2022 Irish Open: Preview

By RJ Mitchell

While Scottish No.1 Callum Smith will spearhead our entry in the Men’s Singles six other Scots will also be in action.

In the top-half of the draw Scottish ranked No.90 Shaun Ally Aamir will face a step up in class against England No.17 Ben Hammond in a battle of the Brits.

15^th ranked Scot Danny Robson will meet Japan’s Koshiro Moriguchi while Scotland No.9 Joshua Apiliga is in action against 15^th ranked Englishman Zach Bobrowski in another all-Brit clash.

56^th ranked Scot Jake Thomas, the last of the five Scots in the top half of the draw, will face Cypriot Christos Hallis.

Scotland No.2 ranked James Robertson is the lone Scot in the bottom half of the draw and will face Belgian Charles Fouyn.

In the Women’s Singles Scotland No.2 Rachel Sugden leads the way with a first – round clash against Miu Lin Ngan which could be the first step towards a third-round clash with top seed Ann-Kathrin Spoeri.

In the bottom half of the draw Scottish No.5 Laura Middleton will meet the Czech Republic’s Katerina Mikelova, No.6 ranked Scot Toni Woods concludes the Caledonian entry against Ireland’s Ciara Louise Dwyer.

In the Men’s Doubles Scottish No.2 pairing Matt & Chris Grimley, who are seeded No.4, will hope to go deep as they face English duo Callum Hemming and Ethan Van Leeuwen.

Adam Pringle & Jack MacGregor will face qualifiers in their opening encounter while Ciar Pringle & Michael McGuire open up against Ukrainians Oleg Amosov and Viacheslav Yakovlev.

In the Women’s Doubles Sarah Sidebottom and Rachel Andrew lead the way against Danes Natasia P. Anthonisen and Clara Grayersen.

Scottish No.4 ranked doubles star Eleanor O’Donnell partners Lizzie Tolman of England as they meet Norwegians Marie Christensen and Aimee Hong while Scottish ranked seven in doubles Brooke Stalker pairs up with England’s Lila Dundas as they bid to negotiate the way past a qualifying duo.

In the Mixed Doubles there are six pairings involving Scots in action with Chris Grimley & Eleanor O’Donnell drawing German No.1 seeds Mark Lamsfuss and Isabel Lohau.

Adam Pringle & Rachel Andrew will face qualifiers in the bottom half of the draw where Sarah Sidebottom & Jack MacGregor will face England’s Brandon Zhi Hao Yap.

Ciar Pringle partners England’s Lizzie Tolman against the Swiss and Finnish duo of Innocenzo Santoro and An Cong, Jodie Harris & Callum Crangle face the English pairing of Oliver Butler and Chloe Dennis and Brooke Stalker partners Englishman Dillon Chong.