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