Norwegian national closed squash championships 2013

The draw:

http://www.tournamentsoftware.com/sport/draw.aspx?id=6D2CD24A-188E-4643-B2AE-C2A9070ED21B&draw=3

I am first seed in the tournament, and therefore receive a bye in my first match in this 64 draw. In total I will play 5 matches, starting Friday evening I think The times are not up yet for the matches, but I hope they will be shortly.

Thursday 24.1, 09.22am: Left early for the airport as I expected busy trains and planes, and boy was I right. Complete chaos, but luckily everything left on time, and I am at the gate waiting for my flight that leaves at 10.30. There was also a reason for booking a flight this early as the tournament does not start until tomorrow. This way, I would still have a buffer if something happens, unlike my trip last weekend. I am looking to have a hit at the glasscourt today, before I get settled in the appartment and picking up my girlfriend later tonight from the trainstation.

Friday 25.1, 15.22
Had a good hit yesterday at the glasscourt. Girlfriend arrived safe and sound. Appartment located and  successfully moved into. Carbing up!! All on schedule.

We were so lucky to rent an appartment for 5 days for 320 euros. Big appartment, centrally in Oslo, 1 km from the squashcentre, with all facilities inclusive. Big bathroom, bedroom and a balcony....for the same price as 2 nights in a hotel.. I dont get it, but I am not complaining.

We are now off to have a hit before the tournament starts at 5, since I am not playing until 9pm tonight.

Saturday 26.1, 11.38
Womens final in Australian open Tennis is underway. I finished a good breakfast and rested well after a late evening yesterday. My match was on at 9pm, and was my first match of the tournament. My opponent, my good friend from Stavanger, Morten Voll, played 9 games earlier in the day to get to this stage, poor thing. My legs were fresh and feeling good ;)

The first game was as always a bit edgy as it is the first match of the tournament. I did not really stick to gameplan, but still managed to take the game 11-9.
The following games, I did what I planned to do and took the following 11-0, 11-5.
It was a good game to start the tournament with, as Morten is a good player I have trained with for many years. I knew I had to stay sharp and play well to get through, and I am satisfyed with my game and focus level after the first game.

Today I will either play a talented junior or an experienced veteran. We are on at 13.40 ;)

Monday 28.01, 13.51
Like always, I am too slow in updating my blog regularly, and my blogger app on my phone is being a female dog, so I apologize for not updating well enough.

On the Saturday I ended up playing Trym from Bærum in the morning, who had a great win over experienced veteran Rashid Younis earlier in the day. I wanted to watch Trym play this year after hearing a lot of him, and so it was even better to be able to play him myself. This young one matched me as well as any other player in this tournament and showed great racketskill, court coverage and great will. I think I was not as used to playing on the glass court as me, but he still played some great squash. Not an easy game for sure and glad to pull through 3-0.

My next match a few hours earlier was with my old colleague, trainingpartner and coach Audun Thronæs. We always play well together and it was a fair, honest and good game of squash. In the first I was allowed to control the T more and Audun had to cover a lot of court, making his puls jump and draining his energy. I kept playing well in the second game, but in the third he improved his width and length. I stepped slightly off the T and found myself 7-10 down. I really didnt want to lose that game... I didnt want to lose any game and spend extra time on court, so I pulled myself together, extended the rallies and took the last game 15-13 in the end. Very happy with 3-0 after a good match.

In the evening I enjoyed a nice dinner with my family who came to surprise me and support me and girlfriend at the Hard Rock cafe (where I always feel at home ;), and had a good nights rest.

In the semi finals I faced old nemesis Hans Olav Torgersen, who won here in 2009 and was 2-0 up here against me 2 years ago, when I won it 3-2. He is probably the best tournament player in the country, but I have a great winning record against him in tournaments.

Unfortunately for both, neither of us played our best squash this match, and it was, to be honest, poor and scrappy squash that was eventually won by me 3-0

I knew this had to impprove dramatically for the final against Kristian. The norwegian ranked no1 who breezed through the 3d seed 3-0, with hardly losing points.

Amir Dad is a squashfanatic who works hard to promote the sport in Norway and assembled a TV production team for pre and post Match interviews along with full HD match coverage. They are looking to sell the finished product to a TV station.

Before the match I had my interview conserning expectations and preperations. Just before the match, I am already warmed up and getting pumped up with some killin tunes from my Sennheisers. I was as ready as I could be. I was feeling fresh, and was looking to improve my squash drastically from the semi finals.

The first game was close all the way towards the finish line. Kristian volleyd just about everything and I kept my role as a retriever throughout the game it seemed like. Kristian did not really finish the rallies, and we both made a few mistakes....him more than me it seemed as I eventually took the game with the bare minimum of 2 points.

The second game, I stuck to my gameplan as I did not think Kristian could keep up the same volleying game as he did in the first. I kept it tight, closed down the court and took the opportunities when they came. I quicly saw myself 9-1 up. A slight dip in focus gave him a few more points, but in no real danger, a tight backhand length sealed the game. 2-0 for me

The third game, was much like the first although we both stepped up the court and volleyed more. We both wanted control of the T area and gave nothing for free. There were a few heated desicions, some lets, some good rallies, some nerves and in the end, at 10-8 for me, there were 4-5 lets and in the end a stroke for me on match ball. Too bad to take the last ball on a stroke (like last year) but I will take it. I have no nerve for another 5 game thriller.

Relieved to get my 4th consecutive national title...and veryvery HAPPY

My gratitude goes to my girlfriend/coach, Oslo squash, Nina, Gitte, Tournament sponsors, NSqF, Wenaas sport, Dunlop, Asics, Røynstrand entrepenør, Mum and to all my friends and family for the support. Thank you all!!!

This title is dedicated to a dear friend and family member Bård Henriksen, who has been a great support and a great friend throughout my career. He was himself a top athlete, top10 in the world in ice skating.
We all think we go through tough times until we see someone who really does. My thoughts go to him and his close ones

The photos are taken by grand photographer chief Trond Ottesen

The preperations pt3: Nidaros Open

After 1 hr flight delay due to leaking aircraft, 1 missed plane, 1 extra stopover, and 45 min wait for luggage after technical problems, I was 2 hours late for my first match in Nidaros Open 2013.
This tournament is played in my hometown, Trondheim, at the squash centre where I started to play squash.

Coming late, I literally had to play 2 matches in a row. First one being good friend and president of the squash club, Øystein Kolstad, who has a previous norwegian gold medal in gymnastics. Ever improving, and enjoyable to play. Final score 3-0.

Next match up was the big talent in this club, Erik Holden, who trains hard and seriously. He clearly prepared well and had a clear gameplan and focus. However, the final score was 3-1 for me.

The following day was the semi finals, where I faced Vidar Iversen, who played the finals of the national student championships. It is always good to see these boys improve. However, a few too many unforced errors gave me enough points to sneak away with 3 games to 1.

Next up was the final versus the grand squash hero in Trondheim and the man to beat, Øyvind Salvesen. And he is indeed grand, with a very different style of play than me. He hits the ball very well, while I am more a physical player trying to push the tempo from the beginning, making him move. I did not start any of the games well, and small lapses in concentration gave away too many points for my liking. The rallies were quite short, which suited him more, but I managed to pull myself together towards the end of the games to take them 11-9, 11-9, 11-5.

Throughout the weekend, I struggled to push hard and keep my focus up. It is important that I can get that back for next weekend. There are many matches to be played and I need to use as little time as possible on court.

I am feeling that I am shaking the cold off, I rid the flu, my dead calf from doubles is healing and my ankle is still under my knee somewhere and pose not too many problems anymore.

Couple days of rest, some good training. Then its action time!!!

Take off for the nationals is Thursday morning. Play will start Friday afternoon :) Looking forward to it.

The preperations part 2: The training

Up until the nationals this year I have also been training with the usual suspects in The Hague. These boys  are swinging rackets like baseball bats on skulls, shooting squashballs like Tommy Guns, play slick, love their spaghetti and meatballs, and if you don't play fair, you might end up with a horse head in your bed the next day....

Squash memories pt.3: Meeting the queen

In 2009 I moved to Amsterdam to pursuit a career in physiotherapy and squash. In search for facilities and a club to play in, I started off looking at Amstelpark, where there are around 9 courts in a massive facility. I got a meeting with the local coach, who is now a great friend of mine: Annelize Naude, aka, DJ Nudie. We started training together and I played for her team in Dutch league. The women's team played top division, and this team consisted amongst others of my future girlfriend Cigany Sillevis and the not so famous Nicol David, 7 times world champion and world number one for 23 years in a row or so.

Annelize introduced me to Nicol the first time at squash city, where the professional girls train with Liz Irving. We met up on a Friday afternoon for some round robin squash matches. I arrived 15 min late after getting lost in Amsterdam on my bike...... I was looking forward to playing Nicol naturally. I think all guys can imagine the feeling, when you compete with a woman with mad skills in any sport. You know you're gonna get whhhhhhopped.....It's just how much its going to hurt your pride. I had all the respect in the world for this small bouncy Malaysian thing.

The thing I remember most of all from this meeting was during the "knock up" as we call it, where we hit crosscourt volleys to eachother to warm up the ball. I had already been hitting a squash ball for 7 years, but it didnt look like that at all. First ball: frameshot, second ball: frameshot in the floor, third ball: frameshot. When the ball came my direction the 4th time, I literally took it with my left hand, and threw it like a girl to the other side of the court.




This little thing has burned itself into my memory, and I don't think I will ever forget it. Now, 4 years later, I can safely say this woman is partially human. Apart from superhuman skills on a squash court, she is a great personality that is great to be around both on and off the squashcourt. We have been training partners for a long time now. Our first 10 encounters all ended 3-2, and off all encounters, I'm sure 70% of them have been 3-2's, and I am convinced we had one single rally that lasted over 4 minutes once.
Honestly, no one can drain me physically more than Nicol. We always have great matches and train well together. At the moment she is helping me prepare for my nationals as she just came home from winning her 7th World open title and her 2nd Super Series trophy. We played yesterday, and guess what the score was? yuuuurp: 3-2, in 80 minutes

The preperations: pt 1: Nimes, France

For what you might ask!!??

For the nationals

With what you wonder?

With training with legends, playing the world open and professional international tournaments.

For some reason, the nationals is my highlight of the year. Its the tournament I fear to play all year, and prepare best for. Some people will aim for my head after hearing me say this, as I should prepare just as well for every tournament and should really apply more pressure on myself playing the big tournaments as well as for my nationals.

The individual norwegian national squash championships is the only tournament I have come out on top in over the last years, and there is more pressure every year. It is the toughest mental struggle every year, and being the top dog is so much worse than being the underdog, like for example during the world open.

I will take you through my preparations leading up to the "NM 2013" from the start of January until it starts in the end of January.

Part 1: Nimes, France

5000K Open du Gard

Kimmie in the quallie, Friday 04/01/2013,  13.30 vs Mark Fuller (ENG)

Trying to make everything as cheap as possible, this time we fly with Ryanair. A company known for Male (boooo) stuard(esses??), little gasoline, and cheeky fotnotes... Oh, and its supposed to be cheap too. At every corner they are trying to hustle you, but I was aware of this, and think I got through it well, with only paying double the price listed online.

Travelling to Nimes takes me first to Marseille, where I have to locate a bus to take me to the trainstation in Centrum of Marseille. Here a train leaves for Nimes twice a day. Naturally I land in Marseille 20.30 in the evening, and so I need the back up solution fo travelling to Avignon first. After getting on the wrong train once, I find a more lightly train to take me to Avignon. This trip takes a while. I make sure not to fall asleep so I dont end up in Luxembourg. Getting to Avignon at 23.00, I immediately get chased out of the station as no more trains run for the night, and end up crashing at tge local hotel..... I already booked the one in Nimes for the night...... why do this keep happening to me? Bad luck? or stupidity? stay tuned for the next episode!!!! Positive side: The view over the castle from the hotelroom

Me and Mark shared a good long match in Prague in September 2012. It then ended 3-1 to Mark, after long and grueling rallies. I knew he was a grinding English player, who which you can never say die. I knew that to be able to beat him, I needed to play smarter squash.

We could not hear the score announced from the referee, and I frankly did not care, but tried to focus on point by point. My hitting was not that comfortable in the first game, but I played patches of good squash. In general, I was hitting better than before. I was moving well, but due to too narrow crosscourts I was brutally punished and had to give away the first game.

The second game followed a similar pattern, but I found a bit more confidence in some shots, but still made some silly shots when I was on top. I still competed well, and played some good rallies. It is just not consistent enough. My couch for the day Mr.Weenink told me a good point about thinking about where to hit the ball instead of how to hit it. My focus has been on how to hit it for over a year now, so it is difficult to shake that out of your brain. My length was better in the third game, and midway I pulled away with the game. My serves were good and my dropshots more effective.

In the 4^th game I was feeling a little bit slow, and without me seeing it, my lengths fell short. Doing this kept me under pressure and over the course of that little time frame, cost me the game. It is always good to have someone analyzing your game, so you can learn from it.

Overall not dissatisfied. It is things I need to work on and things that can be improved. Most of all I am glad I am healthy again and that my ankle feels good enough to play such a match.