Greg Lobban and Rory Stewart vow to battle for bronze medal

Greg Lobban and Rory Stewart vowed to battle for men’s doubles bronze after a stinging semi-final defeat at the Commonwealth Games.

The pair lost their battle of the Brits with England’s Daryl Selby and Adrian Waller despite a rousing comeback to win the second game.

Lobban is still determined to fight for a podium place at his third attempt and Stewart on his Team Scotland debut with Malaysia’s Eain Yow Ng and Chee Wern Yuen lying in wait.

Lobban said: “It stings a lot, but we have been in the position before, the most important thing is to try and put it behind us as quickly as possible.

“We know we are a great doubles team; we didn’t quite get it right today but there is a chance tomorrow to put that right.”

Stewart added: “We are both professionals and we still have a lot to play for, so we are going to go out and give our best shot tomorrow.”

This summer, Team Scotland, supported by funding raised by National Lottery players, compromises of over 250 athletes, all vying for medal success.

Selby and Waller dictated the scoring from the start of both games and chose to target Stewart, the least experienced player on court, on the backhand side.

The seventh point of the first game was all that is great about doubles squash with both Stewart and Lobban crashing into the Perspex on either side to try in vain to rescue a point.

Despite a late flurry from 9-4 down they lost the first 11-8 in quick time and couldn’t turn the tide early in the second, sinking 5-0 down.

Stewart struck the court door with his racket in frustration at an umpiring decision and was warned by officials that rather summed up the pattern of play.

The Scots mounted a rousing comeback to take the lead at 8-7 and some brilliant play from Lobban forced a decider, that the English won.

Lobban said: “It is tough, we’re gutted. I don’t think we played our best, I think they played their best, or close to it.

“They got the better of us, overall, they were the best team on the court and overall, we didn't quite get it right today.”

They are Scotland’s last remaining hope for a squash medal in Birmingham and the second-game comeback should fuel optimism.

Lobban said: “It shows our resilience, we were 5-0 down and 1-0 down so things weren't looking good in the first half.

“We managed to pull it back, but we put a lot of emotional energy into that second game and didn't quite have enough in the third.”

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