Barwa bank challenger 2012

Things you learn On the way to Qatar:
- small British airways planes have very prolaps friendly seats
- all british airways planes fly with a norwegian flag on the back :D

Things you learn in Qatar:
- These People have MOOOoOonnneyyyy... There are two types of People here, those who have money and build very Nice stuff, and those who clean all the stuff that THE rich people built. And THE cleaners use à lot of time cleaning. Constantly. Wicht is nice, sine everything is always Nice and clean offcourse.

This is my first time away from my comfort zone in central europe and it is a small adjustment that has to be made as i am facing à completely different culture. Although they are very international here it is still mainly a muslim country where you see that everything is very seperated when it comes to male and female activities, and naturally the men gets the better piece of the pai in these situations. Some of it really gets to me but i should not speak to loudly about some of the things i see as it has been tradition for many years, and i am indeed an outsider. Interesting, for sure :)

They have put in a lot of funds in squash here as well as other sports. They are hosting the FIFA world cups here as well as major WTA tournaments and the world junior squash championships this year. They have Geoff Hunt and Stewart Boswell as the local coaches. That is not a bad start.

This challenger 5 tournament is played at the khalifa international squash and tennis complex.

I had to start from the bottom again arguing my way through 2 qualifying rounds before i can play the main draw. In the first match i played a local player and got through comfortably 11-3,11-4,11-0.

Lunch: 13.50 at Benningans:
Kindly ordered from the starters menu quesedillas, and pasta w chicken as main course.
Only to find out that the starters consisted of 8 big Quesedillas w dip and salad. Finally people that understand me. This meal was, however enough for me for the rest of the day :P


Second round quallies was versus the second seed, jonathan geekie from scotland. I continued with good length and width, and the rest went by itself. I felt like i played a good match. I won 3-1

The next day i faced a young welshman by the name of david haley. From my side it was the complete opposite from the day before. If i was focused sharp hitting well on day one, i was slow as a snail, dull as a spanish labourer, and not with the right mindset at all. I lost 3-1 and i have only myself to blame for not performing. Massively disappointed with the waste of a great opportrunity that will not come around again for a while. I think i took to lightly on the task. In norwegian we say: " hovmod står for fall" which translates into something like " being cocky will get your ass whopped" or something along those lines.

Lunch at Benningans 14.30:
Trying the starters menu again sitting at my usual table. Not that hungry this time, but I still want a startet. How about nachos!? And a steak with baked potato with a coke since I lost. Something to cheer me up. I got the same weird look from the waitor as the day before, as if I am joking....
Apparently there must be some mistake with language or my eyes. This time as well the "starter" is 3 times the size of the huse hard rock cafe nachos, and with 4 times as much cheese. I finished it. I finished my steak too. I had no dessert... I wish Will John was there with me. I was full...and the coke didnt make me feel better :(

Thanks to the norwegian squash federation for the support, housing at ekatarina sandakova and juliane boljahn, and my roller/ipad//gatorade sponsor Cigany Leffie Sillevis ;)

Back the Bid 2020

Squash is once again on the shortlist for the Olympics, this time for the 2020 summer olympics.
We are promoting harder than ever to get our great sport into the Olympics and we need everyone to take a stand. Go to the homepage : http://squash2020.com/
and show your support.

Looking at all demands of the athletes, the mobility of the venues, the heart of the supporters, the internationality of the sport, the traditions and the soul, it is the most natural sport to include in an Olympic program.

Asics Progressive 2012/2013 Squash shoe

Check out the "Kim Killingberg 2012 Asics squash shoe"

I have been working with Robert van Til from Asics Benelux to develop the 2012/2013 Asics squash shoe.
The final model is now done and ready for the marked and I can say that this is a VERY GOOD squash shoe.
It is naturally my favourite.
It differs from the popular Asics Gel Blade shoe in that it is more stable, a little heavier, better cushion in the heel and with improved toe protection and grip.

I am very satisfyed with the product and owe a great thanks to Robert, his team and Asics for letting me partake in this process that has been mostly enjoyable.

you will not be disappointed of this shoe on the squash court.

To answer the question below, Robert supplied me with pictures and information regarding colours and release date. Here are the other colours:

The Gel progressive will be launched this summer in stores all over Europe :)))

A homemade australian

What does professional squashplayers do when not training?.... Get lost between the Håkki shelf and the Balder bed at IKEA. What help is necessary to find the exit? An Australian actually. In this case a homemade Australian with Greek topping by the name of Steve Finitsis.

Steve "The Boss from Aus" Finitsis is also a professional squashplayer based in Amsterdam like myself.
He is currently in the top100 in the world and aiming higher.

How to get there? By eating ICE CREAM!!!

Check out his homepage at the right hand menu, www.stevefinitsis.com

Ups and Downs

Like any athlete in any sport, on experience the highest highs and the rock hard bottom. One of my highlights was playing my first international tournament for the Norwegian national junior team and winning my national titles.

Memories that will never be erased and that will follow me forever.

These last weeks however have been some of the hardest of my life and I felt close to a burnout midway. It felt close to what it was like being overtrained 9 years ago, where it took me 6 months to come back. Only this time it was mentally. There were many factors interfering with this. There is no one to blame for it, maybe just faith for putting it all at the same time.

Pressure from school as the last 2 weeks finishing up presentations and exams, training squash fulltime is something I could have dealt with like I normally do. Sunday 12th of February I witnessed my girlfriend Cigany Sillevis, who is also a professional squashplayer rupture her 2nd achilles in the 5th/6th playoffs in the National championship. Seeing someone you love in pain is bad enough, but when it is your career and life it gets a new perspective. The week was from now on filled with hospitals, waiting, evaluations, idiot doctors, 5 castings in 4 days more waiting, driving back and forth, surgery and more casting. However my girlfriend ended up having surgery at the Bergman clinic which took good care of her and  had luckily no idiot doctors.

In the middle of this I had to play league across the country, and last minute got into a tournament in Belgium. This lead to a lot of driving, very late nights, little sleep and school in the morning. In the evenings I tried to be with my girlfriend and help her out as much as possible. Squashwise, I basically played horrible. I felt physically fine, and did not feel like any excuses. I just did not play well. Not wednesday, not Thursday, not Friday. Which is a shame since they could all be good matches, world ranking points and money. My body told me that enough was enough. I was lucky to avoid what could have been a severe burnout, and I am now taking 2 weeks off, where I focus on finishing school, spending some time with family, friends and girlfriend, before I start preparing for the next tournaments which are Kean closed sattelite in Den Haag in March, Quatar in March and Oslo in April for the National championships.

Got to look up and forward.

Hard to really feel sorry for yourself when you have your girl at home in a cast

To read about her rupture (dutch) follow this link to squashlife.nl:

http://www.squashlife.nl/nieuws/2012/02/14/squashvriendinnen-samen-in-het-gips/

2nd Kean tour win

In this period of finishing up my studies and getting in as much training as possible, I signed up for a smaller local tournament in Hoofddorp at Meersquash. There is no money or PSA points in this tour but it is good for training,  matches and experience. Playing 3-4 matches per day is also something tough that can be good to do from time to time to just exhaust your body.
I am still working hard on my technique, and this tournament held a descent level for me to work on it while I still needed to focus 100%.
In my first match i played Urbano Farro, a descent Dutch player with good reach and good shots. I was struggling a bit during this match, but was able to pul through 3-1. As I was first seed, it was expected for me to end up in the final. I was given a bye (wo) in the first round, so Urbano was my second round match.
In the semi final I played my good friend Thomas de Paauw who has been struggling with injuries the latest years. Focus was better and the first 2 games went really well. In the third game I lost focus and dicipline and had to let it go. I am glad I was able to re-focus and take the last game after some brutal rallies. Quite content with this match all in all.

In the final I played Marc ter Sluis who also pulled through 3-1 in a slightly longer semi final. He is fresh out of juniors, and is training well at the moment. I lost to him 1-3 in league the same week, so I was keen to avenge myself. The first game started of tense from my side with little variation in pace, play and with too many crosscourts. That game was given away 5-11 or something similar.
The second game went better and was decided in a long tie-break 14-12 for me.
The third game was also a tight affair that Marc won. At this point the game started to get really physically heavy for both of us, and i could also sense this in my opponent. The next game I played really well, more patient, closed down the court better and went forward at the right moment. Scoreline something like 11-2.

Marc was not ready to give up and he really gave a big push in the 5th game. We both kept on running, and there were some gruelling rallies  in the 90 minute match. I felt strong and I picked up most attacks he came up with. My shots went in well towards the end, and after 4-4, I pulled away, took the game and match.

Tough one, but good training, a really good final, and my second Kean tour win....out of 2 ;)

Look in the right side menu for article from squashlife.nl

Victoria Rotterdam v Flevoparq Dronten 11/01-2012

The first battle in Dutch Eredivisie for our team in 2012 was away against Victoria Rotterdam, last years playoff finalists. I was put on the number 1 spot to take on world number 7 Peter Barker. His record speaks for itself, and I knew that this would be a close to impossible task. But I still go on there with a do or die attitude, a set gameplan and my goals for the match. It was twice as hard considering this was week 2 after the holidays for me. Peter Barker just came back from playing the Super Series play offs in London.

The first game was defined by the lack of length from my side. Although I have taken major steps in this area, it needs to be even more precise, and consistent against these guys. Some tactical blunders from my side saw me at the wrong end of the scoreboard and Pete read what I had to come with to easily and put me under a lot of pressure both offensively and defensively. Positive points is that I made my own points, and did little amounts of errors. He did 1 personal error. I took 1 stroke and the remaining points I got myself. First game 3-11.

In the second game his tactic was clear and it worked. I can learn a lot from this. He worked me around the court with precise balls to the back until my legs were tagliatelle and then he moved the ball in short where I could not reach it. I still made some weird decisions, but the game got progressively better. Gamescore 2-11. Memo to self: No need to go in short too early against anyone, ESPECALLY not the world no7

Third game: There was not enough oxygen on the planet for me to get into my lungs. The legs were fine but he got me breathing too hard for me to keep up with the pace. A positive point is that I tactically played a lot better and played some good floaters up and down the walls. It was far from enough, and the game ended 

1-11.

I dont think I made (That big of) a fool out of myself. I certainly learned a lot and will put this experience in my backpack of knowledge that will help me progress further.

Thanks to Fredrik Holmberg for support ;)

Now lets see if I can upload a video...hmmmmm