IF it’s possible to procure any kind of positive from the current global situation then for Alan Clyne it’s getting the chance to spend a bit more time with his wife.
The Scottish men’s squash number two is married to fellow professional Olivia Blatchford and the pair tend to split their time between their home in her native United States and dotting around the globe as part of their respective PSA world tours.
Lockdown has seen them settle together in Scotland for the time being, something Inverness-born Clyne reveals makes for a nice change.
“We’re probably going to be spending the next wee while in Scotland,” he said. “We normally spend a fair bit of time in America too but we’re not sure when we’ll get back there. But we’re happy to make the most of our time in Scotland as we love it here too.
“I’m still trying to keep training as much as I can. You always look to keep yourself ticking over. But ideally it’s good to have something to aim for. I had been due to go to Qatar, Egypt and Peru and so was focused on working towards those three tournaments. But it wasn’t to be.”
Clyne’s last competitive outing before squash went into cold storage saw him claim a tenth Scottish national title last month.
The 33 year-old has no plans to hang up his racquet any time soon but has also been encouraged at some of the younger players pushing their way into contention.
“I think there’s a lot of potential out there,” he added. “Rory Stewart, in particular, has a big future. He’s had up and down results and maybe hasn’t been as consistent as he would like to be. But his best level is up there with top 50 standard in the world.
“Below him there are a group of younger boys who have just come to university. I feel that’s a good route for squash players in this country.
“I went to Edinburgh University, did my four years and tried to train pretty much full-time. By the end of that if you’re good enough you can go on the tour.
“We’ve got young lads like John Meehan and Al Prott who are just finishing their first year and improving all the time. They just need to keep at it and putting in the work and hopefully they’ll reach a standard where they can hit the tour hard.
“Greg Lobban is obviously doing really well and I’m sure his world ranking is going to push up even further. But we want more pushing through as the Egyptians are looking very strong at the top end and we need to try to keep challenging them!”
Clyne is happy to shoulder some of the burden for developing up-and-coming talent whenever he is in the country.
“I want to help the younger ones whenever I can,” he added. “I spent a bit more time in the States these days but whenever I’m here I try to have hits with the guys coming through.
“I want to show them what it’s all about. I put in a lot of hard work when I was at university and that paid off for me. Some guys didn’t put in as much. I feel that’s what you need to do to make it. That’s why I want to help push on the new crop coming through as all I want is for squash in Scotland to be booming.
“Everyone puts in a lot of hard work and there are a lot of good squash players out there. But a big part of the game is in your head. You have to keep believing in yourself and in the right shot.”
The unenforced break has pushed pause on what has been a mixed season for Clyne so far.
“It’s been up and down for me,” he admitted. “I started really well and got some good results around August and September. I got to the final of a tournament in Houston and then had two really good upset wins in San Francisco.
“Then there were a couple of results I wasn’t happy with. My world ranking is top 40 and I want to keep pushing to get that even higher whenever I can. At my age I just want to enjoy it and keep improving.”
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