Alasdair Prott and Fergus Richards are among the top seeds at this weekend’s Newlands Senior Gold squash tournament in Glasgow.
Prott, from Inverness, and Elgin-born Richards are both in the men’s draw for the event, which runs from Saturday into Sunday at the Newlands Lawn Tennis and Squash Club.
Nine-times Scottish junior champion Prott is aiming to build on an excellent debut season in the senior tour last year, in which he won his first PSA Closed Satellite Title at the 305 Squash Open in July.
The 21-year-old also defeated England’s Conor Sheen – ranked 77 places ahead of him – as a wildcard in the first round of the Springfield Scottish Squash Open, as well as two quarter final places to finish off the 2021 season.
Prott said: “The last time I played at the Newlands Senior Gold was two years ago, but I had to withdraw due to illness. I’ve had a good few weeks training with no competitions since Christmas, so hoping to implement what I’ve been working on in a competitive environment.
“I feel like I’m playing well in the run up to this event with no real challenges or niggles along the way. I’m looking forward to it.”
Despite a tough season in 2021, top-seed Richards was selected to play for Scotland at the World Team Championships and currently sits at 173 on the PSA World ranking.
He is currently transferring his success at junior age group level to the senior stage, for Scotland as well as on the PSA World Tour.
He said: “I’m really hoping I can win this event, though it’ll be tough. The lead up hasn’t been ideal as I had Covid in the middle of January.
“Since then, I’ve been able to train and haven’t had any real problems. My prep has been heavily focused on getting back up to fitness and speed. I’ve got to give myself the best chance by being fit believing I can do it.
“My most recent tournaments were in Germany and Spain, where I played some good squash and lost out in the round of 16 to the winner in Spain and the runner up in Germany.
“Looking ahead, hopefully I’ll get selected for World Doubles, European Teams and Commonwealth Games.”
Another event taking place this weekend is the Grampian Regional Masters at Aberdeen Squash and Racketball Club.
The event, which also runs from Saturday, hosts over 50 men and women competing across nine categories from over 35 to over 75.
