Global challenge

Matthew Sidaway

SQUASH by BEN REESE

OLDHAM squash player Matthew Sidaway admits that next season may make or break his career in the sport.

Sidaway, an under-17s British champion, wrapped up 2014 with defeat to Czech player Martin Svec in the opening round of the IMET Open in Bratislava.

Since competing on the senior Professional Squash Association (PSA) Tour, Sidaway has suffered funding cuts which have hampered his progress.

“I lost my strength and conditioning funding from the English Institute of Sport,” said the 20-year-old.

“That could have helped me to continue my upward curve, but I was left with no knowledge of which way to move forward physically.”

Now balancing work at South Failsworth Primary School with playing commitments, Sidaway is self-funding trips around the world to boost his ranking.

The former Failsworth School pupil — ranked 270 in the world —travelled to Australia in the autumn, where he made the quarter-finals of the Queensland Open.

A new fitness regime paid off as he beat a player ranked within the world’s top 150 — a mark Sidaway hopes to have achieved by this time next year.

Sidaway admits frustration at having to travel the globe to improve his ranking.

He said: “The Australians I beat out there get to play in six, seven tournaments in their own country.

“I can beat them, but because they can enter so many competitions, they have higher rankings than me.”

Next summer Sidaway plans to play a series of PSA events in New Zealand.

The ranking points on offer may determine his long-term future in squash.