THE wait for a Commonwealth medal in squash goes on.
Not since Kuala Lumpur in 1998 - when Peter Nicol won the singles and, with Stuart Cowie, the men's doubles prior to his defection to England - has there been Scottish representation on the podium.
Alan Clyne and Harry Leitch had harboured strong hopes that they would be the ones to end that barren run by claiming a medal in the doubles. Instead, two defeats to English opposition on consecutive days meant they finished in fourth place for the second Games in succession. If they were disappointed in Delhi, then the fourth seeds seemed even more gutted in Glasgow.
They could not have given more in yesterday's bronze medal match against the third seeds Daryl Selby and James Willstrop, the latter described as "one of the most gifted human beings to ever pick up a squash racquet" by the rather excitable venue announcer. Two epic games - the first lasting 37 minutes, the second 38 - both went the way of the English but there was very little between the teams, with some rallies lasting the best part of five minutes.
Scotland led at various points but could never shake off the threat of the English who kept coming back before prospering. A brave, battling performance was little consolation for the Scots pair, especially Leitch whose frustration was evident.
"It was tight but they played the big points bigger than us," said the man described pre-match as "the Brian Cox of squash". "We're absolutely gutted as we came here for a medal."
The first game was eventful in more ways than one, the excitement getting too much for some of the younger members of the audience packed around all four sides of the glass court. "Please do whatever you can to prevent your children from screaming during rallies," came the announcement as the tension rose in accordance with the scoreboard.
There was mental anguish for Clyne at the end but he suffered physically, too. With England 8-7 ahead in the first game, the 28-year-old from Inverness took a Selby follow-through flush in the face. Credit to Clyne, he did not use it as an excuse.
"It didn't affect me as the eyewear did its job," he said. "I just had to change it and when I got back on I didn't really think about it at all. We gave everything but it just wasn't good enough today."
The second game was similarly closely-fought. Scotland thought they had drawn level at 7-7 at one point only for the referee to order a let on the grounds that he "couldn't see" whether a shot had been good or not. That frustrated the Scots but again they make a fuss over it.
A slip from Clyne at 9-7 allowed both teams to take a break while the court was mopped up but the end was not far away, England winning the two points needed to take the bronze at Scotland's expense.
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