Squash - Four players from Inverness Squash Club are called up to play for Scotland at international tournaments in France, Ireland and England in April and May
FOUR athletes from Inverness Squash Club have been called up for national service after being selected to play for Scotland at major tournaments across Europe.
Jessica Craig-Gould and Flynn Macdonald are set to make their debuts in the national under-13 girls and boys teams respectively to play at the Five Nations in Nantes, France, with the competition starting on Friday.
Zack Paton is in the Scotland Under-17 squad which will be competing at the European Team Championships in Bordeaux, France on May 8.
John Kynoch has been called up to the Scotland over-55’s squad which will compete at the Masters Home Internationals in Galway, Ireland next weekend and in Nottingham on Friday, April 25.
Kynoch (55), who works a finance manager in Inverness, is no stranger to representing his country at younger age levels, but will make his debut in the over-55 competition.
He is looking forward to the challenge of playing at a new age group.
He said: “I played for Scotland at over-35’s, 40’s, 45’s and 50’s but this is the first time that I will have played at over-55 level.
“I am just going along to do my best as that is all you can do.
“There are always players that could do better than you, but as long as I put in my best performance then I will be satisfied.
“I represented Scotland for the first time 15 years ago and have been playing squash for over 40 years.
“I am looking forward to playing for Scotland where we will look to win.”
Paton (15) from Nairn, has also represented Scotland at younger age groups in international competition and says that he is looking forward to testing himself at an older age level.
“I have had three previous call-ups for Scotland before and it is always awesome to be called up to play for my country,” he said.
“I have experience of playing at tournaments in England and Wales as well as in Czechia and Portugal.
“It will be a hard competition, I am only 15 and will be playing at under-17 level but it will be a great experience to be part of.”
Looking to the future, he said: “I want to go and play squash at university level and see where that takes me.”
In addition, Paton is one of 12 athletes from across the Highlands that have been selected to receive funding as part of the Highland Athlete Travel Award Scheme.
The scheme provides financial assistance to help high performance level athletes living within the Highland area who face considerable travel costs for training and competitions.
Craig-Gould (12), who is a primary seven pupil at Duncan Forbes Primary School in Culloden, will be making her debut for Scotland. She has experience of playing abroad previously and is looking to taking that into the Five Nations this weekend.
She said: “I have played at the Danish Open in Denmark and have also played competitions in England.
“I have been playing squash since I was about four-years-old.
“My mum and dad got an email that I had been selected for the team. It didn’t take much convincing to say yes and it is a big honour to be representing my country.
“I am expecting the competition to be a good level of squash and I am confident going into the tournament and really looking forward to the experience.”
Macdonald (12) a primary seven pupil at Crown Primary School, is looking forward to his international debut saying he is proud to be asked to play for Scotland.
He said: “It is the first time I have been called for Scotland and it didn’t take me any convincing to say yes.
“It feels really good being asked to represent Scotland, it is amazing just to be selected.
“I have played at a silver event competition in Newcastle before and I am looking forward to playing in France.
“I am looking to play well and hopefully I can win a few games.”
The quartet are the latest players from Inverness Squash Club looking to make an impact on the international scene.
Greg Lobban, Alasdair Prott, and Martin Ross, who all started their careers at Inverness Squash Club helped Scotland to 10th place at the World Squash Team Championships in Hong Kong.