European Club Championships 2013 Riccione, Italy

On the Airport in Trondheim Norway getting ready to take off to the next adventure in Riccione Italy for this years European Club Championships. This years ECC has a record entry, so there will be many good teams and players in the Champions League of squash.





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Here is their website: http://www.federsquash.it/european-club-championship-2013

There will be live streaming from the courts here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=m-ch-fea&v=1rrgEosn2iY&app=desktop

We play at 12 and 16.30 on Wednesday 18.09

Here is the draw: http://www.tournamentsoftware.com/sport/draw.aspx?id=9CF72105-5DA3-4944-8B28-250DE3D03418&draw=4

Unfortunatelly for me I got a small re injury on my left ankle, which is quite bothersome, and I am afraid I can not give it my all during the tournament. I hope, naturally, for a super speedy recovery, but it does not feel good. Hopefully I can play some matches to help the team, and if not we have good reserves on the team to step in. The team is already weakened as the Norway no2 is not playing either.

Happy news in the sad news, Its my birthday tomorrow!! Whoopwhoop. According to the newspapers I am 25, so we will go with that. My best bud Mags is studying in Bologna, so she will accompany me and the boys for a small get together tomorrow :)

Day 1:

First day presented us with a great challenge and probably the most important match of the tournament for us. This was against 5th seed Luxembourg led by Netherland ex professional Dylan Bennet. This was my challenge, who was first on court, with Ronny on the other court taking on Lux no1 Nathan Sneyd. Proper birthday squash as neither me or Dylan produced squash to be inspired by. With a referee worse than both of us put together it was an embarassing view and I lost 1-3. Ronny lost against a difficult player 0-3. Saved by our no3 and 4 player Lasse and Sindre, we tied 2-2 in matches and got 1 point on the board. However, they got 1 game more, so the remaining matches would be crucial.

In the afternoon we faced 4th seed Colets from England, with Jonathan Kemp as no1 string and ex world no4 Alex Gough (!!) as no4 string. The challange proved way too big for... all teams as they chopped all other teams in the group without dropping a game. My ankle was still painful, but I really wanted to play Jon Kemp, who i have watched a lot over the years. Score line was 1-7-1 as I got severly chopped on live streaming but hey. one for the history books...or not :P


Day 2:

After a good nights rest, the team got up for a good breakfast together and got ready to take on Edinburgh at 1pm local time. We knew we all had to win all 4 matches to have a chance in claiming a spot in the quarter finals, and we were all ready for it. Clever Scots however put their no2 player on the no4 spot to put sticks in our wheels, and it worked as the 4th string match ended 1-3 favouring the haggis munchin blue n whites. Ronny won 3-0, I battled my way to a 3-2 win against a tricky player, and Sindre pulled back from 0-2 down to win a great match 3-2. There was still hope as Luxembourg also did not get any games vs Colets. Thanks to poor mathematical skills from mine and Lasses side, we saw a hope of us being 1 game up vs Luxembourg and making the quarter finals... but the administrations computer, calculated otherwise, and it was us being 1 game down instead. Soooo close making top 8, which would b a great performance and an all time high (I think) but it just slipped our oily hands.

Picture below: Counting matches, games, points

Tomorrow we still fight for a good position between 9-12th place. last year we got 12th and the year before 13th, so the chances to improve our seeding are still there. Stay tuned

Day 3:

 First of all, I need to correct myself from earlier, where I said we played from 9-12. All of the teams that not went through to the quarter finals had to play for the last 9-17th spots.

First up we had to play Hungary. We knew very little about the team, and myself and Sindre started off. The Hungarians thought it was a good idea to referee themselves, and this created a number of problems for the Norwegians. Sindre lost 3-0 to a better opponent. I felt I was quite a lot stronger than my opponent, and took the first game quite comfortably. The next game was tighter, up until 9-9, where I stroked him 4 times, and his team mate refereeing gave lets and no lets. I kept fighting, even though their supporters screamed their hearts out every time I missed a shot, but lost in a long tie-break. Shame I lost a game, but for the match it suited me better. I stepped up a gear in the next 2 games and took the match 3-1. Ronny lost his match 2-3, so Lasse had to bring it home for the team. With a 3-0 win, we would go through on games, a 3-1 win would mean a draw. Unlucky for us (again) Lasse won 3-2 after playing some great squash in patches and 11-1 in the 5th. This meant we lost on one game again. I found out the Hungarians reffed Ronnys match as well in the same manner as mine, and not only that, but they pulled the same stunt in the next match against Ukraine to win on games again to get through to the 9-10 play off.

We faced Poland only 2 hours later to all win our matches. A 4-0 victory, to save ourselves from the bottom. Next up is the Belgium team Castle squash to battle for 13-14th place. A bit of a disappointment after being so close to top 8, but the job still needs to be done, no matter the opponent. Today Niclas will be stepping in for Sindre and get some good squash in his legs and good experience in the bag for future brilliance.

Day 4:

On our last day of match play in Riccione, we got up early to take on Castle club from Belgium. The referees continued their excellent system of letting our opponents ref our matches, so again I had to take on several opponents at once. My game had improved over the last days, and it was easier to hit the ball at last. I tried my best to stick to gameplan, and it worked better than earlier in the week, but it could still be even stronger. Coach said I was in full control of that match, and my opponent did all the running, but I took the ball in short still a bit too early. I noticed this, when the counter attack came and he scored points as I could not move to the front as my ankle was still sore from my injury. Moving around the T did not pose as many problems, so I should be better at working a clear opening from this position. Although I was happy with most of my game, I was disappointed for the team as I lost 3 close games 13-11, 11-9, 11-8 with a string of dodgy decisions at the end of each game, especially seeing that we lost with 7 points after a 2-2 tie and a great performance from the other team mates. Especially happy for Niclas, who got his debut win 3-1 over the Belgian number 4 player.

Although we again lost a tie, we were still happy on how we ended the tournament. Looking at it with a sense of humour as we had a huge string of bad luck throughout. Our seeding will now drop for next year, but I believe we will come back stronger.

The tournament was probably one of the best so far in terms of organization. The hotel was good, food and transport great and a nice venue. It’s a shame though that the referee quality and organization failed so badly on all aspects and pulled the tournament experience down. Many of the referees were very fresh to the game, up to 30 minutes late to not only the morning matches, but also the semi finals and letting teams referee their own way through to a better seeding is not the way to do it. Many teams and players struggled with the referees, and I personally had to educate the head referee on a very very basic concept in squash. The referee gave a let when it was a clear stroke to my opponent, as I lost equipment on court. The head referee came over to assess the situation and told us all that with loss of equipment on court it is always a let. All in shock I confronted the head referee after the match and told him the rules, where he replies that he did not see the situation, and did not know what he was saying……… que!!?? If only Jonathon Power was here… he would know what to say…

A local newspaper from the clubs hometown, made a story of the players before the championship. See it here: http://solabladet.no/index.php?page=vis_nyhet&NyhetID=8297&sok=1

Injury

Ankle...farked!  European club champs is in 2 days..... great

HOT

From the 10th until the 17th of September this year was I doing courses and lessons for my mums company HOT. HOT is short for Health and Training in Norwegian, and is a small gym located a few hours north of Trondheim (My birth city)

This company is one of my most important sponsors for my squash, so part of the agreement, is that I chip in with the competence I have and contribute with what I can.

This week has been spent giving trainings, lessons, doing courses on training and nutrition, fixing bikes, cleanig floors, cooking (!?), seeing physiotherapy patients and giving squash lessons.

It is great to see how the centre increases in interest and members year after year. The most prominent increase is in the group lessons, where it is now over booked and at times too full. The people here are really enthusiastic and spread great positive energy.

Although it has not been any squash this week, it has still been a good week in the Norwegian countryside. Fresh air, clean water, peace, quiet and the best food :))

H.O.T Helse og trening Check it out on facebook

2020 Olympic Bid

In the IOCs desicion to include a new sport in the Olympics, they chose Wrestling over Squash and Baseball. Squash got 22 votes, Baseball 24, and Wrestling got...well...more.

All I need to say about this is that the desicion speaks for itself.

If you are a squash player you know exactly what I mean, and if you are not enlightened still, you can use google to figure it out.

RESULTS and Comments, European Individual Closed Squash Championships 2013

Draw: http://www.toernooi.nl/sport/draw.aspx?id=C2866472-4AFE-4713-97E5-59ADC7CD538A&draw=1

After a tour around Amsterdam, the Norwegian delegation arrived in Haag to pick me up before we headed to "Casa ter Sluis in Breda, where we were housed for the week. Breda is approximately 1 hour away from Herentals where the tournament was held this year, and Marjolein, Marc and Tessa were great hosts for the vikings the whole week, cooking, cleaning and serving our every need throughout the week ;)

 With 4 people in the attic, and 2 of them running a nightly nasal cavity marathon, there was no sleep to get the first night. After a good start in the morning where Sindre beat his russian opponent in the morning, I was up against Gregoire Marche of France in my first round.

I was unlucky enough, just to drop out of the seedings. This meant I would have to face one of the big guns in my first match. This player is ranked 160 spots over me on the ranking at 30. This is a significant difference, and I really needed to play out of my skin to perform well. My gameplan was set early, and agreed upon by the coach. In the first few games I saw that the gameplan was not working well, as Marche was to quick on the ball. If I am not in control, it is hard to maintain gameplan. So before the third game, me and coach Mark decided on a new gameplan. This one proved more effective, but the difference in level was too great in the end, and I lost 3-0. I was still happy with the way I played in the end, as I can see that I can still play with these boys and make them run for their money. My hitting is more consistent, mental toughness is present and I am starting to move better again.

 Sindre is showing his happy face after the first Norwegian win of the tournament :D

 Lotte also started of with a strong win after a macarena warm up. She beat up and coming Belgian national champion Nele Gilis in a tough 4 setter, setting her up for the quarter finals against the winner of the tournament Camille Serme.


On the second day of play I faced Mark Burke from Belgium. An experienced player with a good reportoar of shots. I found it hard to step up the pace against a player who slowed it down a bit more. This was the only match this tournament I did not play well at all, and my focus was a bit all over the place. The score in the end was 11-9, 9-11, 12-10, 12-10, and a good sesison to work on playing big points, which Mark (coach) is stressing a lot. A sweaty encounter in 40 degrees heat, running around a squash court makes one tired. So chilling on the grass outside in the shadow is not such a bad idea :))

Sindre played world no18 LJ Anjema is a battle of the giants on court 8. This was a tough, but fun experience for the Norwegian Rolls Royce (Roaldsøy in english), ending in a 3-0 loss.

In my second round of the plate I got a bye (walkover) as the czech player pulled out from the tournament. This set up a meeting with old nemesis Rene Mijs from the Netherlands. We had some hard fought matches is the past, and I knew exactly what he was capable of. I felt a hunger to avenge my poor play the other day, and i came out blazing in the first 2 games. I dont think I ever played better, taking the games 11-6, 11-7 (I think). Then in the next games something happened as I felt all my balls were landing around the middle, and I twitched as I went for quick winners. Mark noticed that my opponent stepped further up on the T, taking away my sense of control in the game. This totally changed the pattern of the game, and probably experience from Rene's side, as he took the next 2 games. We were tied at 2-2. In the fifth game, I had a terrible start as the referees gave away 5 quick points in strokes and no lets I did not agree with. Then my opponent hit the joint between the front wall and side wall twice, making the ball die and drop dead on the spot. This was 7 points....of 11!!! Even if I played well and hung in as well as I could, it was not enough, and I lost 11-6. :(((((

With Sindres heavy legs he was not able to pull another win in the tournament, but gaining xp points like a rookie dwarf in WOW.

Lotte was unlucky to lose a tough 4 setter against Czech no1 Lucie Fialova but redeemed herself, chopping down Frenchie Maud Duplomb 3 games to 0 ending on a strong 7th place.

In my last match I was set up against Marc ter Sluis. Good friend, training partner, and room mate for the week. During training, we always play for coffee. The loser has to pay. This was no exception and so the loser had to pay the winner a coffee of choice at the place of choice. The contract was signed and sealed, and the trash talk began as usual on twitter 24 hrs before the match.

Marc has improved a lot lately and just the week before he beat me in a training match. He has cut down his error rate and starting to structure his squash better. I knew I had to play my best to win it. All games were hard fought, and neither of us did much wrong as we had long testing rallies up and down the walls. At the very end it seemed like Marc slightly ran out of juice as I could maintain the tempo for a little longer. This kept me ahead on the points and I rushed to the service box after every ball. I took the last game to deserve my coffee, but it was a good battle. #cappucinosquash

After the last match of the day we had a small dinner at the club (not allowed to take big portions, as there was not enough food) me and Marc had to prepare for a new tournament in Zoetermeer Netherlands. This is a 1 day tournament where you play up to 4 matches in one day. I was 1. seed and drew in the quarter finals the Dutch no1 who ended 7th in the EICC. Losing 3-1 after maintaining my good play, and missed out on good PSA points and next weeks food money :P

European championship preview

From the 4^th until the 7^th of September this year the European Individual Championships will be held just around the corner from me, in Herentals Belgium. This is approximately a 90 minute drive from my current location, so after some brilliant logistics from our Sport Manager and coach Mark Hornby, we arranged a rental car for transport and local accommodation at friends of mine. This helped keep the costs down for all of us.

The Norwegian representatives this year consist of Sindre Roaldsøy, myself and giant killer Lotte Eriksen. They will be flying in Tuesday, pick me up in den Haag to race down to Breda where we will be staying with 2 of the Dutch players, Tessa and Marc ter Sluis. We really appreciate you helping us out guys J

The draw can be seen above. Lotte has a bye on her first day, due to a good seeding, and might be playing on of the most talented junior players on the second day of play Tinne Gilis from Belgium. Sindre has to play a Russian player in his first match on Wednesday at 2pm. If he succeeds he will be playing Dutch no1 and world top 20 player Laurens Jan Anjema. This would be a great experience… for LJ. Because Sindre is a force to be reckoned with.

I will be playing top 50 world player Gregoire Marche from France. He is known for his fitness, athletic abilities and has made a name for himself in the top of the squash world. What he probably will not remember is that I was the head referee when he won his U19 European individual gold medal in Stavanger, Norway. However, I will not be in the same good mood when we meet on court Wednesday at 1800.