Squash star Lisa Aitken will fight through the pain barrier of a broken hand in her bid to medal at Birmingham 2022.
And the 32-year-old, from Montrose, says sitting out the singles will give her racquet hand pinkie the best chance of recovery by the time she takes to the court.
The left-hander comes into her third Commonwealth Games on the high of a podium at April’s world doubles event with mixed partner Greg Lobban.
She also placed fifth in the women’s event with Georgia Adderley.
So the Angus athlete hopes that has fired a warning shot Team Scotland isn’t just there to “make up the numbers” in Birmingham.
“We are going to the games the most prepared we have ever been and a medal is definitely the goal,” she says.
Even with that fractured fifth metacarpal of her grip hand.
“I broke it six weeks ago in a tournament in Mauritius,” Lisa said.
“It’s not great, but it’s getting there.
“Squash runs right from the opening ceremony to the end of the games, and the first five days are singles.
“I’ll not be playing in those so my full focus will be on the doubles and that buys me some more time.
“Fortunately I’ve got quite a number of years of playing shots in the memory bank so I’m not concerned from that point of view.”
And she’s no stranger to adversity having fought back from potentially lethal mosquito-borne dengue fever in 2014.
It sidelined Lisa for two years before she bounced back with her first World Tour title win in New Zealand in 2017.
Worlds boost
And she cannot wait to be back in competitive action with Greg and Georgia after remarkable performances for the debut pairings at the spring Worlds in Glasgow.
“Not only was that the first time we had played together, it decided whether we qualified for the games,” said Lisa.
“So we were chucked in at the deep end a bit at a high pressure event but we came through it.
“We’ve had time to reflect well and a medal in both the mixed and women’s is definitely achievable – that’s certainly my goal.”
At Gold Coast 2018 she finished ninth in both the mixed and women’s doubles competitions.
And how does selection for her third games make her feel?
“Old!” jokes Lisa.
“But it’s great and it is absolutely an honour to represent Scotland in any environment.
She’s one of five Angus athletes going for glory.
“It’s nice in a way to go from a young girl in 2010 to the Gold Coast [in 2018] and now these games,” Lisa says.
“I think we carry this pride as a nation in a way no other country does and to be around the other athletes is great.”
“And I hope there may be young Scottish athletes out there that can look up to me and I can inspire them.”
Hometown backing
There will be no shortage of home town support, with parents Lillian and Steve leading the Montrose backing.
“I tend to split my training between England and Egypt so getting back to Montrose when the season is in full swing is difficult,” Lisa said.
“But I have managed to get up a few times more recently, and I have a couple of hitting partners there.”
Those include Mark James, who Lisa set a world record with in 2019 for the longest ever squash rally at 3,606 strokes.
She quips: “I think it still stands, but I’m still waiting on the record certificate!”
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