Sam Buckley is loving life. He is flying it on the PSA circuit, recently getting back into the top 100 ahead of the two upcoming tournaments on his doorstep, next week’s West of Ireland Open followed by the Irish Open in Dublin.
However, as electrifying as that individual progress is, upward mobility fuelled by last September’s move to Birmingham to become part of the Rob Owen set-up, nothing can still beat the buzz of being part of an Ireland team.
“My favourite thing to do – and always has been – is to represent Ireland,” enthused the 24-year-old. “Even as a junior, those weeks were the ones that meant the most to me, always.
“To have the chance to represent Ireland in the Olympics is huge, so I am just working hard every day, working hard to maybe put on a green jersey at the Olympics.”
First things first, his reflection on the major achievement that was Ireland beating all-comers in Amsterdam last week to win the Division 2 title at the European Team Championships and secure a swift promotion back to Division 1 following last year’s relegation.
Slovakia, Norway and Austria were all picked off with comfortable 4-0 Pool A wins, and the same margin of victory was achieved in the semi-final against Sweden to secure promotion and against Israel in Saturday’s title final. Sweet.
“Our target was to get promoted. We were all fairly devastated last year to get relegated, so we’re pretty happy to bounce straight back this year. It was nice. The group matches were fairly straightforward, but we knew the tests would come in the semi and final, so we’re just glad to get over the line.
“The vibe within the team is class,” he added. “Obviously all year playing in your own, PSA and stuff, to get together with pretty much a group of friends is great. We’re delighted to be in Division 1 and we’re not just happy to get in there just to take part; we want to get some wins and definitely get in the mix in the top eight.”
What helped Ireland to bounce back so quickly after relegation? “It starts with the federation being more professional, and that feeds into us and there are a couple of us playing full-time on tour.
“There is a good bit of professionalism, but even lads who aren’t playing full-time are so professional in what they do every day, so it’s a great team to be part of.”
Adding to the colour of the title-winning experience in the Netherlands was having David Noone, the junior performance coach, and Derek Ryan, the ex-world No.7, doing the coaching following the decision by the American-based Arthur Gaskin to step back from the head coach role.
“It’s been great,” said Buckley. “I have spent a lot of time with David over the years in the junior tournaments and it has always been great. He is great to have on these trips.
“But Derek, I hadn’t spent a huge amount of time with him in a squash sense, so to learn from him has been great. The physio (services which Ryan also provided) is a bit of a game changer, but to hear his stories and squash stuff has been really good.”
Buckley is tremendously ambitious about his squash. It was last December, having become the first Irish men’s player to break into the PSA top 100 in more than a decade, when he insisted to Squash Ireland: “I am definitely happy to do it and be the first person to do it in however many years, but I try not to dwell on it too much. I didn’t go pro to be the 99th best. I want to keep trying to be higher than that.”
It helps that, having finished a four-year TU Dublin course in property economics, he has been able to fully commit himself to squash. “Since September, I have made pretty big changes,” he explained.
“I am based now in Birmingham, training in the Rob Owen academy. It is definitely showing in my game, I feel like I am improving a lot, a lot fitter and a lot stronger. I have a pretty good understanding of the game, probably better than I had. I feel like I am getting better wins and I just feel better on court.”
His only wish is that more people in Ireland would realise what a fantastic sport squash is. “It’s a shame. There are still a lot of people in Ireland who, when you say squash, they’re like, ‘What’s squash?’ So it would be great to get it in the Olympics.
“It will be on TV and a lot of people will then know more about it. Even the juniors that are looking up to us, hopefully it will give them a bit of a pathway in the years to come and if squash stays in the Olympics, they have something to aim for.”
