Stewart Aiming to Use Commonwealth Performances as Springboard for Top 50 Push

By RJ Mitchell

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Rory Stewart has set himself a top 50 target for this season as well as a regular place in the draw of the PSA World Tour Platinum events, which are home to the game’s elite.

Based in Edinburgh, Stewart has had some serious momentum of late, using a fine victory over England’s Joe Lee at the Liverpool Cricket Club Open back in in March to move up the PSA World Rankings.

The following month, Stewart was edged by No.2 seed and World No.35 George Parker in the quarter-finals of the Canon Kirk Irish Open, losing 11-9 in the fifth set as the 26-year-old underlined the fact that he has the game to mix it with those higher-ranked players.

Yet it was his impressive run to the quarter-finals of the Commonwealth Games – in which he came back from 2-1 down to shock No.3/4 seed Patrick Rooney, before narrowly falling to former World No.1 James Willstrop in a five-game thriller – that has marked the Scot out as one to watch for the coming campaign.

Last week, in an exclusive interview with the PSA website, Stewart drew praise from one of the biggest legends of the game in Jonah Barrington, who questioned whether he had been hiding in a cave given his unheralded status on the PSA World Tour.

“Jonah can call my flat that if he wants, and he is right, I guess, as it does look like a bit like a cave as well,” Stewart joked.

“100 per cent, it means a lot to have someone like Jonah, who is the founding father of the pro game, saying these kinds of things, it was a real boost.

“I got messages from a couple of guys at the top of the tour and that was also really appreciated.

“But I know Jonah still goes down to have a chat with Rob Owen’s players and he has an immense knowledge of the game, so to read his words on the PSA website meant an awful lot.”

So does Stewart have the belief that he now has the launchpad to take the next step and break the top 50?

“I definitely hope so. My next tournament is in Nantes and it’s my first 50k, so literally the biggest tournament I have ever played and the perfect next stop after Birmingham.

“I know how well I played at the Commonwealth Games, I really want to build on that, and I’m very much hoping that can be the start.

“I have played quite a lot of matches for Scotland, for example in the Europeans, and I hope I have never let my country down. The glass court does suit my game, so it wasn’t too much of a surprise to know I could push the likes of Pat Rooney and even James [Willstrop].

“Yet to actually get over the line against Pat after being 7-0 down in the decider, to come back and win, that was a great feeling.

“But the flip side of that is I did feel a bit sorry for Pat, as when he was playing tournaments at my level we became pretty good pals.

Rory Stewart (left) takes on Patrick Rooney (right) during the Commonwealth Games

“With regard to James, obviously I knew how accurate and how good he was, at the end of the day he is a former World No.1, so you know the quality you will face, and it was one of those things that how my body was going to be able to back up after Pat to go again against James the next day was important.

“But playing an ex-World No.1 in the Commonwealth Games quarter-finals was definitely the biggest occasion of my career so far, and there were some nerves. To end up coming back into the match and being 2-1 and 7-4 up in the fifth, maybe I did see the headlines looming there.

“But credit to James, he used all his experience to come back to get the win and you would expect him to do that.

“Where I am in my ranking slot [World No.65] and with my other peers in that section of the rankings, it’s going to be tough to make the top Platinum tournaments. You have to make that top 50 ranking and everyone there has that right to be there, but once you are in and play the tournaments then you can hold your ranking and continue to play the top events.

“But getting into these is tough for someone with my ranking, as down in the 60s to maybe 90 or so, there are so many talented players on tour and it is very competitive.

“That said, I had a pretty good post-pandemic period and have won a couple of tournaments and got my ranking up a fair bit already. Without doubt, the next target for me is breaking the top 50 and causing a few upsets at these bigger tournaments.

“My last win was in March, but the thing I am most happy with has been my consistency since then, with a couple of runner-up slots and even with these 10k events there are six or seven players who can win every one of these titles.
“It is a tough old world at that level, but I wouldn’t change it for the world, you earn everything at this level.”

When it comes to the improvements he will need to make to achieve his target, Stewart was straight to the point: “I have always played a nice game and had confidence in my ability to hit winners, but probably to break the top 50 I need to be that bit more solid.

“Also, being honest, perhaps that bit fitter and also just a bit stronger in my movements on court. That is all stuff me and my coaching team have looked at post-COVID to improve.

“I’ve always had the ability to put a ball away, so If I could get a bit more time on the ball then that would really be a plus.

“Obviously I learned a lot from the Willstrop quarter-final and probably I wouldn’t have done too much different, as that is just the way I like to play squash and just go for it.

“Going forward, when I am in similar positions, I think I will try and be that bit more solid rather than go out to win every point.

“There was so much to learn from in Birmingham. My first match was on the glass, but wasn’t televised, and playing in front of just a few punters there were a few shaky moments in round one, yet it was good to bank the experience of playing on the glass court.

“Then I was one game down in the round of 32 and fortunately managed to turn it around before reaching my seeding, and that was a target I had set myself before the Games. After that, with the pressure off, I relaxed that bit more and played that bit more freely.

“Ultimately, to be playing a legend of the game like James in a match of that magnitude in a quarter-final with my mother and father and a few family friends down from Crieff and supporting me is something I will never forget, really it was a great feeling even if I lost.”

Modest, mild-mannered, and respectful of all the support he has had to sustain his career thus far, Stewart was also keen to thank his Edinburgh support team: “I work under Paul Bell and Kylie Lindsay from Scottish Squash. Kylie does all the group stuff and Paul takes the more individual approach with us, and as a combination between the two it has been brilliant to be in and around.

“I also owe a lot of thanks to a good few people and they will know who they are as well as the Scottish Institute of Sport ,who set up my programme. I have committed to all of that, but I definitely couldn’t have done it on my own.

“It has been really good over the last couple of years being based in Edinburgh with a couple of young boys coming through like John Meehan and Al Prott, but throughout it all I was training with Fergus Richards every day and what a squash player he is in training. He has given me a real few humblings in training for sure.

“So I owe a lot of people a lot of thanks and now I need to kick on and deliver on all of that.”