Squash for food: Hafsfjord cup

14-16 November is the always prestigious HSK cup. A big norwegian cup for juniors and seniors. This tournament was the first time I beat the former no1 player in Norway, and climbed the throne myself. its also the club where I worked and played for 3 years to improve my game.

I was given a brutal draw, as I played last weekends finalist in the first match, then national team prospect Lars Klæning 2nd round, seeded to play Norway no3 Ronny Aasbø in the semi final, and Norway ranked 1 and current national champ Kristian Solhaug in the final.

I was keen as ever and waltzed over my first and second round opponent both in 3 games, trying my best to keep focus and not show weakness.

The surprise came in the semi final as former Norway no1 and national champ Hansi saw off a recently ill Ronny in 5 tough games. I remember having to push for 5 hard games against Hansi in my 2nd national title. Its never easy against a never-say-die opponent with the capacity of a duracell bunny on steroids.

Focus was good in 3 games, and dropped for 1 game.... ergo. 3-1 win after a well played and entertaining match.

In the final, after an impressing dispatch of Sindre in the semis, with great pressure play, was nemesis, Kristian AKA Kissa AKA Norways driest humour. The player I battled with for 5-6 years over the no1 spot in Norway. He had it when I took it, and after 4 consecutive years, he took it back.

I had my game plan ready since last year after I lost my title to him. And it went exactly as expected. I knew I had the skill and capacity to beat him. But I knew i could not show weakness, or let him in at any moment. My coach told me after the nationals that the moment I took my foot of the gas, he sniffed a weakness and took full advantage. That could not happen again. Feeling mentally a lot healthier this time, my game plan held up. But it was still a tough battle. He is a master in pulling the most out of his last 5%, and even though he can barely move, he still keeps retrieving and can apply pressure at any time. I kept my calm and kpet squeezing, squeezing, applying more and more pressure until he cracked. it took forever, but it worked.

now I have money to survive the month...I think. And get a haircut

Squash for food: Moss open 2014

Most of you don't believe me when I say I am broke. "But you travel a lot, do fun things and get sponsorship gear" Yes. The travels are making me broke. Plus, starting your own bussiness is NOT CHEAP. Lisences, insurances, taxes, cheaters taking your money, unexpected fines, programs and services you had no idea was necessary. I need courses to maintain my physio license that costs me 2000 euros all of a sudden. My student loan is around 50 000 euros. When I started working that had to come off.

I used to have 3 accounts. My norwegian account (just in case ) My norwegian insurance account, and my Dutch one. My insurance account was stopped after the last payment because I now work in a foreign country. So no insurance. And no money there. My norwegian account has been empty for a while. I checked it today. There was 300 NOK there. (Mum transferred 2000 so I could book my flight home for christmas, but I did not have money for food last month. So I borrowed it :/ Sorry mum)

The federation needed 300 for the licence to play the tournament.

In my Dutch account is 112 euros. My bike broke down, and transport 1 week is 60 euros. Bike fixing is 50. No more food.

So.

No joke.

Im broke.

And after talking to the tournament organizor, its now clear that I dont only have to win it to stay alive, but I might end up owing them money in the end. A new rule state that even in a PSA closed sattelite, you have to pay entry fee. So either I win. Or Im screwed

note to self: Ur an idiot

A good start when I had to pay 50 euros for the bus ticket to the squash centre. Upon my arrival awaits my gift package of a few rackets balls and a squash bag from my sponsor plus 300NOK in pocketmoney for bananas throughout the weekend from the tournament organizor. He also lets me wait to pay the entry fee until after the tournament ends to see if I can pay it back or not :/

My first match, starting with 5-0 down, ends with a 3-0 victory. Slowly getting used to the plate walls again. The next morning I face Marwan el Shorbagy.........s room mate Håkon Standal. Another Bristol player from Hadrian Stiffs crew. After being 25 min late due to roadblocks, I end up losing my first game 11-3, before I get warmed up and take a close 2nd game... and 2 consecutive not so close ones.                                            Semi final is the expected final against Sindre Roaldsøy from Stavanger. The 2nd highest PSA ranked Norwegian. After a brutal battle and a broken wrist at 12-12 in the 4th game, I pull away the victory in 4 games. playing slowly better every match.                                                                            The surprise on the other side of the draw is the top junior in Norway beating the first seed of the tournament 3-0. That left me the left-overs of a tired junior in the final. The fight was short and one sided. Not that I mind. That means I won in 3 and had enough money to get home and get my bike fixed.

After the following week, I fixed my bike, bought a ticket for the next tournament, got some food. now I have 12 euros left :/ Leaving for Stavanger next weekend, where once again... I have to win to survive.

Note to self: you're still an idiot

Squash for food

After returning from Australia, it has been quiet at work, and so I have had no other choice but to train. As a result of this, amazingly enough, I have improved. I still dont train as a professional, but I give it my all when I am on court, and actually I feel like Im hitting the ball better than in a long time.

The Norwegian squash federation told me they would organize 4 PSA closed sattelite tournaments in Norway for me to improve my ranking. They wondered if I wanted to play them. Or rather. They asked if I was going to play them. If not, there would be no point in putting them together.
With everything going on lately, I had to consider this, but in the spur of the moment I said Yes. Now, if I have to play 4 tournaments in Norway, I want to win them. I smelled a little bit of motivation coming back. I was undefeated in Norway for 4 years straight. I can claw my way back there. At the same time a sponsor agreement came through at the very last moment, which naturally helped massively. You cant play squash without rackets.

Problem is. I can not afford the trips to Norway. Because I run my own bussiness here in Holland, my income is performance based. Meaning, if I dont work, I dont make money. So the 3 weeks in Australia hurt, and now I have no money. In another spur of the moment desicion, I spent my money (my food budget) on plane tickets to Norway to play these tournaments. That means I have to win the money back to be able to eat the following month. In exactly one year I will be back on top financially again (If all go well) Until then...I hustle...and win tournaments.

+

=

Stud

The rise and fall... Australia 2014

Australia 2014

1 week after Solabladet wrote an article about my retirement, I find myself at Kings backpackers in Melbourne, Australia. Up 5am from the jetlag, getting ready to take the train to Shepparton, where there is a PSA tournament waiting for me.

After this I will be flying into Sydney and the week after to Coffs Harbor for 2 more PSAs. Honestly I have not been able to train professionally since June last year. I’ve been sliding downhill and crawling back up slowly ever since, but have realized that I won’t ever reach the top again. I’m out of resources and there is nowhere left to turn to make my squash work on the level I want it to.

This trip was booked at the time I was ready for one last push into getting my ranking back up and reaching my goal, but ever since, funds, form, and motivation as dropped, while debt and bills are on the way up. If I want to survive, I can’t put my time and money into squash in the way I have been.

There is still a few percentages in me that want to play, and I kind of want to see how it goes in Australia before I make any final conclusions. But no matter the result, I can not train like a professional. I’m very relaxed when it comes to these tournaments and I put no pressure on myself. I will enjoy my time here, but am prepared for a tough 6 months upon my return where I have to work as much as possible to try to clear some of the expenses I have postponed over the last 6 years.

My travel companeros are a good group from Canada/Netherlands. I hope to follow Piedro to as many victories as possible down here, and also wish the best for Adrian who is making his break into the PSA circus. Looking forward to it ;)

So day 1 one in freezing conditions sees the Overlander boys comfortably through to the second round., all winning 3-0. Adrian faces Piedro for bragging rights, Albert takes on French crepes ripper Damien Volland, while I continue with the aussies. This time the 3d seed of the tournament.

So I show up for my match, basically just feeding in the first 2 games. Not really feeling any joy in playing. I tell the boys I will win the next one, to show that I can. So I win the next one, and somehow the 4^th. I think I was on autopilot. I toss the 5^th game 11-0.

After a nice week of relaxing, training and good times with my good friend David Clegg and his family, we make our way over towards Sydney for the next tournament. I feel a bit better with myself and enjoyed my hits over the last week, even though fitness equals zero.

I rock up to the tournament to play qualifier Aaron Franckomb, PSA38 last year, who is just too strong for me and he wins 3-0.

I receive some mails from the federation and my sponsor, and it sparks some motivation.  There will be some closed satellite tournaments in Norway before Christmas for my PSA ranking, plus it decides who goes to the European championships. My racket sponsor says he is interested in a further cooperation (which is good, as I travelled Australia with 2 rackets, broke 1, so I have 1 left). I want to win all the Norwegian tournaments and retain my Norwegian title. I want to do well in the last tournament here in Australia as well now. Im just not prepared. I did not train since playing my 20 min match last week. I know Im not able to train as much as I want anymore, but if I can at least maintain fitness and racketskills with 2 hits a week and some fitness, I still might be able to squeeze some results out. Let’s see how                                                  it goes. Off to Coffs Harbour it is.

So first day of play in Coffs Harbour sets me up against Pornstache Dusty, the no4 seed and 170 PSA rank. Watching him play reminds me of myself. Brainless, speedy and physical. Not an impossible task at all. And this time I was really motivated to play. However, lack of training shone through. Lack of matchplay affected my consistency and he played more steady. after digging back from under in the 1st game to grab it 12-10, the next 2 saw me playing rollercoaster squash with patches of decent squash but bigger patches of loose shots. My opponent put it away nicely and and needed to refocus in the 4th. Which went quite well, finding myself in front the entire game and being 9-7 up. lost it 9-11. My opponent is now in the semi finals. Again I find myself in this situation. With a good draw, but unable to perform. Only myself to blame though, as I did not prepare for these tournaments. Still enjoyed playing and signed up for the graded tournament where I won my first match 3-2 today. Maybe make some dollars while Im here.

Noted that my body reacts better to giving 100% than loafing around without moving properly. Moving quickly and hard might seem harder on the body, but the muscle activation is higher, so the muscles synergise better and take the load off other vulnerable structures.

Another note is that you can not cheat your way around good squash. What my coach is trying to tell me is true, and there is not really any cheats. 

Enjoying playing at the moment, so lets just keep that up for now, then we see whats next ;)

So apparently what was next was a helluva party to get home late, get up early and play the semi finals of the PSA plate. won it in 4 close games, to get a walk over in the final. So I won the plate. A small token to make me feel a little better after not performing in the main draw. I need the money to eat today....

Return to Gibraltar

Watching Nadal smack yellow balls around as I settle the beauty on my booty in my king size bed in the suite of the Calida Hotel in Gibraltar. I am back in Monkeyville after my first visit 2 years ago with the same intensions of making an impression on the squashcourt in another PSA tournament. This is the second one after my return on the tour.

The tournament did not come on a good time (I think) after I just had my 1 week holiday with absolutely no training. I did not impress in my last tournaments, neither in training. My focus is still good and I am still working on court craft and clever play. The surroundings to which we are playing the tournament are amazing, and we are priveliged to enjoy such great facilities here in Gibraltar. This allows us to prepare and recouperate well inbetween matches.

DAY 1: My first match was against a local player. I won 11-1, 11-1, 11-4 with minimal effort. Next match is at 20.00 and will probably be against the Czech Terminator.

Czech terminator it was indeed. A skilled racketplayer that can not be given anything loose to put away. It suited my game well on paper as he did not move that well.

But other forces in the universe wanted it otherwise. I see now that I had the same referee as I had 2 years ago in the same tournament. I now sit here with the same feeling as I did then. There are only 2 referees I have met in my career that can decide an entire match. One of them is a european referee often seen in the lowest divisions and this is the other one. It is not often I can blame the referee for losing a match (luckily) but unluckily I am in this situation now. I should probably wait with blogging until tomorrow after Im more calmed down, but the result would be the same.

In the first game there were a lot of absolute dreadful desicions, but equal amounts both ways. I explained the difference between a let and a stroke to the referee after the second time he gave me a stroke that was a simple let. My opponent had quite a few words with the referee as well, and he was right in every comment. It was simple. a let was a stroke and a stroke was a let. Fair enough. My opponent laughingly told me:"Its gonna be a long evening" He was sure right about that. I stuck to my game plan winning 11-8, I believe.

Then it started getting really entertaining. Strokes became lets or no lets, while safety lets and simple interference became no lets. Unfortunatelly for me I was hitting better lengths and moving better. A string of extremely poor desicions gave the game 9-11 to my opponent.

Trying to re set my mind in the third game worked well in the early stages, mostly because there were no big points at this stage. Close all the way. When I deviated from gameplan I got punished by my opponents great short court game. When I stuck to it, I was winning. until my opponent figured out how to play the referee. Then it was over. It was simple for my opponent from there and he could basically "produce" a no let situation at will. At that moment we both knew who would win it. I did not want to deviate from gameplan (maybe my mistake) but sticking to it would lose me the match. I kept hitting the ball but knew the referee would give it away, and he did. Just like two years ago. 9-11 loss in the third and a give away in the 4th, 6-11.

2 years ago strokes were consistently no lets. Then I also lost 1-3 in a match where I was clearly the better player. My opponent today was better than my opponent 2 years ago, and a lot smarter. The other guy was not aware of not clearing.

What I have seen is that referees struggle a lot with the principal of "going for the player not the ball" versus " hit and block" This is forgivable as the referees do not have the experience to see the difference. This is also the problem on a high professional level. The problem of these lower level tournaments is that the local referees (when used) have even less experience, and many struggle with the bare minimum basics of squash rules. That is when there is trouble.

This experience hit me at a bad point in my career as I am already struggling with motivation and the choice of retiring is in the front of my mind constantly. I did not enjoy todays experience at all. If I do not enjoy playing, why play? If I play well, but still get "fucked over", as a spectator called it, is it worth it?

"luckily" I already booked my Australian trip, so I have to play some more tournaments, and I am playing well at the moment. Not great but even on a bad day like today, I played maybe 85% of my best. Focus was good, and the actual squash was ok.

Lets end with something more beautiful: The south Spanish valleys ;)

Grays Norwegian Open 2014

The biggest squash event in Norway in a long time thanks to Stig Olsen, Grays, Oslo squashklubb and all respective sponsors. For once I am given the so important wildcard into the main draw which means much needed ranking points and great matches.

Thursday 29. April I will be facing the Danish no1 Kristian Frost ranked 60 in the world. This will definitely be a tough match, but I feel ready for the challenge. BRING IT

First match done and dusted. I think the ciffers were 9-11, 10-12, 8-11 in the favour of the dane. It was a hot affair on a court that really strips my strengths and  expose my weaknesses.
The rallies felt long, and I really tried to keep my head cool and stick to my game. I expected a higher pace from the top 100 player, but it seemed more like a controlled affair from his side. Rather controlling the ball in the corners instead of using pace.
On an already slow court, it really feeeeeeeeelt sloooooooooooooooowwww out there. It seems I was often on the defending end and a lot depended on him either making the errors or the winners. I hung in there as well as I could, but came out on the losing end on the end of every game. It was one of those matches where I was so focused, I don't remember much of the match. I remember a 5 minute rally in the 2nd game  that I won.

A lot of positives, and a lot of things to work on. I had a good talk with the much experienced Stig Olsen after my match and went over a few valuable pointers for further improvement.

Next up is the local Grays tournament where I am 1st seed and have several tough matches in front of me in the coming days. Really looking forward to many days with a lot of good squash

So in the local tournament I was seeded to reach the final. It was a nice mix of local heroes, in the likes of the norse pakistani Shahab Hussain at 3 string, national heroes in Sindre Roaldsøy, up and coming heroes in Trym and Håkon, a swede and an english PSA player.

My first match was won comfortably against old friend and nemesis Svein Anders Haugen, who hoped to give me more trouble, but needed to give in for the fitness.

My next match was against Bristol based giant killer Håkon Standal who is also in the Norwegian selection. The kid proved he is the spot worthy with a solid performance, leading 9-6 in the first, but sadly had to let it go 11-9 in my favour. After some draining rallies in the second game, with no luck in to converting into points from his side, he got a bit de motivated and  lost the next two games 11-2, 11-1.
This match was played on a traditional court and immediately I felt more in the zone again. Hitting the ball crisply and moving well.

The semi finals was against Adrian Østby, who is a norwegian/canadian playing PSA under the Norwegian flag. We might be able to use him in the national team, so it was nice to feel out his level.
He pushed me all the way on the glass court, where again I did not feel comfortable. I do not think he did either, so the momentum swung a lot. He one the first game after tie break and an unfortunate miss call by the normally very steady referee Stig Olsen, I won the second comfortably, and fought my demons to convert a third game in my favour. In the fourth I really tried, but my game plan was not sticking. in the fifth game he lunged in the front and seemed to hurt his achilles. An old injury was bothering Adrian and he did not move well in the 5th game. Well fought, well played, unfortunate in the end for him.

Tomorrow I face Steven London of England in the final which will be showed live on Norways biggest TV channel at 12.30. UNLEASH HELL!!! Ill send him home with yorkshire pudding between his legs

I just finished watching the TV production of the final of Grays Cup vs Steven London of England. Its good to see if the internal ideas of the match are somewhat similar to the external perception. It seemed I enhanced the negative feelings towards my own performance, but if you knew how much I wanted to win this match, Im sure you will sympathize. The tactical errors and lose shots I produced were crucial to how the match ended and it shows really how brutal the game is. One error = one point down.

I started hitting the ball well, volleying and stepping up on the T line. Keeping a good base and varying my shots when given the opportunity. Still somewhat patchy, but I felt the better player won the game. Im 1-0 up.

In the second game I saw my accuracy level dropped. There was many balls around the middle and towards the crucial part of the game, a few referees calls seem to go to my head and I throw the game. Something that normally have not happened to me since my junior days. A good analysis of Stig in the commentary box, who hit the nail on its head. Easy loss. 1-1

3. game. Boastboastboastshitboast. This is the old Kim coming back into unfocused mode. I worked so hard to get rid of this part of my game, where I get stressed and boast unnecessary and open up the court for the opponent to take full advantage. Mr London did well on his dropshots today and really punished me whenever I hit it lose. That’s the way its supposed to be as well. 8 months out of the professional game sets me back quite a bit, and although I wish in my 2 months back, I could be fully back, that’s not how it works. I still need time, not just for the fitness, but handling these top players, the atmosphere, crowd, referee, myself, opponent, pressure, court and everything around it. It takes time. Some call it experience. 2-1 down.

Steven stepped up the court, and I stepped back. I needed to push up the court, volley more and take control. I allowed Steve to step up and from there he hit good length that forced my weak returns, that in the end won him the game. 11-8, game and match

Hugely disappointed in losing as this was a big occasion, but realizing where I am at the moment, and that I need to catch up big time to get where I was this time last year. However some things are better now than before. + and -, good bad and ugly and f*************n hate losing. So many final losses lately. Lets never have that happen again.

MY ASS!!

For those of you thinking I should grow up

For those who think Im wasting my time with squash

I present to you: MY ASS

As presented beautifully here by my colleagues

.........

National team champ 2014!!!

For the 8th time in a row, Hafrsfjord Squash Klubb is national team champs of Norway.

This years team consisted of me on the number 1 spot, Kristian Solhaug on the second spot, strongly followed by Lars Klæning on 3 and our hero, Majken Bie on 4.

We got comfortably through the first rounds, but got severely challenged by Bærum in the final, barely winning by 16 points after equal matches and games.

Thanks to Roddy and beautiful Anette for a great stay in the villa, a great tournament and a good effort from Bærum :)

European squash championships 2014, Riccione, Italy

Ive been making it a habit to write my blogposts on the plane. Mighty smart idea if I may say so myself. Normally when Im bored outta my brain anyway.

The Norwegian team is finally back in division 2 after 3 years of balubasquash. Last year we performed well and clawed our way from the toughest group in division 3 into the final, only to lose to Israel. But second place also get to move up one division and swapped places with Poland and another nation.

So here we go. One year after being favourites in a division lower, to being under the underdogs in division 2. Division 2 house teams like, Ireland, Sweden, Austria, Belgium, Czech republic and Ukraine.

We start our Italian adventoro with the Irish gnomes and the Swedish horseballs in our pool. We are seeded to lose, but in it to win it. The words from national team coach is that Norway has never seen a stronger national mens team. I feel good, Sindre is now playing full time, Edvard sent his girlfriend across Europe to retain focus,  Ronny is 25 kgs lighter and Kristian is floating on the confidence of being king of Instagram and National champion. I think this year will be a good year for the Vikings in the European championships.

First up: Ireland tomorrow at 10.00. I will probably be facing Arthur “Whole lotta love” Gaskin in my first match, unless they show up with a more “cocky” team order. That would be unwise gnomies…..

Day 1:

Playing order was set to 1 and 3 playing first, followed by 2 and 4. Todays team was Me, Kristian, Ronny and Eddy, resting Sindre. 

Ronny was not feeling it today, and lost in 3. In my match I served out(!) twice(!!!!) in the first game. I lost it 11-9 and thats a cheap give away. In the second game the difference in level became more clear as he pulled away to a 11-4 win. I tried in the third game to just focus on one shot at the time. just hit the ball well and the targets will come. It did feel a lot better to hit it, but I noticed the difference when the ball travelled a bit too fast for my usual pace, and then the errors and inaccuracies flew of my racket. Arthur is too good in the front and very hard to read. I should keep him even more in the back, and wait out my chances even more. My own shots did not go in either, and then...game, set, match. I lost 12-10 in the third, but I gave it my all. I truly feel I am back on the right path again and I am just looking forward to playing more.

Edvard and Kristian could take it easy as we needed to conserve energy for the important matches to come. They lost respectively 3-0 and 3-1

Next up: Sweden tomorrow at 10.00

DAY 2:

The message was clear. The level and debth of the Swedish team is higher than ours and the wise thing would be to conserve energy for the most important matches to come. Our main priority this year is to stay in the division, and it is tougher than ever. All the teams we have to beat are really strong and one of them is the team we lost to in the final last year in Amsterdam.

Against Sweden we rested our number 2 player. I started at the same time as Ronny. Ronny took it easy and lost 3-0. I tried to stay sharp throughout the match and hit my targets. I did not use too much energy and still got to practice my shots. I feel  good and ready for our next match only in 2 hours (!) After tournament organization fault. The rest of the team lost 3-0 as well, but they look confident and strong for the next match, which will be crucial.

Bring on Slovakia

After a nice lunch, we basically had to hurry and get ready again for our next match. The playing order was the same, but Kristian was now rested and ready to play again on no2. Unfortunatelly he was so stiff from his match yesterday that he could not move and he ended up losing 3-0 in a very disappointing performance. I did my job on the adjacent court, continuing my string of strong play, winning 3-0 convincingly. We were tied with Slovakia at this point, so it all came down to Ronny and Sindre. They both played tight matches, but unfortunally lost 3-0 and 3-2 in matches that easily could swing the other way. Riccione is a place where the Norwegians are very unlucky it seems. This means that we set us up in a very difficult situation, as we face 2 stronger teams in the remaining pool matches. It is still a battle of survival, and we need to win both remaining matches to stay in division 2. If not we are back down where we started.

Ukraine at 5pm Friday

DAY 3:

After a relaxed morning with some shopping and a nice breakfast we headed towards the 7 court venue once again to take on Ukraine. We did not set ourselves up in a good situation yesterday, so we were all forced to play out of our skin to achieve our goal this year.

The order of the day was: 4-1-3-2, so myself and Sindre started. Edvard rested, but as always, make a great support team alongside Mark, Thomas and Reidun. They are all true team players and it is great to have them here. I went on court with a do or die attitude as I did in the last match as well, not willing to give a single inch of weakness. I must have looked extremely angry on court. But it did the trick. With an average of 1,5 personal errors over the last 2 matches, I did what I needed and won 3-0, completely demolishing my opponent mentally and in the end also physically. According to Mark, Sindre had a tough match on the other side of the wall losing 3-0.

It all came down to our veterans. Ronny did not feel well yesterday, and Kristian still had a sore butt. At this moment we had no choice. We had to win. Both matches were extremely close, and I myself saw a Ronny play more consistent and smart than ever before. He lost the match in 4, but is showing great mental and physical strength. He is back. In Kristians match, the coaches analysis was that Kissa tried to make his fitter opponent run with high tempo and lots of volleying. Towards the end it backfired a bit as Kristian felt the match in his legs and could not keep up in the end himself. A really close battle that ended up with a sour loss.

Our chances are now minimal to stay in the division, but we still have to give it our all against Israel tomorrow. A team win would still mean a lot, as we lost 4-0 against them last year in the final. KOM AN GUTTAA!!!

DAY 4

We were already ready for 3d division next year before our match against Israel, but the Israeli had to give it their all since they already had a chance of staying in the division. We knew they would give it their all, and it was a great opportunity for us to see where we were at compared to last year. The players repping the red white and blue were 1 Killingberg, 2:Solhaug, 3:Aasbø 4: Hegbom AKA Egbom. Against a group of unfair blocking and complaining Israeli we had to stay calm, collected and get the job done.

Myself and Kristian were on first, but during the warm up, Kristian was worried about his Achilles. He did not feel good at all and tried to warm it up as well as possible. It did not work fully and he lost 3-0 with not being able to move well.

The player I played, I played twice last year, first time I won 3-1, and in the final I lost 3-2. This year I continued my run of good form and played the big points well (proud Mark?), working hard, making little errors and frustrating my opponent. The two first games were important and I was able to sneak them 11-9, 11-9. In the last game, I did not give an inch and took it clearly 11-4.

Ronny also continued his good play from yesterday and won 3-0. A very strong performance from the captain. Edvard was on after me, and was ready to leave his guts on court. That is exactly what he did. Although his gameplan did not come through fully, and he was able to win it in the end, he gave us the game needed for the win. 1-3 loss, 2-2 draw, win on games, and return to 3d division. Back to the drawing board boys!!!

Return of the Kim and Tromsø Open 2014

Killingberg is back!

I had 4 weeks of training to catch up 6 months of descending form. At that point it seemed like an impossible task, but I knew I had all the qualities in me. Even though I was never closer to throw away my rackets and say “Im done with this shit”. I convinced myself to get my life back on track first, before making any such decisions. Wise man…

Ive had 3 weeks of good training now, and I am happy to say I am fit, motivated and playing better than I have been playing since July 2013. I don’t know if I am back on that form yet, but I am not far away. I still lack the tournament experience and so this weekend I am travelling further north than ever before to puzzle the last pieces together before the European Championship. The shots and the fitness is there. Now I need to get into tournament mode, practice my preperations, handling nerves, adjusting to hotel food, sleeping away from home, tactics and mental strength.

If Brian Phillips will forward my words of wisdom to the juniors on this bit, the message is as following:

Staying in the own comforts of your home, eating your own food, planning your own days and competing in a known and safe environment spoils you. And yes, you can play your best squash, because you are mentally and physically best prepared. You play an opponent you have played hundreds of times before and you know his game in and out. There are no referees, crowd and you know the courts and the conditions.

Experience is adapting as best possible to all these factors when you are competing somewhere else. The further away from home you go, the more prepared you need to be. Competing in your own country means you can still find the food you are used to, but you might need to sleep on a couch, in a hotel, on a squash court or an air matress. How do you play squash when you are sleep deprived? The courts are colder than you are used to, is your warm up routine adapted to this? Is there even room to warm up anywhere? You need to relate to a referee that barely know what squash is (a standard squash referee) an opponent who is not as fair as your normal training partner and a crowd that are cheering not only for your opponent, but against you. The court has a different bounce and the air is drying up your throat. Got to be prepared kids. There are many tips I can give to help prepare for these things, but I don’t feel like writing it all. We start with one today. A tip given to me by a good friend and squash player Steve Finitsis. To adjust to the court you are playing one, during warm up on court you find your spot on the front wall where you need to hit to hit that perfect 2^nd bounce in the back” dying length. I think that’s a good start J

Now, with that being said, that small digression there, this is why I travel to Tromsø this weekend to play a tournament that might not give me the highest quality matches, but to get into the tournament routine again. Personally I have struggled with over/under adrenalization. I need to fine tune that balance. I need to adapt to hotel sleep and food. I need to get into the system to adapt tactics towards different squash players and to deal with difficult opponents. I need to get “practice mode” out of the system

Plus, I have heard great things about Tromsø as a city and the squash enthousiasm in the city lead by Wiggo Olsen and Hans Christian Ribe. The boys in Tromsø are doing a superb job with sponsors, media, service and the overall tournament experience. In addition to this I am bringing my mum up as well for some quality time on her birthday J Looking forward to it!!!!

What happened?

I won the tournament without dropping a game, and I am very happy with my mental preparation and general professional attitude throughout the tournament. The adrenalization was balanced, and I pushed my gameplan hard down anyone I faced on the opposite end of the court. Which means all points made against me this weekend was well deserved.

I really enjoyed the entire tournament and the setting they have up here. The tournament organizors do a superb job in arranging and hosting this event. By far the most hospitable and enjoyable tournament to play in Norway at this moment.

Thanks a lot to the tournament sponsors (who really help a lot), Wiggo, Hans Christian, Tromsø squashklubb, the volunteers and the crowd who made a great atmosphere. I will return. The sky is the limit boys.

Peace out

41st Geneva Open 2014

Video blog day 1:

 - The mornings in a squash house

The 41st version (!) of the Geneva squash open is organized by Mr Bob Lincoln, and makes us commmute between the french and swiss part of Geneva(?what) I dont even get it myself. As our hotel is in a mini village on the other side of the airport from the club.

Weather is smoking and the boys are too. I am paired up with the Dutch rookie delegation and wannabe dutchie Kanye West in a kick ass appartment 10 min drive away from the squash courts.

After 5 re draws, I ended up as the unlucky 1st seed in the qualifying ( no main draw). At least I had a bye in my first round, meaning I won't play until the afternoon today against the winner between a local and an english junior.

The other Big Brother house contestants will play at mid day as Ravioli is taking on Sweetie Eric Garson from England, while Kanye will play Marc to see who will be the resident Rookie for the weekend.

The aftershock:

After a night of good sleep, I finally felt better than I have felt the last 7 months. The mental stress from what we like to call life seems to slowly let go. When the head is on right, it is only for me to focus on squash. and that feels fkin awesome!

Today I played "Doesnt give a shit squash" Just enjoying the moment and enjoying playing again. That worked well for 2 games and I won 11-3, 11-8. The next games, I am not sure what happened, but according to people watching I lost a bit of my sharpness. I saw myself, I crossed a bit too much and my opponent started hitting his shots better. Lost the next 3 close games, but I really don't care. If it is only training required to get better. That I can do. Just very glad I hopefully can perform to a certain level in Italy in May which is the next tournament.

Although there is a tiny chance of a lucky loser spot tomorrow. Fingers crossed. I wanna play now! Havent had that feeling for a while. The other boys in the house did well as well. Marc won both his matches 3-0 and played really well. So did Bart, so both of them are in the main draw against stiff competition tomorrow.

LIVE from ANDORRA

A slightly reduced Viking is reporting from beautiful surroundings on the Antilles here in Andorra. Apparently Andorra is somewhat of a Nation of its own, where tax free is a bit of a big deal. Which means I can get Oakleys for 100€... okaaaayyy

Anyway. squash...right

DAY !:
Scheduled to play Scotland at 10.00 in the local mall on the glasscourt just up the street from our "Magic Hotel", we arrive after little sleep as we had a 3 hr drive from Barcelona up to Andorra last night. But early bird catches the worm. (Somewhere here I should put in an Angry Bird reference). We show up well ahead of the scheduled time only to find people still laying the floor of the court. After they finished, the service box on the right hand wall wall spread all over the court. So we imagined where it would be. After they were pleased with the floor, they continued to put up sponsorship logos on it.

1 hour later we are ready to kick off with our no3 players. Sindre is up for our team. He can not see the ball as there are strong lights all around the court which really messes with your depth perception. Scottish players learn to play blindfolded and so Sindres opponent bagged the victory 3-0. Massive disappointment from Sindre who hates glasscourts. Especially after slipping on a loose floorboard almost loosing his foot as the floorboard shot out of court(!) leaving a big hole in the middle of the court.

Next up was me, who have sliiightly more experience on the glass court. Funky indeed, but I did not think about it too much. Same for both of us right. I played Scottish rocket Douglas Kempsell. A steady and fair player that has risen well on the PSA rankings the last year(s)
First game is neck and neck all the way until Dougie sneaks it 11-9. Body feels well enough until I tweak my knee at 1-1 in the second game. For you anatomy nerds out there: My ITB is impinged in my knee. This can cause severe pain, and I had this once before in Malaysia, but then it felt a lot worse and then I feared my squash career was over. However with some experience I treated myself as best I could for 3 minutes before having to go back on court.

The difficulty now is playing through the pain, which I was able to to a certain extent, but with this pain in the back of my head, I found it hard to focus on where to put the ball, and instead was wary of how to tread, so the rest of the match was a feeding session that finished quickly. 3-0 loss. One of the matches I really looked forward to :/


Ronny was up next and struggled just as much as Sindre on the court and could not get into his own game as he focused more on seeing the ball instead of hitting it. 3-0 loss Horrible start.

For someone who cant eat gluten, it was a messed up idea to have croissants for breakfast. The longer I stay away from it, the more I react to it, and today it was bad. At luch I chowed as much meat and potatoes as my body could hold, in hope for the stomach to calm down. Followed by an attempt to catch up with some well earned sleep. Wake up, play.

Next up was Sweden. I hate losing to Sweden. And as we beat them next time, we had honour at stake.

Sindre played a really tight match, improving his performance from this morning, but it was still not enough as the tall Swede got through Sindre 3-0.

Testing the knee with tape, kinesio tape and compression, all physio skills were needed to keep it from acting up.

Thank god the knee held up, and that is a very good sign, as there is a lot of squash coming up the following months. In the first game against Swedens no5 I was well in control and won comfortably. In the second game I wanted to push up the court, but my body didnt want to for some reason and when it does not obey I get stressed and when I stress I boast. When I boast I lose. 1-1
Third game. Up with the tempo. hit halfcourt, Im down 2-1. 4. game, hanging in for dear life as my opponent hits a mix of lucky nicks and not lucky nicks, I lose 1-3. I HATE losing to Sweden.

Although we have a great opportunity here to learn and prepare for the big tournaments, we are still athletes and we never like to lose. Tomorrow at 10.00 Andorra awaits us on court. UNLEASH HELL§!!!!

DAY ":

2-1 loss vs Portugal in the morning. Im still playing consistently... consistently bad

3-0 loss vs Catalonia in the evening. Still consistent. So is the rest of the team. All we can do is laugh of ourselves. Great venue, hotel, food, service, transport and event. But the Norwegian team is at the bottom before our last match vs France. Feel like we should make an own 4th division for us in the Europeans.

After tomorrow the individual part of the tournament is starting. Here is the draw:

http://www.squash.cat/draw-quadre/

I am seeded and will not play until the triple on saturday. Food poisoning and an injured wrist to add to the complaints. Things are looking UP!!

DAY #:
A true week of opposites as we are in a beatiful place, with a great tournament in fantastic venues. The organisation is great and all the players are enjoying the tournament.

However, the performances from the Norwegian team has been under par, although the no2 and 3 string have been playing better each day. Luckily this is not an official tournament.

Personally I have really reached an all time low. Not playing much over the last 8 months is one thing. This week my body has not been happy with me at all. day 1 my knee went bonkers on me, day 2 my wrist got messed up. day 3 I needed to throw my match as the wrist was not working at all. In between my stomach was upset and lack of sleep was another factor. Normally I am not complaining too much, but normally I dont have anything to complain about. I have niggles like all others, but these pass quickly. I had 2 severe cases of an ankle injury in 2012 and 2013, but recovered over 10 weeks. This week  the shots have been fired at me quicker than you can say "shotgun" Already at a place in my mind where I feel I am in a make or break situation and everything is going against me squashwise, the timing is really really bad to get injured.
F*******************

There. Get it out.

Our last match in the pool was played up in the Andorra mountains in a hotel/spa complex. In a beautiful scenery from one of the old James Bond movies we enjoyed the fresh mountain air and the Catalonian sun.

Ronny Aasbø, the Norwegian captain but up a great fight against one of Frances top juniors. He was up 2-0, but in the end lost 2-3 in another close 3 games.

Sindre showed us what he can do with the ball against the 3d string French player, but was a bit inconsistent and lost 3-0 in the end.

Sindre not too happy with life either as we all know he can play a lot better. But experience is called experience for a reason. It does not happen over night. If he can hang tough long enough he will be rough, buff with a strong rotator cuff and whooping ass in no time (hopefully tomorrow)

I have now some time to relax where I will rest the wrist, stay off the piste, roast some rice, raise hell, reeses pieces and tape it tight before trying to play again on Saturday.

DAY %:

After resting the wrist well yesterday it felt better today. I tried some movements with the racket without too much pain, but still taped it just to be sure. My opponent for the day was the best Catalan player Ivan Flores.

Even though my hitting was limited I still wanted a good run for my money. Some good training at least.

Mishits, strokes, off target, not moving. SSDD (same shit, different day) Its not getting any better, and its about calling a duck a duck and admit I suck. Even when I tried to run it off my body was not listening. Another quick 0-3 loss for the books and oficially the worst performance I have ever performed.

I know I need to get my life sorted before I can focus on my squash, as my life is all over the place in chaos at the moment. Too bad I do not have anymore time. If I do not play any PSAs now, my ranking will drop so low I can not enter any more tournaments. Plus, I have a commitment to the national team, as our most important tournament comes up in 6 weeks.

......

A small distraction

Whats on Killingbergs mind these days? Well first of all, I have learned a thing or two about social media promotion and networking. So to gain hits, we need to sell it. What sells best? Sex. So Enjoy the photo above that has nothing to do whatsoever with what I am going to write.

I am doing MudMasters this weekend!!! Wohoo. 18 km run with obstacles much alike what we did in the army (10 years ago). Under barbed wire, in cold water, running in tires and carrying logs. In friggin freezing Holland probably during storm. People pay 50€ to join this madness. Not the Pros naturally. The pros get sponsored by Discovery Channel.

With the DH crew we rented 3 luxury Chalets (Castle?) for consumption of liquids and carbs to prepare as professionals do before and after a race of this proportions. Wish Us Luck!

Andorra squash event

website: http://www.squash.cat/blog/andorra-squash-event/


In a weeks time, from the 10-16th of March a delegation from Norway will be playing the Invitational Andorra Squash Event. The tournament organizor is sponsoring everything for us this week, and suspicion is that smaller nations are invited so that the catalanians have a fair chance of kicking some ass.

The Norwegian team is almost complete, but miss the absence of newly crowned national champ Kristian Solhaug. It is still good to see that we have enough depth in the team to show up strong with HSK champ Ronny Aasbø on the number 2 spot and big killer PSA pro Sindre Roaldsøy on the number 3 spot.

Initially we will be playing the team event, where biggest competitors will be France and Scotland (I think) with PSA professionals Douglas Kempsell and Geoffrey Dumont leading the campaign. It will also be a great test for the Norwegian players to take on Portugal as they are one of the teams we need to beat in second division this year to stay in (which is the big goal)

Plus... Its ALWAYS! AWESOME! to BEAT! SWEDEN! in ANY SPORT!!! I'll beat a Swede in bowling and gloat forever. Singstar? Never lost to a Swede. European Club Championships Squash in Prague. Jea... we beat Sweden.

We're so lucky to have coach Mark with us on the journey to make sure everything goes according to plan. Unfortunatelly Ronny has pressing commitments at home so he can not play the individual tournament, but myself and Sindre will defend the honor of the Reds.

On a personal note, I am still riding the rollercoaster of life, that will hopefully go into a less loopy patch from after April. Theres a lot more squash coming up in the next part of the year if life only lets me. Im reeeeeaally keen on getting back into training now and this event will be a great motivation for me. I know its all still in me, and on a good day I can still play well. Fingers crossed for awesome squash in all my future matches

peace out

National Squash Championship, Oslo, Norway 2014

The draw:

http://www.tournamentsoftware.com/sport/draw.aspx?id=B7E1F7B3-F589-4235-A39D-53C3BBCCD550&draw=4

Day 0:

“savory or sweet?” None, I’m only fuelling this high performance machinery with gojis, oatmeal, nuts, fruit, gluten free,  lactose poor friggy diggy super diet. I’m not taking any chances before my nationals. No caffeine after dinner, enough rest, protein shakes with chiaseeds, crampwhooping bananananas. Enough recovery red wine in the evenings. Preperation is key. For a true foodie like me it’s hard to maintain a 100% diet. But for one weekend I’ll pull through.

Squash wise this was a very bizarre year. From playing fulltime in the first half of the year, enjoying my best squash so far, to frustrating myself with technical changes and injuries, to being moneyless, homeless, sponsorless and jobless, to starting up my own company and fysio practice. That was 2013 folks.

Due to the last part there, preperations for the nationals this year has been the worst so far. My top level is better than ever, but I lack the tournament experience and I lack the hours. I played very disciplined in the beginning of the year, reaping the benefits, and towards the end of the year had a bit of a “Fark it” moment where all discipline and technique went out the window and I played better than ever. However, playing like this, I am not consistent. When I maintain this for a game, I can challenge anyone, and chop most people “my level”.

Looking at it from the outside, the recipe I would tell myself is the best one is playing smart and disciplined and bring out the flare at the right time. But then again, I like old Ramy better than new Ramy, But then again, I am not Ramy… but then again, this is not Tournament of champions

Anyway, like last year, the NM is played at Myhrens in Oslo, hosted by Oslo squash club, where the final (and my first) match will be played on the 5 wall glass court. Yeah, you heard me. 5 wall (that means glass floor too) A great venue for big tournaments. We play a 128 draw. 2 matches Friday, 3 Saturday and 2 Sunday. Busy program. But looking forward to a great weekend with some kick ass squash, and hopefully no new champions.

Day 1:

First round match was versus Chris Petter from Bergen. A former top junior player with good racket skills. The last years he has been very busy with family life and has not been training too much. I expected a tougher fight from Chris, but won comfortably 3-0. Always nice to get the first match nerves out of the way

Day 2:

The longest day of the tournament, kicking off at 11am for me versus one of the Bærum top players Dyre Kleive, who used to play in Denmark. A fit and fast player with descent feeling of the racket. The match turned out to be very physical. Not in the traditional sense, but a lot of bumping and pushing left me with bruises all over my right side. Not a nice match to play, but still a comfy 3-0 win on a traditional court.

Next match, back on the glass court again (lucky first seed get to play a lot on the show court) against young hotshot Morten Wold. A very talented youngster who gave me a run for my money. As soon as I lost my length, he was attacking well with a good front court game. In the third game, I played better and took it 3-0 in the end.

Last match of the day was the quarter final  against former Norwegian champion and former no1 Hansi. We played a 3-2 championship match here 3 years ago. The start was very nervy from me, and I barely won it 12-10. After my nerves settled, I started playing well again and controlling the next 2 games for a nice and important 3-0 win

Day 3:

Finals day kicked off with the semi finals at 11.00. I faced team mate and powerhouse Ronny Aasbø. A player who impressed throughout the tournament and demolished all resistance with strong and steady play. Many expected this to be the big match of the tournament, and even with no sleep the night before, I felt focused. I had a game plan ready, and needed to contain my nerves better than my earlier match. This worked well, and I opened up a healthy lead just by playing tight and sticking to gameplan. I know Ronny well, and I knew his strong and weak sides. I stayed relaxed and controlled the match throughout, probably playing my best match to day, winning 3-0 against a strong semi finalist. In the other semi final the number 2 seed Kristian Solhaug beat surprise upset player Ander Engebregtsen 3-1

After a nice lunch with favvy homie Mette and my mum, I felt good before the final.

THE FINAL

Yes, THE.FiNaL! That is what they called it after the match. One of the more thrilling matches seen on Norwegian soil according to spectators who did not even know the players. I talked to people who were still trembling 15 min after the match. So I guess it was a crowd pleaser. I have felt every year when I have played Kristian in the final he gains more and more support. He has played 7 finals and only gotten second place. Every year he gains more support and this time 98% of the crowd was cheering and lifting him on with every point. A great atmosphere and a great crowd. I think Kristian has deserved 2-3 titles already. Most of the time I have been in the way, wearing him out in brutal 100 min semi finals, or taken the title in the final.

I hear from people every year “so this will be your … title”, “It will be easy” etcetc. I try every year to tell them, “No, it gets mentally tougher every year, when everyone wants you to loose, you’re the top dog and everyone expects you to win. The top players in Norway are not bad players. It can easily happen that I lose games and matches because they play good squash and train hard as well. Last time in Stavanger I got chopped by both Ronny and Sindre. It’s never easy folks.

First game:

 I followed my game plan, was in a good flow and won 11-3/4 comfortably.

Second game:

 I took the foot off the gas slightly and allowed my length to come off just a little off the wall. Kristian didn’t have to be asked twice and took advantage. Up until 6-6 it was close, and I started to get nervy. This happens a lot if I don’t play many competitive matches, and leads to all the wrong shots. After a few unforced, silly errors I gave up the game, as I was so tense I needed to get off court to re focus. I lost it 6-11

Third game: Length length length length.  Just don’t open up the court like I did in the last game. Keep it straight and take it from there. It worked well and I walked away with it. I won the game with 11-4 or something like that.

Fourth game:

 Kristian came out with a good gameplan and played well. He volleyed everything and if I hit it tight he chose a line through me to get the ball to end in a let. This frustrated me more and more, and at some point I also started receiving “no lets” for safety lets and strokes. Not helping with the tension. Battling my opponent, the crowd, the referee and myself became progressively harder. Its all part of the game, and my opponent handled it better than me. Feeling I had to do something with the ball, I put the ball in the front to soon to avoid the referee decisions, which would lose me the game anyway, Kristian was quick on it and played his famous drop shots. I was nowhere near it. 8-8 fourth game. Try to refocus, no mistakes keep it straight. What I didn’t notice, was that I focused so much on where to hit the ball, I lost my flow which has been why Ive been playing so well at times, for example in the semi finals. When I can stand on the balls of my feet, time the ball carefully and control it where I want it. Flow went out the window and I went into survival mode. After many lets I guess the straight drive from Kristian, standing right behind him with my racket ready the entire time, waiting for him to clear, but I cant play my winning shot. A “no let” is given. I tell them, at least give me a safety let, as I do not want anyone to get injured. But as you all know, one cant overrule a referee decision like that. 8-9 down. Long rally. I stroke him after a shot down the middle. I think it went too fast for the referee. After this I remember taking a long walk around the court and then I don’t remember much more from the game. I lost my head and the game.

Fifth game:

 All the emotions and attitude from the previous games are now piled up in my head. No one in my corner, so I need to try to coach myself. According to Kristian I was 6-1 up before he started clawing his way back. He played well, referee did his thing, I was out of my zone, and in the end I lost 11-8.

The aftermath:

It always sucks to lose, and especially the most important tournament of the year. I really looked forward to a great time with family and friends in Oslo this weekend, and it most definitely was. The preparation before the tournament was far from the best as my focus has been elsewhere the last 6 months, so I put my shoulders down and enjoyed it more than the previous years. I did not put as much pressure on myself as previous years. Still I felt I showed something out there, and when I play well, I play really well. Not having the hours or experience of training/matching as previous years might have made a difference.

Kristian played out of his skin on the day. Tactically masterclass, and showing mental strength and a winning will out of this world. Qualities that are often underrated in this massively complex sport and something for all youngsters to really take notice of. A player of great importance to his club, Squash Norway and his many fans. Its great to see an entire squash nation getting behind a player to lift him and support him all the way through, and after watching the replay of the last point and the crowds reaction, it was clear it meant a lot to many more people than just Kristian. All credit to the champion, who has now been teased for 7 years due to his silver medals. Well deserved. He taught me, helped me and pushed me to become the player I am today and still gave me a lesson.

In April we will be going to Italy for the European Championships, and I am glad to see we come with a strong team. We are now better than ever and I am excited to see how well we can do it. I am smelling upsets and reaching new heights.

Thanks to all my friends and family for the support. Especially mum, Kristoff, FreddysrehabcentreOslo, Salila, my buddies in Netherlands, Cigany, Mette, Sylvi, Elisabet, Arve and eeeeveryone else

Day 4:

“Savory or sweet……. Oh wait. We only have sweet” ……dammit