Commonwealth Games: ‘A win would be huge,’ says Franklin

Micah Franklin is looking forward to his chance to hold his own against the top squash players in the world at the Commonwealth Games next week.

The Games are widely regarded as the pinnacle of squash competition, with the sport yet to be included in the Olympics.

Several of the top-ranked players in the world will descend upon Glasgow for the event, ensuring a stacked field.

Franklin joins Nick Kyme and Robert Maycock as Bermuda’s three-man squad, and will represent Bermuda in both singles and doubles.

“To medal is quite a long-shot but it would be great to go out there and show that we can handle ourselves at the top stage and get a win or two,” the current Bermuda number one told the Bermuda Sun.

“Obviously, the Commonwealth Games has quite a strong field. This is the Olympics for squash. 

“It not only has some of the top nations but also the world number one [women’s Nicol David] and two [men’s Nick Matthew] are going to be
there. 

“Going for my first time, I want to set a goal for myself to not only enjoy the experience but to try my best no matter who I play, top seed or not, to just go out there and make sure that I can stay on the court as long as I can against the best.

“For me to make it into the next round or get a win would be huge. It would go down as one of the bigger results I’ve ever had.”

The 21-year-old Franklin is currently positioned at 155 in the world and looking to take advantage of this opportunity to move himself up.

“I set a goal for myself at the beginning of the year to make it into the top 150. Now that I’m number one in Bermuda, I’m trying to get that goal and make it into more quarter-finals and semi-finals in these tournaments.”

For Franklin, the Commonwealth Games mark the start of a busy few months. 

He’ll get a week off before going on to the Senior Caribbean Championships, then another few weeks before heading to Mexico for Pan-American Games qualifiers. 

In Glasgow, the singles action will take place from July 24-28, with doubles following from July 29-August 3. 

The Round of 64 draw, which was announced yesterday, sees Franklin take on the winner of the match between Michael Kawooya of Uganda and Schubert Maketu of Papua New Guinea. 

He and Nicholas Kyme will later team up to form the 12th- seeded doubles pair.

Bermuda Squash Racquets Association director and  former #69 Patrick Foster told the Sun: “The competition is tough but our three are certainly fit and ready to go.”