The briefest lapse of intensity that transformed momentum during Alan Clyne's first-round exit from the AJ Bell World Squash Championships must serve as a timely reminder for Scotland's leading player and his up-and-coming countrymen according to their head coach.
Roger Flynn was naturally disappointed by the way the 26-year-old from Inverness let slip a winning position against Egyptian teenager Fares Mohamed Dessouki. However, the vastly experienced Australian believes all will not be lost if it helps the Scots grasp one of his key dictums; that every single point must be respected because it has the capacity to change the direction of a match.
"The essence of it, especially for the younger ones, was to watch Alan do so well in the beginning, then see how he actually managed to lose," said Flynn. "That's a real lesson, not just for Alan, but also for the boys. Alan was very disappointed because he's been up two games to love in the last few matches and has managed to lose, but it just shows how close the competition is and the importance of giving the other guy that momentary advantage. He just relaxed that little bit thinking he'd done all the hard work.When you get a three-point break as he did in the third game usually that's all you need to do."
This is still early in the season, however, so Flynn believes his squad will take what has happened on board to good effect.
"Our season normally revolves around the European Team Championships and all our preparations are geared to that," he explained. "We've just come off our summer training which is a different kind of training to what we'll do during competition and everything we're doing is focused on having a big peak around the Europeans."
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