Trio earn Gold Coast 2018 Commonwealth Games selection

Alison Thomson will make her Commonwealth Games debut in April after she was selected yesterday alongside Lisa Aitken and Kevin Moran for the Team Scotland squad that heads Down Under in April.

The trio were formerly announced on Tuesday as athletes and staff for Team Scotland 2018 gathered in Dunblane for the final Team Camp before the Gold Coast 2018 Commonwealth Games.

They join 2016 world doubles squash champions Greg Lobban and Alan Clyne in the five-strong squash team heading to Australia.

Thomson is the reigning Scottish champion in both Women’s and Mixed Doubles and has enjoyed a great start to 2018 claiming silver at the British U23 Open and reaching the last eight of the Edinburgh Sports Club Open.

The 21-year-old will compete in the Women’s Singles event and the Doubles alongside Lisa Aitken.

Her father Alan is Scotland’s most capped squash player and was part of the famous European Championship winning side of 1992.

National coach Paul Bell said: “It’s a big deal for Alison to play for Scotland, especially at the Commonwealth Games and I’m sure she will handle the occasion well.

“She has been involved in a lot of major events already so won’t be overawed and will do us proud in the Gold Coast.

“We are a close-knit squad and she fits perfectly into our environment.

“Hopefully Lisa and Alison can form a formidable partnership on the doubles court.

“Alison is a great mover which is a very good asset, particularly in doubles.”

Lisa Aitken is competing in all three squash events at the Commonwealth Games, Women’s Singles and Doubles and the Mixed Doubles alongside Kevin Moran.

Aitken reached the quarter-finals in both Women’s and Mixed Doubles at the Delhi 2010 Games and returns to Team Scotland after an incredible comeback from serious illness.

Dengue fever contracted while competing at the Malaysian Open in the summer of 2014 derailed her sporting ambitions for over two years but she has made her mark in recent months winning her first PSA World Tour title at the New Zealand Classic in June and adding a second at the PwC Open in October.

Bell continued: “Lisa has done brilliantly in the past year and she will be ready to go.

“There were a number of different options for her in terms of who to play with so it’s good to get everything settled.

“Lisa is a great team player and a big help to whoever she partners on the doubles court.

“She remains calm under pressure and always forms a strong partnership with whoever she’s teams up with on court.”

Kevin Moran was part of Scotland’s bronze medal winning team at the 2016 European Team Championships and returns for his second Games having reached the last 16 of the Mixed Doubles at Glasgow 2014.

He will play in the Men’s Singles event and the Mixed Doubles with Aitken.

“It is great for Kevin,” Bell added.

“He has done really well over the selection period and I am pleased for him.

“He was part of the Commonwealth Team in Glasgow and knows what it will take this time to get a medal.

“Lisa and Kevin teamed up down south recently for some Test match doubles against England and the signs were really encouraging.

“Hopefully that partnership continues to go from strength to strength.”