The Scotsman

World-class field expected to compete as Scottish Open returns after 18-year gap

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The Scottish Squash Open is to return to the sporting calendar after an 18-year absence.

The revived competitio­n, run by the Profession­al Squash Associatio­n (PSA), will debut at the Oriam in Edinburgh from 3 to 7 April 2019 and will be a Challenger 10 event with a £15,200 prize fund, split equally between male and female players.

The tournament, last played in 2001, is expected to attract a line-up packed with worldclass players.

Sandy Adam, chairman of Springfiel­d Properties, which will sponsor the event, said: “I am very proud to announce Springfiel­d’s support of Scottish Squash, I look forward to welcoming a quality field to Edinburgh and bringing an important tournament back to life.”

Greg Lobban, currently 30th in the PSA world rankings, said: “I was too young to remember the last time there was such a big event in Scotland in 2001, but players such as Peter Nicol and John White competed, and hopefully we can attract that calibre of players as the Springfiel­d Scottish Squash Open grows.”

Scottish Squash is negotiatin­g with other firms regarding additional sponsorshi­p to upgrade the tournament to a PSA Challenger 20, which would be one of the largest ever prize funds for a squash tournament in Scotland.

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