simon Rösner, before Lobban faced Raphael Kandra.
The North Kessock player struggled to get going, losing the opening game 11-4, but a more competitive second game saw Lobban eventually pull clear 13-11.
He then had to survive three game balls to win the third, and won the fourth to clinch his tie 3-1.
That left the youngest squad member, Alasdair Prott, to try and earn seventh place for Scotland.
The 22-year-old was the underdog against world number 86 Yannik Omlor, but the opening game was close enough that you would never have known before Omlor edged ahead.
Despite Prott’s best efforts, Omlor won the second game more comfortably and would win in straight games leaving Scotland to finish eighth.
Scottish coach Paul Bell said: “That was a tough one – our games against Germany always are.
“Rory played well and his match could have gone either way. Greg had a brutal match, so he did really well to battle from behind to win.
“I was really pleased for Alasdair to play the deciding match – I’m sure he’ll have to do that many times in the future so getting a crack at it was good. There’s a lot for him to learn from this one and I’m sure he’ll use that experience in the future.
“Overall it’s nice to say that we’re top eight in the world. It’s really tough to play Egypt and bounce back – so I’m really proud of the guys for another great performance at the world level.”
