Thomson in the mood for Scottish Open

Alison Thomson has had a great start to 2019 and she wants to continue that form in this week’s Springfield Scottish Open, which gets underway today.

The Professional Squash Association Challenger 10 event takes place over the next five days at Oriam in Edinburgh, with the tournament having attracted some big names from Britain and further afield.

There is a $20,000 prize fund which will be equally split between male and female players and Thomson, 22, is No 4 seed in the women’s draw.

She finished runner-up in the British under-23 Open in January, then beat former world 42 Hayley Mendez at the Cincinnati Cup in February and reached the final of the Swedish Open last month. As a result, she will not enter the action until tomorrow at the secondround stage, playing the winner of today’s meeting between Alicia Mead of England and Scottish teenager Georgia Adderley.

“I came up to Scotland in January, played a few tournaments and got some good training in at Oriam which really helped me win the match in Cincinnati,” the Twickenham-based Thomson said.

“With Scottish Squash senior performance coach Kylie Lindsay I have been working hard on the basics and trying to be more consistent and improving my drives. I’ve also been focusing on my short game, taking the ball short at the right time and really committing to the shot.

“Things are positive just now and I’ve trained at Oriam many times, but it will be a new experience playing in front of a crowd.”