The Courier & Advertiser (Angus and Dundee)
Encouraging shows from Scottish teams
Scotland head coach Paul Bell believes the performances of his men’s and women’s squads at the European Team Championships in Helsinki proves the sport is in a healthy state.
The women’s team featured Elspeth Young from Kinross and Montrose’s Lisa Aitken, who won all five of her matches.
The team claimed bronze medals in their first year back in division two by beating Austria and narrowly missed out on back-to-back promotions.
The men’s team, competing in division one, were just edged out for bronze in their 3rd/4th playoff with Germany, which ended tied at two matches apiece.
Reflecting on the five days in Finland, Bell said: “I really could not have asked for any more from the players in both teams.
“We came here looking to give it our all and the players certainly did that. They came up against some world-class players but really dug in hard and I think the future of Scottish squash is in good hands with these players.”
Young is only 20, and there was a teenager in the squad, Georgia Adderley, alongside the more experienced pair of Lisa Aitken and Robyn Young.
Bell was impressed by their contributions. He said: “There is no doubt that this is a big leap from age-grade competitions, but the young players were selected on merit and did not let anyone down.
“It is great to see them interacting with the older players and being confident in this environment and I think it shows them what to expect going forward.”
Scotland and Germany went head-to-head for the men’s bronze medals for the sixth consecutive year and despite wins for Dougie Kempsell and Kevin Moran, over Rudi Rohrmuller and Valentin Rapp, Alan Clyne and Greg Lobban lost to Simon Rosner and Raphael Kandra.
It was Scotland No 2 Lobban’s first competitive outing for six months having suffered a hamstring injury in the final of the Chicago Open in October.
“It was brilliant to have Greg and his energy back in the team and I think he is feeling good,” Bell said.
“Obviously it takes time to get back to this level after such a long time out but as the event went on he got better and better and I think he can now feel content and ready to begin the build-up to the Commonwealth Games next year.”