Edinburgh’s Georgia Adderley has been named top seed for the women’s singles at the $20,000 Springfield Properties Scottish Squash Open being held in Inverness from September 20 – 24.
The flagship event, sanctioned by the Professional Squash Association, has attracted a record number of international players in addition to 10 Scots and with Edinburgh Sports Club affiliated Rory Stewart favourite for the men’s singles hopes are high there could be a first Scottish winner since the competition made its comeback in 2019 after an 18 year absence.
Georgia said: “It’s amazing to have such a huge event in Scotland, and especially one which is really popular for players to come to from all over the world.
“It’s great being number one seed – even if it comes with a bit of pressure – but there are a lot of really good players entered.
“I see it as a good opportunity to take home a major title on home soil, which would be amazing, but I’ll just take it one match at a time and see what happens.”
Commonwealth Games bronze medallist Rory Stewart said: “I have gone into events as the top seed before, and fortunately it hasn’t got the better of me, so hopefully this time won’t be any different.
“I would be really proud if I was to get over the line in the Scottish Open, as a Scottish player so my goal for the week is to win it.”
In the men’s draw, Inverness squash star and eighth seed Alasdair Prott will hope to make an impression at his home club after winning his first major PSA title in Australia at the end of July.
Scots Martin Ross, John Meehan and Andrew Glen will compete as wildcard entrants while the youngest player in the competition, Scotland’s Robyn McAlpine, will take her place in the
women’s draw as a wildcard entrant fresh from her debut for Scotland at the Senior European Teams Championship and a strong showing at the World Junior Championships in Australia.
Robyn, 16, holds the Scottish under-17, under-19 and under-23 titles currently.
Katriona Allen, Alison Thomson and Ellie Jones complete the Scottish entry in the women’s draw.
Prize money will be evenly split between men and women.
Evergreen sports journalist. Previously published in many publications around the world. Send me your local sports stories. billlothian1008@gmail.com