LAURA Massaro is chasing a holy trinity of sorts and she has little interest in waiting another four years to complete the set.
The 30-year-old, who was knocked out of the quarter-finals of squash’s singles draw by top seed Nicol David at Delhi 2010, is after a maiden Commonwealth Games gold medal in Glasgow.
And after lifting the World Open title just four months ago she is among the front-runners to land the top prize at these Games.
That World Open crown was the second of what Massaro considers squash’s big three, following her British Open crown in 2013.
Hoghton’s Massaro got her Commonwealth campaign off to a solid start on Thursday, beating Lynette Vai of Papua New Guinea 11-4, 11-2, 11-1 in just 18 minutes to move into the last 16 – and she appears quietly confident.
“I think everyone in squash says the World Open, the British Open and a Commonwealth medal are the three biggest things you can win and I am lucky enough to have two of those already,” she said.
“And the Commonwealth Games don’t come around too often so you don’t get another chance next year.
“Delhi was what it was expected to be at the time, going in with a bad ankle injury and drawing Nicol in the quarters, which was where I was at that time four years ago.
“It sort of went as I expected back then but I would certainly like to try and go a step further if I can.”
Massaro was greeted by an enthusiastic crowd at Glasgow’s Scotstoun Sports Campus – one that received high praise from almost every player who stepped off the glass show court on Thursday.
And she is relishing the opportunity to get back out in front of the Scottish support, provided she continues to play her best squash in the process.
“It was an unbelievable first round crowd and an unbelievable atmosphere,” added Massaro, who comes into the Commonwealth Games ranked second in the world – only behind David.
“I guess this is what it feels like when you play for your country as opposed to yourself, so I’m really looking forward to playing in front of this crowd again.
“I think everyone would agree that England squash is going through a really ripe time at the moment and I hope that I can be a part of that.
“I just have to keep on playing well because there are some really tough girls.”
Commonwealth Games England (CGE) leads and manages the participation of the Team England at the Commonwealth Games and Commonwealth Youth Games. We work with sports, Sponsors and Sport England to support the development of athletes and their sports, and to achieve success at Games-time.
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