Masters finish on a high as young Scots faced tough test in Europe
It was another weekend of top squash action as Scotland’s representative teams headed out of the country to compete at the highest level in their respective age groups.
The Under-17s made the journey to Prague for the European Team Championships, while the final leg of the Masters Home Internationals took place closer to home in Wales.
The Women’s Over-45s produced Scotland’s strongest showing of the weekend, finishing runners-up and rounding off an impressive Masters campaign across all events this season.
Masters Home Internationals – Cardiff
With Scottish teams having claimed three victories across the opening three Masters Home Internationals this year, the bar had been set high heading into the weekend in Cardiff.
The Scots opened against hosts Wales, who were in strong form and secured victories in three of the four matches.
The WO45s bucked the trend though, as Katy Temple, Maggie Farrell, Jenn Saldanha and Emma Robinson all recorded victories to seal the tie.
Saturday got underway with the teams facing a stern challenge against the much-fancied England teams.
Pauline Douglas earned an impressive victory against her English counterpart, but there was to be no further joy for the Scots against teams that would go on to clinch three out of four titles.
The final round of matches against Ireland brought the most joy for the Scots, with the WO45, MO65 and WO65 all securing wins.
That meant second for the WO45, third for both the WO65 and MO65 and fourth for the MO45.
Women’s O45 captain Maggie Farrell said: “The Women’s 045s team had a fantastic Home Internationals this year in Cardiff.
“There was a warm, welcoming atmosphere and top organisation from Squash Wales at Rhiwbina Squash Club where our team played some epic matches and put in some tremendous performances over the weekend.
“There’s no doubt you really give it all you can when playing for your country – our sore limbs now confirming that we really did leave it all on the court!
“Special mention to Katy Temple who came back from a season of injury to play at number one with a strong win against the Welsh top player and some gutsy performances running the English and Irish number 1s really close, as well as Pauline Douglas who won all 3 of her matches in the ladies O65s.
“As a team we all feel it is a really special privilege to pull on the shirt and play for Scotland and are looking forward to earning a chance to do it again next season!”
European U17 Team Championships – Prague
The young Scots faced a challenging run of matches across five days in Czechia.
The pool stage brought 4-0 defeats at the hands of Denmark and France, but wins for Chi Pui Felicia Chan, Phoebe Hamilton and Thomas Myers against Portugal saw the Scots finish third and progress to the 9th place playoffs.
A narrow defeat to Hungary followed, as another win for Thomas was not enough to overcome their opponents.
The tournament ended on a brighter note, with another win over Portugal and a final win over Greece to secure 13th place overall.
Scottish Squash Pathway Manager/Coach Kylie Lindsay said: “It was a tough week for our U17 team but hopefully they are able to take away some good learning from the experience and implement it into their training for their future development.
“A couple of highlights from the trip were Thomas Myers at only 15 putting in some great performances and Felicia Chan winning an important match for the team, 14-12 in the 5th.”
