Inverness squash duo dream would be to face each other in Commonwealth Games final
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Alan Clyne and Greg Lobban says it would be the dream to face each other in the squash doubles final at the Commonwealth Games.
The pair, who won gold at the World Doubles Championship in 2016 start their men's doubles campaign today.
The former Fortrose Academy pupils were in the same doubles team four years ago which just missed out on a medal when they finished in fourth place.
This time, the pair who played at Inverness Squash Club, could face each other in the final as they will be going to Birmingham with different partners.
Lobban (29) from North Kessock, will be teaming up alongside Rory Stewart from Perth, who he won silver with at the World doubles championships in Glasgow earlier this year.
Clyne (35) from Munlochy, will go into the doubles competition with Douglas Kempsell from Edinburgh, with the duo winning bronze at the World Championship this year.
Both men are going into the Games confident they can take gold and say they would love to face each other in the final at Birmingham.
Lobban said: “Our target is the gold medal.
“We have gone into previous games looking to get a gold medal.
“With the results in the world doubles we are going into it with, we are looking to get a gold. Both of our teams have a chance of gold and I am certainly looking to win gold in both men and mix.”
Clyne also says he would love to face Lobban in the final.
“That would be the dream. “You never know what is going to happen.”
Playing with different partners this time around is not going to affect either athlete’s preparation, saying their success at the World Championships earlier this year gives them both confidence they can come out victorious.
Clyne said: “Not a different mindset, doubles is still the same thing no matter who you are partnered with.
“We were a great partnership together, now we have split to different partnerships, it makes it two strong partnerships.
“It makes the team stronger and I would say the mindset is you get in a relationship with the doubles partner and court, like where they will play the ball, that builds time.
“Myself and Greg had that for a number of years and had to build that up with our partners.”
Lobban said: “We had great success working together and were a winning partnership, and it was perhaps a risk to split the partnership.
“But sometimes you have to take that risk to get the reward. The reward showed with a silver and bronze.”
“We both know that a Scottish squash partnership could win gold, the dream would be that we all medal and we are all on the podium.
“I don’t see that as a long shot, we can both play well as both partnerships, along with the mixed and women’s we can all be on the podium.”
Lobban is going into his third Commonwealth Games with Clyne taking part in his fourth.
They say a Commonwealth Games medal is the one thing missing in their careers.
Clyne said: “I would say so, the World Doubles Championships is a big event and a lot of the people at the Commonwealth Games were all competing.
“To do it in the Commonwealth Games is the real deal, that is where you want to perform and do that.
“This only comes around every four years, everything has been building to this kind of event.
“I absolutely love it, I am proud to be selected and the appetite is there to get going.”
Lobban agreed: “The Commonwealth Games is the big event that we have on the calendar as a squash athlete.
“To come home with a medal would be amazing.
“We are both confident we can go into this one with our respective partnerships with a chance of the gold medal.”
