Greg Lobban relished the home-court welcome he got in Inverness – now he wants something similar in Aberdeen.
In the first of his and Rory Stewart’s post-Commonwealth Games exhibitions, Scotland’s bronze-medal winning squash pair entertained a packed house in Lobban’s home city of Inverness.
The duo will head to Bridge of Allan Sports Club on Friday, which is close to where Perth native Stewart used to play, before moving on to the Granite City on February 4.
Lobban and Stewart made their own piece of history last summer when they became the first Scottish medalists in squash at the Commonwealth Games for 24 years.
Always such a treat playing in front of family and friends from my home club @InvTennisSquash. Thanks so much for hosting us at our first stop on our mini Commonwealth Games tour.. last night was so much fun!!! pic.twitter.com/myYLXKsxMi
— Greg Lobban (@LobSquash) January 15, 2023
The last player prior to the doubles pair to achieve success at the Games was Peter Nicol, who hails from Inverurie and became world number one while representing both Scotland and England.
The feat earned Lobban and Stewart nominations in the Scottish Sports Awards and it had been a long time in coming for Lobban, who had missed out on a medal twice before.
The focus then turned to ensuring the legacy of their squash success was not lost and the north of Scotland has been the perfect place to start.
“It was really special in Inverness that the people who were there are ones I grew up playing against,” said Lobban.
“To bring Rory there, after the success we had in the summer, was special. We showed off the medals to the younger generation and a lot of the kids came down to get coaching lessons.
“It’s really exciting to be doing these exhibitions and to hopefully give these clubs a night to remember.
“The reaction we’ve had has been great. I hope there’s a lasting feeling around the clubs after these events, seeing world-class players getting on court with them – hopefully there’s people booking courts and a drive in memberships after we leave.”
‘I played a few times in Aberdeen when I was a junior’
Heading to Aberdeen Squash and Racketball Club at the start of next month will see Lobban tread on familiar ground.
“I played a few times in Aberdeen when I was a junior,” he said. “I did an exhibition night about 10 years ago, with Peter Nicol and Amr Shabani. I think that was the last time they held something like this.
“Peter is a legend in the squash world and he started it all for Scottish squash, in terms of being world number one. It’s kind of cool that after him, we were the next people to win a medal.”
Both Lobban and Stewart are keen to do more exhibitions before the year is out. The only challenge is finding dates when both are free, given they still have a competitive schedule to fulfil.
“It takes a bit of time to plan these sort of events, but I do have a few hours in the day where I’m not doing much,” added Lobban.
“The only difficulty we’ve had is finding dates – but we’ve found a few that work for both us and the clubs.”
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