NEW Scottish squash No.1 Alan Clyne says the chance to begin his reign as the nation's top dog at this weekend's Scotia Independent West Open, at Newlands, will provide him with a career high.

NEW Scottish squash No.1 Alan Clyne says the chance to begin his reign as the nation's top dog at this weekend's Scotia Independent West Open, at Newlands, will provide him with a career high.

Following the retirement of former World Open finalist and long-standing Scottish No.1 John White, the 21-year-old is desperate to begin his tenure at the top of the tartan game with a trophy.

He said: "When you consider that the likes of Peter Nicol and Martin Heath and then John White have been the last three or four Scottish No.1s then it is a bit of an honour to follow in their footsteps and one, if I'm honest, I have probably dreamed about since I was a kid.

"You know there is not a lot of money in squash when you decide to make it your career. I haven't set myself any targets as yet in terms of my world ranking - I am 116 at present - but next year when I go full-time on the circuit I will be, when I really go for it.

"I won my first Professional Squash Association tournament in America in September, where I beat an American called John Harford who is ranked 61, in the final, so that has given me a lot of confidence for next year."

The big threat to home hopes this weekend will come from former world No.3 and ex-US Open champion Simon Parke of England.

Clyne, however, recorded a shock victory over the England international in the Artemis Open earlier this year.

Clyne's ability to forge himself into a world force will rest on his ability to develop an attacking front court game to complement the retrieving game that has already become the stuff of legends around the Scottish National League and domestic tournament circuit.

He said: "I know that I have the fitness and mobility to stay with virtually anyone, but I do need to work on developing the front court attack to break things up and take advantage of the openings I am creating.

"I have been working very hard on that with Roger Flynn at the National Squash Centre at Heriot's and hopefully, this weekend we will see the fruits of that work."

Meanwhile, tournament director Ian Logan has admitted his delight at enticing the tournament's highest quality field since the legendary days of Nicol and Heath.

He said: "We really are in for a feast of top quality squash this weekend and that is in no small part down to the sponsorship of Scotia Independent.

"The £5000-plus prize fund is the biggest in the tournament's history and to have guys like Simon Parke and Alan Clyne in the draw means we are bound to get a good few along to West of Scotland Centre of Excellence."

Clyne is due on court at 7pm tonight against English top 20 star Hadrian Stiff with admission free.