Scotland's squash hopes high for Commonwealth glory after top seeds triumph in Edinburgh

Top seeds Greg Lobban and Georgia Adderley look ready for next month's Commonwealth Games after both claimed their second national titles following two contrasting finals at the Scottish Squash Championships in Edinburgh yesterday.

Greg Lobban. (Photo by James Chance/Getty Images)

While Adderley scored a comprehensive victory over second seed Alison Thomson, Lobban was forced to dig deep before finally overcoming rising star Rory Stewart.

Stewart had deposed ten-time champion Alan Clyne in Saturday's semis, but he had no answer to Lobban's flying start as the Inverness player took the opening game.

it was soon all-square, and there was barely a cigarette paper between them for the rest of the match. Games three and four were both locked at 9-9, but Lobban nicked both to complete a hard-fought 11-3, 6-11, 11-9, 11-9 win.

Stewart finished runner-up again after losing to Clyne in 2020, while it was Lobban's first Scottish championship since 2013 following seven straight titles for Clyne.

"This has been Clyney's event. He's the one we've all had to chase!" smiled Lobban. "It feels like ages ago that I last won this. I've been the number one seed a few times and not won it, so it's nice to finally get another one.

"Today's final could have swung either way in the third and fourth games, but maybe my greater experience got me over the line."

Stewart added: "On a different day, I might have won it, but I don't have any regrets about the choice of shots I played."

Adderley secured her first title since 2017 - when she was only 16 - despite playing in the Mauritius Open midweek. "I flew back on Thursday night and landed on Friday morning and was back home on Friday afternoon," she explained after taking just 22 minutes to beat Thomson 11-2, 11-5, 11-3.

"The national championship is a really prestigious title, and everyone in Scotland wants to win it. I'm very happy with my performances here. I feel some of my squash is the best I've ever played."

Though well beaten, Thomson was simply happy to be back on court following long-term injury. "I was out for seven months," she pointed out. "I've been training hard, but playing matches is a completely different thing!"

Clyne and Robyn McAlpine earned bronze medals after defeating Fergus Richards and Beth Moglia in yesterday's third place play-offs.