World Open 2012 Doha, Qatar

World Open this year was arranged in Doha, Qatar from the 6.-14. of December. Lucky for me, I had already lived here for 3 months, so the tournament was just in the neighbourhood. Unlucky for me 3 months of solo training makes me kind of slow on court. Even more unlucky was the fact that I had an annoying ankle injury 2 weeks before my first match, that took 10 days to settle down. I had some quality training the last 3 days before my match, but because of all this, my expectations were not too high.

I had to play the first match against Oliver Pett from England in the qualification's first round on Thursday the 6th of December. This was a player I had not heard of before, seen play, or played myself. I was expecting english style squash, which is a very honest squash, in terms of having to play proper squash to win and being punished when I played badly.

The first game was competed well. I was glad my ankle was ok, and I pushed all I had, putting together some nice rallies and finding good length. In the crucial end, Olivers experience got the best of me and he finished the rallies a bit better than me, getting the first game 11-7.

In the second game I did not play to well, and lost my length a little. I was pinned in the back, and responded with poor shot selection, losing the game 11-3.

The third game was scorewise very poor, but I was actually not too displeased with the performance. The length were better, and the rallies longer, but Oliver did no mistakes, and seemed to be plucking away points. I lost it 11-0. Steve told me after the match that I only dropped slightly behind the T in the last two games, and that made a big difference. I did not notice this, but I will definitely take that into consideration for future matches.

Overall I am happy with my performance, and excited for the upcoming tournaments. Looking to knock in some good results soon!!! :)

My internship period has come to an end as well here in Doha, and I will be returning to Holland today, before celebrating christmas in Norway with my family :)

Squash memories pt.2: Toothless, alone and abroad

It was the year of the Lord 2003, when young mr Killingberg had been squashing for about a year and was invited with the netional team to Sweden to play the Nordic Junior Open in Malmø, Sweden

Proud as a Rooster to be included and to play on the National team. The feeling was intense. From what I remember, I was travelling with great company. Thomas, Steffen, Bjørni, Karianne, Majken, Eline, Stig, Lotte, Maren and Edvard I believe. This was 10 years ago, so please forgive me if I forgot someone.

I did not have a ranking going into this tournament, so I was put in the B-group of the under 19 class. Which was suitable, as I think I lost all my matches.

In one of my last squash matches I faced an English player named Ben. He has been known as Ben the "Dentist" after this incidence, and I will tell you why.

In the second game, Ben decides to fake a backhand drop shot, Killingclumsy moves forward as Ben decides to hit a hard length instead and throws his racket back...into my Face. My team mates sitting outside watching the match, said they could hear the cracking sound of my teeth. I remember something along the lines as lying horizontally in the air before lying on my back swearing hard.

There was blood and teeth everywhere, as my two front teeth were not chipped of, but in thousand fragments all over the squash court. I wanted to kill that player, but that would be the end of the squash career I guess. My opponent just walked off court as my coach brought me out.

I remember sitting in the stairs and people coming to watch.... they quickly turned away.
I asked my coach to go straight away to the dentist, but he said we had to wait until we returned to Norway. He didnt trust Swedish dentists, which is funny, as in Norway all the dentists are Swedish. I didnt like my coach either at this moment, and took my icepack firmly in my face and took off.

Looking forward to meeting some nice squash girls, but it was hard to work my game with 3 cuts in my lip giving me an Eddy Murphy look, and no front teeth, making my S" into an PH".

Pho... Where u from phuper phexy lady??

I actually went to the movies with the rest of the group.... It was embarassing

Showing up to the courts the next day to complete the match was equally embarassing as I could not run... If I got my pulse up I had to breathe through my mouth which meant cold air straight on my nerve... That was hanging loose in my mouth. Two words: Paaa--IIINNn
It was even worse that my opponent gave me a consolation game, before destroying me in the last one. I was over the whole squash thing anyway, and tried to get away as soon as possible.

The rest of the week consisted in a lot of porridge, a desperate attempt of eating lasagna...which failed, and a snack pack called risi frutti, which is basically ricepudding. I am not the most lactose tolerant person on the planet, but at this stage I was at my lowest so I didnt care.

Leading to next day: No teeth, Diahrrea, feeling sorry for myself, telling my mum over the phone who laughed hysterically made me feel like a million dollars. Sleeping in could be a perk as I thought I was done for the weekend. My coach called me as I was snoozing, telling me I had to go play my last match... 30 minutes ago. Guess what...I lost.. To an islandic player....

Returning to my hometown arranging a dentist appointment as soon as humanly possible, trying to avoid all human contact, I meet on the airport the only person I did not want to meet. The girl I had a crush on at that time.

FML...

I am trying to retrieve some pictures from that incidence but I can only show u the second round of toothache/break

This is what my teeth used to look like:                                   

 

This is what they looked like last week, with courtesy of  Geoff Hunt....

Squash Basics pt. 4: Crosscourt drop

Pack your bags, hold your horses and keep ur socks on!!! Finally the 4th video of the squash basics school is back.

A perfect beginners course to this wonderful game of ours, today covering another hit the bottle exercise, where the goal is to hit the bottle.

Instructions:

S et up the bottle in your favourite corner
W ear your Apple bottom Jeans and Boots with da furrrr
A ssess the wind direction, all Newton's laws of physics and calibrate racket v ball ratio interference
G row a mo, as it is Mo-vember and walk in slo mo at the end of the session

 

 

Memories... pt.1: "Grimstad"

So I was Googling myself... Yes I admit it. I DID IT!

And I found some pictures I did not see before, and this triggered some nice, and some not so nice memories from my squash past.

So I thought I would share some of these glittering moments with you, and trigger some memories for some of you as well :))

This is the first part of The Good, The Bad and The Ugly squash memories

We start with a good one:

 

 

This picture was taken in a Norwegian Tour Cup final called Sørlandet Open in Grimstad, south of Norway.

Myself, Sindre,  Niclas,Thomas and Karianne stayed in Niclas' cabin, where midnight dips in the pool caused direct hypothermia

The tournament was played the 16. 17. and 18. of September, in the year of the Monkey 2009 (I think... :/) It was the period when I just started challenging the no1 spot in Norway, and it was still tight between myself and a few national players.

I got to the final without dropping a game and faced my Nemesis" Kristian in the final, and after a classic Tie break in the 5th game, I won by the skin of my teeth. I believe it was 12-10 or 13-11 in the last game.

 

Reason for the victory tasting extra nice was because it was my birthday on this day, and I lost the last Cup final against Kristian.

My mum had asked the tournament organizer to arrange a big plant with dollars and chocolate on it and a big chocolate medal saying no1" What if I lost? Would be slightly embarassing :P

 

The squash guys also arranged a cake.. or more like a cake bottom with heaps of cream on it. I saw it coming a long way and it ended up in my face.

 

After I was given a warm plastic cup of beer and Joined Sauna master Eivind Strømsvåg in the sauna, where he had been for the last 90 minutes with a six pack.

The beer was horrible, and the smell was worse as I dragged some cream with me in the sauna.

 

At the banquet we were faced with bottles on bottles with champagne for the birthday child, a great dinner and a free bottle of wine shared with my friend Daniel Hilde.

 

Bjørn Borg played Bongo drums, Jan Tore Nilsen wanted us to feel the inside of his pockets for nuts.... pistachios it turned out to be... people were in a good mood.

 

We hit the club, "Dynomite" was playing loudly, of all us kids, (mostly 18-20 years old) Kristian (31) was the only one asked for an ID.

 

Bjørn Borg brought his bongos and set them up next to the DJ. The were well used. Øyvind Steen played with his head, Niclas slept in the car, and my legs were killing me from a hard day.

 

Drinks were spot on, Kristian thought he was mr Popular, but he didnt notice, as he was held up at the door, that the woman next to him, tried to get with every other man in the club before he entered.

 

aaaaaaaahhh.. what a great weekend that was. hohohohoho



 

Ramada Hotel Squash Open 2012

Day 1
Its time for my first tournament in Qatar after my move to Doha. Ever since Monday this week (3 days ago) 102 people (!) have been competing at the luxurious Ramada hotel, just a short walk away from my residence here in Doha.

The professional class did not start until today, and I was last on court for the day against a Pakistani shotmaker. 50% of his points were from nickshots, like expected I would say, playing these players, but today he was no match versus the Norwegian "headless chicken style" I got away winning 3-0.

Day 2

Found out the tournament is actually called Radisson Blu Olympic Sports Open. Which is interesting, since it is not an olympic sport yet. But maybe it has something to do with the Olympic campaign.

 





After passing the singing fountain, passing the chinese gardens and the pools, the squash courts are located next to a nice Italian restaurant called "The Italian Job" I will come back to that one later ;)

 

I arrive at the squash courts 30 minutes early for my semi final, and see I will be playing Azlan, one of the most talented Aspire boys. We have been training together briefly at the Aspire Academy, so I knew what to expect.

3 tight games later I walked away with the match 3-0, 11-9, 11-9, 11-5

An ok performance, but still need to be more diciplined under pressured situations.

After the match a man comes up to me. "you're not playing that well. You played much better last year"

This was Azlans father who saw me play in Khalifa stadium  some time ago. So I guess my game is still on its way down, and have not turned around yet. But I feel I am on the right way, and once I am more comfortable with my hitting I think I will ascend faster than my descent. 

After winning the semi finals, I celebrate with an Italian Job pizza. AaVeeryy AAniice Luiigii!!!

 

 



 Day 3:

I HATE LOSING!!

Doesn't matter how much I tell myself that its not important, just play for fun, no pressure etc etc
Big or small tournament, world champion opponent or club player. It always sucks.

Today I played the former Qatari no1. I was told by other people that he was a fast player with good shots and a strong backhand. He was more steady than I expected and made few errors. I had my gameplan, and even though I reminded myself after every ball, after midway I tensed up and threw in the boast to open up the court and lose the rally. This has been my biggest problem before, and it is back to haunt me. I think now that it is because I tense up too much

However there is a positive side to it, and that is that what I am focusing on at the moment is improving. I probably focused more on my technique than for my own good while I was playing, but it felt better than before

Oh, and by the way, I lost 1-3.
But the best player won, no excuses

Today we celebrate with leftovers....

World Open 2012

It has just been confirmed!

I will be given the chance to repeat last years success in the World Open squash championships 2012, this year held in Doha, Qatar. Home court advantage for me!!

Royal Jordanian Squash Open 2012

Falling 3 small spots on the world ranking in October 2012 to #211, and currently residing in the Middle East indicates an adventure in Jordan this coming weekend 5th - 9th of October.

Although I am basically in my summer training programme at the Aspire academy and working full time, I will not let an opportunity to travel, play squash and hopefully add some cred to my world ranking, slip away.

It is a 5K tournament, in Amman (which I believe is the capital), and I am 2nd qualifyer. I have no expectations at the moment, and I refuse to put any pressure on myself. It's just nice to get out of the rock hard focus in training, relax, and just play. And like my team mates always say: Die on court.




Day 1:

 After travelling all night through Dubai, I hooked up with a driver who took me to my hotel. There was no squash matches on this day and so I decided to go to the Dead Sea. Someone said something about "The deepest inhabited place on earth. Well, it sure is deep. Going down the Jordanian valley, must be something like descending the Grand Canyon. But well in the end, passin the Hilton, Marriot and all these nice hotels, I found a nice pool/restaurant
facility with access to the sea.

It is such a bizarr and nice feeling to be pushed up by the water. The buoyancy..boyanc..buy.. anyway. The water is thick and u float like a goat on a boat. The water must be over 30 degrees warm. Its warmer then the water in my sink at the hotel. It must be experienced. It is the greatest feeling ever. Laying back and chilling with a big CH!!!




Other Jordanian experiences worth mentioning: Watching Jordan UFC in the streets with random parents, a coloured truck filled with minors, a guy sleeping between garbage bags in the back of a truck, tasting Yellow curry coffee, an arabic wedding party in my hotel room, and seeing a donkey.



Day 2:

Early morning, bad brekkie, no people, taxi tour Amman, squash centre...no people..no opponent...WO. Back to the hotel, blog, need to eat

First match against Mr Rawden from England, who beat his opponent 3-0 in his first match today. I lost 0-3. 2-11, 9-11, 9-11.

Even though I said I would not have any expectations, it it still difficult to lose for a competative soul. Question is: should I wait until I am 100% matchfit to play? I feel it comes down to not playing enough tournaments, as I  fell into old habits. With this I mean lessons learned about myself from former matches that is now forgotten as I didnt play a tournament of this stature for months. So I do the same mistakes, and see after the match that this was something I worked on 6 months ago.

I will keep on working on my technique until next summer and from then on I will try to have a full program playing tournaments for a year. I believe that I can then progress more in a linear curve and gain what they call routine"..

Day 3:

Oh wait!!! there is more!!

I was planning on a couple of physical sessions today in combination with some sightseeing at the great al petra, but I got a phone call from the tournament organizer this morning. An Egyptian player pulled out, so a spot opened for a lucky loser. The Kuwaiti went home, The Jordanian didnt want to play (!), and so it was between me and Welsh David Haley. The little girl drew me, and so I will face the same opponent as yesterday, Pablo Rawden in the first round...except this time the result will not be the same

Post match report:

Yesterday the tactics worked great, although I did not move at all or was anywhere close to hitting a normal shot. Today Pablo played better as well, cutting down his errors. It was more like a proper squash match though with good play, winners instead of errors. Fair and fluent. I lost in 3 again, 9-11, 10-12, 5-11. I stepped up from the beginning and it was neck and neck in the first 2 games. I oticed I was a little rusty, not playing competatively for a while, making the correct decisions, only not executed well enough. Then again experience played a major role as I did not play the big points well, gave away easy lets and did not take my strokes. When it is this tight, these small things can make a match. Lot better than yesterday, but still not enough to win. In the last game, Pablo gained more confidence and I did not step up as I did in the first 2 games. Also something I have been aware of doing before. Old habits die hard...Yippie Ki Ya.

At the end I am still walking away from the tournament with a better feeling, and I am glad I got the opportunity as a lucky loser.

The rest of the tournaments first round created some surprising upsets, as the local Jordanians did really well. Almost all the matches I saw, I would put my money on the loser, and both top seeds lost lost their matches. weeeeird

CHAMPIONS LEAGUE!!!

From the 6th until the 9th of September this year the European club team championshiph were held at the Hamr sports club in Prague housing around 10 squash courts, tenniscourts, beachvolleyball and a restaurant.

We were accommodated at a gigantic hotel that also housed the glasscourt with surrounding tribunes. The beds were worse than anything slept on in the army, including a male corporal, but playing 2 matches per day luckily wears you out enough to sleep well on the floor.

I was this year as last year representing the legends of Hafrsfjord Squash Club from Stavanger. 6 times national champions to represent Norway in the squash equivalent of Champions league. Last year we ended up with a respectable 12th place, and beat Denmark in the battle of Scandinavia, which must be said to be the highlight :)))

This year the field was much stronger and all the teams brought their A game and their A players. The top 3 players in the world were there as well as several living legends within the game. We were in a group with Aberdeen, Fitzwilliam and Nottingham. They are all very stron teams from Great Britain, and although we had some good battles, we had to accept defeat against all three teams in the group stages.

Personally I have had so much focus on technique lately that I went into the tournament with an attitude of enjoying myself and enjoying my squash to the fullest, not worrying about anything but to hit the ball where I wanted it to go.

Starting off with the world no11 Daryl Selby was not an easy task. especially not for a first match. I lost 0-3 and was not able to repeat last year when I snuk a game.
My second match was against Mark Fuller of NSRC. We had a good, long tight match which unfortunatelly ended 1-3. I felt I played well and gained confidence from this.
Versus Derek Ryan (former world no4) it was very patchy and I played well in periods. That meant that versus such an experienced player I just lost out 1-3 in a close match, that I was very disappointed in losing.

As my fingers are tired and I am lazy, I will rather upload some pictures from the weekend and let our coach Mark Hornby get the mic to comment on the last two matches:

Mark Hornby:
 The last day of competition saw the Norwegian Champions competing for a possible 13th       Position. To achieve this they would have to win both of their remaining matches.

The first was against Slovakia commencing at nine in the morning.

On court first was Kim he showed why he has the potential to break into the top 100 players in the world in the near future. He played disciplined squash particularly in the first two games closing the court down and not allowing his opponent to get into the match winning them comfortably. The third was a bit tighter as the Slovak player raised his game. However it was not enough to upset the steady play of the Norwegian who came home in three straight games.

On the other court at the same time was Ronny. He just lost out in a hard fought five set match.

Sindre followed on after Kim he played some good long rallies helped by the physical training he has been doing over the summer. He managed to win his match in three. The two victories and the two games Ronny had won was enough  for the Norwegian champions to take the tie.

 Kristian who was the last player on court only played a best of three games as it was a dead rubber.
 

The final playoff match was against the Swedish champions Roslagen from Linkoping.

The playing order was the same as the first match. Kim was against the experienced French player Romain Tenant who now resides in Sweden. He started tactically the same as he had in his first match closing the court down well and taking the first comfortably.
The experienced Frenchman tried to break up the rhythm of the match in the second and succeeded in changing to pattern of the game to suit himself. This part of the match was characterised by short rallies and more trading of shots. Kim just managed to maintain enough length in the latter part of the game to take it and go into a two game lead.
In The third game Kim managed to close the court down again increase the pressure on his opponent by doing so and closed the match out in three. A fine victory against potentially a difficult player!

On the adjacent court was Ronny who had another five set marathon match against a player of similar age and stature to himself. Unfortunately he again just lost out in a tight match for the second time in the day.

Sindre followed Kim on court. He took a bit of time to settle into a rhythm losing first two games against a smaller more agile opponent. Re-grouping and drawing on the stamina he has built up over the summer he clawed his way back into the match winning the next three tight games. This has proved a break through event for him!

Meanwhile Kristian was involved in another titanic five set battle on the other court. Unfortunately he could not manage to take the last few points in the fifth game and lost the match on a no let decision.

Kristians result produced a tie in both the number of matches and the number of games won by both teams. The winner was then decided by the number of points won by the teams in every match.

Hafrsfjord just scraped home by the narrowest of margins taking 13^th place. A great effort!
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COMMENT! Actually I won 3-1 versus Romain Tenant, and Ronny lost 3-1. Kristian lost 3-2, and Sindre won 3-1. Due to the fact Romain did not get as many points as Ronny, we won on points. And that my friends... to beat Sweden in ANY sport no matter the situation, time or place feels SO D*** GOOD!!! Ahahahahaha

We are claiming the title of best scandinavian squash team. There it is!!

 

My Mum

Presenting:
- The hard hitting, ass-whopping, booty shaking creator of yours truly:
....

MY MOM:

Hilde Marie Killingberg


A dedication to my biggest fan, best friend, biggest critic and not to mention biggest sponsor.
Sponsoring mostly includes 16 years plus with food, shelter, clothing and sporting equipment in return for wood chopping, toilet cleaning, vacuuming and walking the dog.

This little firecracker has a metabolic age of 28, mental age varies between 12 and 34 and posesses an appearence similar to Pamela Anderson... on a good day.

She has a long career behind her as a musician and a lead singer, with national medals in Tae Kwon Do and endless "Mum of the year" awards.

She is currently owning and running single handedly her own gym in Rissa, Norway. With the support of her 8 year old German husband Ziko, the health and training centre is blooming. With the greatest atmosphere ever seen in a sports centre, she has made it truly enjoyable for all her clients.

My mum always has my back and is a massive reason for my personal development and passion in sports. Someone I can always rely on, and if not for her I would not be a struggling, wannabe professional squash player :)))



New ASICS Progressive squash shoe 2013



¨Reason for the headline is that I never got as many hits on a blog post vie Google as when I posted about the new ASICS Progressive squash shoe last time.....soooo

But fear not, my fellow googling friends...

I did actually just have a meeting with the great crew at ASICS and Robert van Til last week for further work and feedback on the Gel Progressive squash shoe for the next model.

The Asics Gel Progressive 2012 is by far the best squash shoe I personally have ever worn...

It was hard to find constructive remarks for further improvement in an already superior squash shoe, but together with advice from other squash professionals using this shoe, we put down some good notes how to improve the functionality and durability of the shoe for the next model.

If anyone have further comments about the shoe, you can post a comment here or on my facebook and I will be sure to forward it to the mega brains of ASICS.



Squash basics 101, pt 3

Finitsis/Killingberg productions prodly presents part 3 of our basic squash school for the average beginner who wishes to pick up a squash racket and learn the game in an easy fun and enjoyable way.

This week we are introducing the backhand dropshot after the bounce which is a shot often used if you have your racket in the right hand (not the left)

Instructions:
- Dress in Australian drag...sorry,  SWAG
- Let the spirit of Messi slowly overtake your body. Do not confuse this with the spirit of C.Ronaldo, who is a talentless primadonna sissy.
- Flick it like Messi, bend it like Beckham, and hit it like Stevie Wonder Finitsis

Squash basics 101, pt2

This week we demonstrate racket preperation!

Instructions:

- Throw your racket in the ayerr like you just just dont cayerrrr
- Punish that bottle with perfect dying length
- Don't forget SWAG!

Squash basics 101

Mr Finitsis and Mr Killingberg are introducing: "Squash basics 101".
New tips will be posted in video-form to improve your game.

Week 1:
Mr Finitsis is demonstrating a basic forehand dropshot.


Instructions:
- Turn your swag on
- Lunge position
- Hit the target
- Remember follow through

Return to Qatar

From September until December 2012 I secured myself an internship spot at the reknown Aspetar hospital in Doha, Qatar for my last fysiotherapy internship. In my final year of physiotherapy studies I passed all my exams and now this internship is the final step before receiving my diploma.

During my first visit here I also met squash legend Geoff Hunt who is the Qatari teams manager. We had a good talk and kept in touch over mail. We came to an agreement that I could get access to the Aspire facilities as well as a personal session every week as long as I trained with the Qatari players and helped out with training and matching. Quite a good deal, if you're asking me

And to top it off there is the World Championships for men in Doha, Qatar in December, and I will definitely enjoy it, hopefully again this year as a player.

Don't feed the monkeys!!!

Været i Gibraltar

26°C | °F

tor.

fre.

lør.

søn.

For det meste skyet

Vind: 10 km/t fra NV

Fuktighet: 57%

33°

20°

31°

18°

29°

17°

28°

19°

This is going to be a terrible week :P

Just arrived yesterday in Gibraltar. Flew in to Malaga from Amsterdam. Jumped on a bus and after 3 hours through south of Spain at the same time as Spain played Portugal in the semifinal of the European championship we can definitely conclude that Spanish football commentators are slightly more enthusiastic than Norwegian ones. The match was blasting over the radio on the bus aaaaaaaaaaall the way.

I made it to the squash club just in time for the second half and enjoyed my indian chicken while Spain took it on penalties 4-2. Luckily Gibraltar is on British soil, so things were not too crazy.

For you geographical newbies out there Gibraltar is British and is located at the very south tip of Spain.

In Spain...looking at Gibraltar over the boarder

The tournament is played in a club w squashcourts fitted wherever there was room. It has a quite interesting construction, but seems very cosy, with a small restaurant/bar downstairs, a gym upstairs and well...squashcourts everywhere... think there is 3 or 4 of them. Courts seem fine, but according to the drenched players already trying them out is was quite hot and bouncy....hydrate well is the gameplan for the weekend then.

I am  1st seed in the qualification and play a local player in the first match today at 2pm. There is a chance I will play a player from the British Virgin Islands in second round at 7pm if we both win, which would be fun. My goal (From January to January) is still to make at least main draw in all tournaments I play. I have managed so far, and I am feeling better now than I did for a while, so I am hoping to end before the summer really well.

Don't feed the apes (Warning on our balcony :P)

Follow the tournament on : http://www.squashsite.co.uk/2009/gibraltaropen2012.htm

The first match was won in ordelry fashion as my opponent was hungover. It could, however become  a quite good match, as he was skillful enough with the racket, but with the lumberjacks workin on yo noggin......

Second match was against Joe Chapman from the British Virgin Islands, and was a match I was really looking forward to. Unfortunatelly there were some incidents during the match that shortly put did not favour me or squash in general, sop I found myself 0-2 down.
My opponent gained confidence, and played some good lengths and drops towards the end and he deserved the third game.
I have not much to be disappointed over except the result on paper. I am hitting the ball better and my work is paying off, I hardly did any mistakes and felt in control for most of the match. Which made the loss very bizarr for me.

The remaining days on this half-island has been used for punishment training and some games at the club with some of the other professionals. Barry Brindle and his crew has done a great job here, organizing around 10 tournaments at once in this last week, and it has been flawless to my impression. Social, fun and well organized. This is definitely a tournament PSA players will like to return to.

There has also been some time for sightseeing, and I have climbed the big rock that Gibraltar is, seen the 100 ton gun, chilling with the monkeys, visited the great caves and taken the cablecart from top to bottom of the island.

Unfortunatelly we had an incident with burglars in our hotelroom. See how it went down in the video below:

100% squash

Follow the link below and vote for squash in the 2020 Olympics!!

Its "Just" a Canadian newspaper, but we need an impact wherever we can, and if 100 000 people vote for squash, than it can not go unseen...

We currently only have 92% of the votes, so we really need to spread the word people. A squasher never quits at 92%

http://www.torontosun.com/2012/05/30/sports-that-should-be-in-the-olympics

New Partner

I am very happy to announce that Røynstrand Entrepenører have made themselves willing to support me this season with funding for travelling and training.

Røynstrand have a base in Odda, Hardanger, on the west coast of Norway, in one of the most beautiful Fjords. Their quality have lead them to success and they take on grand as well as smaller projects within entrepeneuring, engineering and evaluations. Their homepage:

http://www.roynstrand.com/



These sponsorships are what keeps the sport of squash alive, and the funny thing is that they probably do not know the positive spiralling effects this may have. Even with smaller funding, it all helps. It helps me focus and progress as a player, which elevates Norwegian squash in general and helps us all raise the bar in nationally. Especially in these crucial times towards the bid for the Olympics 2020, all help that can push our sport forward will help.

If I am able to do this fulltime until the Olympics and compete..............................
There are really no words for it.
To be the first ever representative for Norway in squash. I think my life would be complete :P

So many great thanks to Røynstrand for this help and support.


I am adding a picture from Hardangerfjorden in Norway, where I have spent many a summer chillaxing in the cherry trees, looking over the fjord :))) Looking forward to a return this summer.

Don't quit your dayjob

Lactate for breakfast. taste of blood by lunch....repeat  in the afternoon. Then most of us go to school or work after.  Every day, every week. Hitting endless balls up and down the wall, getting turned down 999 out of 1000 times for sponsorships, travel across Europe for one match, get 50 USD and then travel back to train and then do it again. 99% of squashplayers do not reap any financial benefits from squash. The professionals in this sport do not receive the status or funding of  the level of Olympic athletes...

Still I would give anything to keep this as my dayjob......

National team championship 2012

Hafrsfjord squash club (Try pronouncing that one!!) is the club I have been representing in Norway the last 6 years. This is a club based in Stavanger, Norway and have produced several national champions in all age groups over the years.
I joined this club when I moved to Stavanger in 2006 to train with the best players in Norway. It is located at Toppform Treningssenter  at Sola (http://toppform-treningssenter.no/) where they house 8 squash courts. This team has won the Norwegian team championships 6 years in a row, and I believe I have been a part of 5 or 6 of these...hard to keep count :P
But with the Norwegian no1, 2, 5 and 9 on the team as well as the by far best female player in Norway in the team, nothing less is expected.

This year as well as last year, the National team championships were held at Ås squash centre, put together by Roddy "Machine" Mcleod. In this years version, due to lazyness, fright, bad luck or other reasons, only 3 teams signed up to play for the title. This was us (HSK), Oslo and Ås. This was highly unfortunate and especially disappointing for Roddy who always puts together a great tournament and atmosphere at his centre.

But apparently this year it was quality over quantity as these three teams were more than worthy for the top 3 spots. There were many great players participating, old as well as new heroes, champions and national team players. We even had a few comeback kings that were out of the squash scene for a few years which made it all very enjoyable.

Our team consisted of myself as number 1 string, Kristian Solhaug as 2nd string, Thomas E Gjerde as 3d string, and Majken Bie as our lovely female representative.

Oslo startet playing Ås, and it was an extremely close affair as Oslo barely clinched it with almost only 3-2 matches.
Straight after we played Ås. Majken lost her match 0-3 after a super close match, Thomas won his match fairly easy 3-0, and I played former junior hero Christian Bakke and won in a tough 3-0 match with great squash and high tempo 17-15 in the 3. game :) Our 2. string Kristian played Roddy McLoud and did not drop a game for us to play Oslo for the gold.

Oslo hired hitman "Svante" for the occasion on the 3. spot. He used to be a former Norwegian junior champion and national team player from he was 17!! Unfortunatelly for Oslo the HSK no3 was a bit too much for him as we won 3-0 on this spot. Majken lost her match 0-3 so it was up to the first 2 spots to decide it.
Kristian and myself were playing at the same time. Kristian was the unlucky one this weekend having to catch a later flight due to work, only to get delayed, only to take the bus to Ås, only to find out it did not go, only to take a giant detour with the train via Oslo, only to FALL ASLEEP!!! and pass Ås. ONLY to be 3,5 hours late and did not eat for 10 hours.
This leading to an overly exciting match against Oslo's Knut Erik Løvig where he clinched it 11-9 in the 5th game *puuuh

On the other court I was 2-0 up against Patrick Hansen from Oslo SK. As he took the 3d game there was still hope for Oslo, but it seemed as it took a lot out of him taking that game, and he was a bit too fatigued in the 4th game to pose a severe threat. However it was a great high intensity match with good shots, tempo and quality. I am glad to pull through for the team and get us qualifyed for this years European teams in Prague in September, where we did HSK proud last year in Belfast.

All this happened on the Friday. On Saturday we took time for the newspapers (:P) and played a social tournament where the top 3 spots were the exact order of the HSK team. Just to prove a point.

Saturday evening was celebrated at casa de Løvig with great food, drinks, dance and beautiful people, and continued at TGI Fridays into the late hours :D

Great thanks to Roddy for his hospitality and great work over the weekend. Taco/Jacuzzi master ++, His wife Anette and her kids for housing us, Majken for housing me, a hottie for housing Thomas, a friend for housing Kristian, Knut Erik for the dinner/party and Oslo city for being owned by 3,5 Siddiser this weekend.

Life as we know it...

Squash players do not have the financial benefits of some of the other major sports, and can naturally not be compared at all to golf, soccer or tennis, where the athletes are getting overly spoiled with million dollar salaries.....weekly. Are you top 300 in the world in tennis, you can still make descent sponsorship contracts and good money. In squash you need to make around top 50 in the world as a male player to be able to make some dollars. For the women it is even harder. But you still have to perform constantly, as the money is in the tournaments you play as well as league matches. And if you get injured......

One often see squashplayers funded by mum and dad, studying or working full time next to full time training, or if they are lucky enough to get a good sponsor it is often from someone that has a particular love for the sport, or can appreciate what we do. The sponsors know that we can only do so much in return to the funding we get. And to all of these we owe a great thanks. It is what a friend of mine mentioned as people with "Squash heart". Those are also the people in your community that put down so much time, energy and money into helping youngsters get interested in squash, promoting, coaching and facilitating the sport with little personal gain. In Norway we witness in general that squash is an alternative offer to the members of the gym. The aim is money, and if not enough money comes in. BOOM, tear down the squash courts for Zumba instead.
There is often no coaches around, and the local squash club are constantly struggling working together with the managers of the gym who owns the squash courts. Living in Holland for 3 years now, I am happy to inform that there are a few squash hearts still alive. But it is still hard as this sport is still in the shadow of other racket sports. If we got the olympic spot in 2020 things might change... and it is exactly what we need at this moment.

http://squash2020.com/

A squash player that can pay his bills, food and travel throughout the year is a happy squash player. He can live of the sport he loves, travel to interact with other cultures and compete with the greatest athletes, hard workers and talents of the world.

To manage daily life, several professionals still live with moms and pops. Or you can do like myself and manymany other professionals. There is a lot of "squash houses" around where several squash players live together in appartments/houses to split the costs of todays expensive housing facilities. In the Amsterdam ghetto you find myself sharing a small appartment with my girlfriend Cigany Sillevis, Dutch player Mellisa Meulenbelt and Australian top100 player Steve Finitsis.
4 people on such a small space will be difficult you might think, but luckily squash players travel a lot and we are rearly all here at the same time. Cigany is out with an achilles rupture injury, and is staying with her parents at the moment, Melissa has family in Holland as well, and trains a lot in Rotterdam, while Steve is often on tour or with Melissa.

Cleaning the appartment the other day I realized really in a way how fanatic it is. I dug up all the squash gear in me and Ciganys room. Old sponsor rackets, new rackets, ancient rackets, 5 backs, backpacks, squash shoes, posters, player passes, balls and grips everywhere. I'll show you a bit what its all about ;)

Closet.....














                                                           


Cigany's Harrow
campaign:

She is now
sponsored by Prince

My Asics
squash shoe collection:

JALLA JALLA



European 3d division squash championships

 The european 3d division squash championships is this year held at the Marsa squash club in Malta from the 18th until the 21st of April. Slightly sunnier and warmer than Holland and Norway at the moment. We are travelling with the mens team, womans team, referee David Løite and coach Mark Hornby. The men are divided into 2 pools where the top 2 play semifinals and finals on Saturday. Our pool is relatively tough with challengers like Luxembourg and Croatia. The team spirit is good within the team and we are going for the win this year. Personally I am slightly short on sleep, but I will catch up now to be ready to hand out some cans of whoop-ass tomorrow

This is how  Italians do it in Malta:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JAFQFvSPhQ8

Norwegians:

Day 1:

- Start of with a 4-0 team win over Turkey on the first day. I started off on court 5 and our no2 Kristian played on court 4. I kept focused even with little sleep and heavy legs and pulled through 11-4, 11-4, 11-2. I did 1 or 2 personal errors throughout the match, and is quite happy with my performance. Kristian struggled slightly more, but still pulled through 3-0. Ronny and Eddy on 3 and 4 followed up with some good squash to put us into the lead of the group and a good start before we take on the rest tomorrow.

Day 2

- After a strong start of this years event, we were ready to perform in the same fashion in the beginning of day 2 against Gibraltar who were the top seed in our group. Myself and Håkon Standal started playing as respectively no1 and no4 string. Håkon started with a strong 3-0 victory and i needed to perform in the same fashion, not to disappoint, so I continued my good form and played well to take it 3-0 against a descent opponent Anthony Brindle who seemed to get fatigued in the end of the match.

Kristian and Ronny followed up with respectively a 3-1 and a 3-2  to take the team victory 4-0

- Our second match of the day was against Croatia who also is a relatively strong team in our group. Myself and Edvard got off to a bad start as the unsportsmanlike behavior of the Croatian team got to his head in a match I think all of us think that he should and normally would win. Playing conditions were very tough in this environment.

I took on the no1 Manuel Fistonic and the referee, in a comedy/tragedy musical and a pure repeat of the match we played last year, where the situation was exactly the same. It is unfortunate for squash as a sport to experience this stuff, but you face these players from time to time, and you just have to deal with it.
I proved I was the better player, and did well. Did not play perfect, but quite well. He took the match 3-1. For me it did not matter much, but it is a real shame since this is a team event. Kristian won easily 3-0 versus the second string, and Ronny took the thriller of a last match 3-2 after a great performance in the last game. He had a tough one earlier in the day but the HSK "no complaining" rule still applied, so the team captain pulled through without a frown. AND its his birthday. Happy birthday Ronny!!!!

The girls played Sweden this morning as the only match, and the Swedes proved to be slightly stronger as they won 3-1, 3-0, 3-0. Now they need to win the rest to save some face, glory and all that. The spirit is still strong and  it is great to also have both teams here for support and good fun. It is also fun to see that they are all improving well and are learning and gaining heaps of experience playing these tournaments :)))


The chilling in the sun before the match did the job. Luxembourg played 2-2 against Gibraltar, so we have good chances to finish as number 1 in the group if we win tomorrow. For now: Poker with all of us to change the euros around the table. Tomorrow is the most important match so far and the semifinal will follow after, most lightly against Poland if we win and Ukraine if we finish 2nd.

Alvilde e kul!

Edvard e ogsaa kul

Men Alvilde e kiulere

Edvard sier det absolutt ikke er sant


Cmooooooon Norwaay!!!

Day 3:

The first match of the day was the last one in the group stages against our mates from Luxembourg. We have memories of losing to luxembourg in the B pool 3 years ago in Malmø. Then I lost my match 2-3 against Sanjay. I was looking forward for my revenge for 3 years, and this would be the day, as we once against med as both no1 strings for our respective countrys. I continued my form from this week, and even though I felt the last few days in my legs, I pulled through 3-0. Ronny did his job on the other court and with those two victories we finished as no1 in our group avoiding the best team in the other group.



Later in the day we played the semifinals against Poland who finished second in group A. Ronny as captain continued his unbeaten record this weekend and won 3-1. I played at the same time on the other court and got a horrible start. Even though I felt fit, ready and motivated, some hidden nerves somewhere must have jumped up and bitten me in the ass as in the first game I hit 5 balls out of court. I had no idea what was going on, but I quickly found myself 1 and then 2 games down, in a match I would expect to perform better in. I was a mere shadow of my former self this week. However I was able to put together some descent squash and take the next 2 games. I felt physically fine and though this would go my way, but in the final game I twitched impatiently from time to time and  hit 4-5 boasts from nowhere down :(((((( That was the game, match and end of the Norwegian fairytale. As Edvard and Kristian both lost 3-1 and 3-2 we were out of the fight for the gold medal after a huge blunder from my side, that will not be forgotten in a long time. The rest of the boys did a great job and played some great squash. Unfortunatelly it was not good enough this time.


Day 4:

On the last day of squash at the Marsa squash club in Malta we repeated our win over Luxembourg 4-0 to take the bronze medal, as they lost to Ukraine in the semifinals.
Ukraine went on to beat Poland 3-0 in the finals. This means Poland and Ukraine move up to the seconddivision next year in Amsterdam, while we have to do it all again in third division :/

The girls won their remaining matches to end up on a good 4th place. after Denmark, Sweden and host nation Malta. The norwegian girls were all hungry for a medal this year, and will come back 10 times stronger next year to hopefully take the double gold with the mens team ;)

On behalf of the players I would like to thank the Norwegian squash federation, with sponsors diadora and dunlop, Malta squash federation with sponsors for a great tournament and Mark Hornby as coach and manager for taking care of all the players, organizing and updates.

Personally I would like to thank my team compatriots Ronny Aasbø, Kristian Solhaug, Edvard Hegbom, Håkon Standal, Karoline Hegbom, Lotte Eriksen and Alvilde Sønju for a great trip and great effort and team spirit!!!!

Some action:

Norway versus Turkey

Norway vs Sweden