Claire glad to be back
Squash star is enjoying her sport again
Squash star Claire Gadsby has praised her family and coaches for the support she’s received while rekindling her love for the sport.
The 23 year-old from Crieff suffered an anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) knee injury for the second time in 12 months in January 2018.
It was a painful physical and mental blow for a bright talent who, in 2015, won her first-ever Scottish National Senior title at the age of just 18.
She followed that up a year later with her second national title.
Claire said: “Things were going well so picking up the first ACL injury was a big setback for me.
“It was a pretty tough time. I made use of a psychologist and doctors through sportscotland who really helped me out and I came back strongly and confidently.
“To then injure my ACL again and go through the whole process and more surgery was honestly one of the lowest points of my life.
“It was a real struggle but, again, I had support from psychologists, doctors, physios and coaches who were amazing.
“I wouldn’t have got through that two years without them.”
Claire continued: “Paul Bell [Scottish Squash Director] knew I was struggling so I took a decision to step back from squash.
“I needed a break because I wasn’t happy. I went from loving the game to absolutely hating it. I couldn’t even listen to the ball hit a wall, let alone watch squash.”
Time away from the sport turned out to be the right decision.
A three-month stint coaching golf in the USA last summer was the “best time ever”, Claire enthused.
She wasn’t planning on getting back on a squash court anytime soon after that.
But her brother Sean persuaded her to have a match “just for fun” at Crieff Squash Club last September.
“Sean has probably been my number one supporter throughout,” Claire said. “He was like ‘just see how you feel’ so we played a gentle match and I lost 3-2.
“I remember that competitive feeling coming back so we played a few more times but I kept losing.
“But I needed to win and in our sixth match I beat him 3-2.
“From there I started practising with talented Crieff junior Lucy Murchie and then spoke to Paul and began hitting with the performance players at 7am once-aweek in Edinburgh.”
Almost three years since her first ACL injury, Claire was back in the winner’s circle after beating Perth’s Katrina Allen in five games at the Scotstoun Gold Women’s Open in January.
She followed that up with a fourth place finish at the Sterling Trucks National Championships, with Allen edging past her in a bronze medal tussle.
Claire added: “Playing Katriona at the Nationals and losing hurt but I loved being out there, battling back from 2-0 down and not giving up.
“Before, in 2016, if I had lost that match I would’ve been a mess and not handled it very well.
“But I have a different perspective.”