It was an hour and a quarter after our plane took off from Amsterdam that I was in Geneva. Things looked good starightaway when I saw a vending machine dispensing free tickets to the city - courtesy of the airport. It was in 5 minutes that I was in the city centre, walking towards my hotel which was located right on lake Geneva, next to jardin anglais.
The club was near the airport and I was determined to make full use of my bus card and not have to take a cab. I did get a bit lost the first time and went through a slight panic attack when I hadn't reached the club 20 minutes before my first match. From then onwards, I was more comfortable finding my way around for the rest of the trip.
The Squash
If I was to jusify my seeding I had to win 3 matches to get to the final. These were within 24 hours with two matches on Saturday. I knew this tournament was going to be about recovery and staying as fresh as possible. It was going to be a challenge in the warm courts and higher tin on this busy weekend at the Geneva Squash Club.
Friday 18 March - Day 1
First up I faced the up and coming Englishman Chris Fuller. Chris played very steady squash as opposed to my nervous and negative start. My confidence had been low after my last event and I had to work hard to get it back. The score was 1-1 after two hard games and I found myself 3-6 down in the third. A call by the ref triggered the needed aggression and I managed to turn thngs around after that. I got the win I needed to get into the event mentally.
19 March - Day 2
Saturday was a tough day. I had two matches - at 1:30 and 7. I had to fit in travelling back to the hotel, some rest and tge bus rides back to the club within less than four hours.
In the morning I played the potentially dangerous spaniard alex garbi. I remembered alex from the world teams champs in odense in 2009 when he nearly took out Campbell in our tie against Spain. After a hard first game I had the lead and an upper hand. Alex did well to come back and win the third but couldn't manage to keep it up in the fourth - burdened by a strianed right leg. I was through to the semi.
My next opponent, the German number 2 Jens Schoor had a much tougher quarterfinal winning in 5 games against the capable dutchman Piedro Schweertman. It was a good result for Jens but definitely took it's toll. He took a game to warm up and came back strongly winning the second and going 8-3 up in the third. I managed to bring out my better squash of the match to take that game after some hard rallies. The fourth was equally tough and saw me working hard to retrieve his shots. I managed to stay steady and controlled the game well at the end to take the match.
I was quite tired at the end of the day and crashed on my bed, half asleep and struggling - only to realise that I had to do my washing for tomorrow's final!
Sunday 20 March - Day 3
The final was a tough affair against an in-form Steve Finitsis. Steve won the Austrian Open two weeks ago and had been training well - thrashing me in our practice matches. My game plan worked well and after an evenly matched first game I had the lead. Steve led 9-1 in the second and I hoped to make the rallies long and get the momentum back for the third. It worked well and I clawed back to 9-10 and even though I lost the game I knew I had made the most of it. In the third it was quite apparent that Steve was feeling the effects of the first two games. I controlled the game well and won it to go 2-1 up. In the fourth I carried the momentum forward. There were times that I started thinking about winning the match and a title that I badly wanted. I lost focus on the squash itself and lost a few points where steve played well. Finally, I managed to break away after 7-7 and after losing one matchball I managed to take the game, the match and with it my 9th psa title. What a relief!
In my speech I thanked steve for helping me out during the tournament as well as the organizers of this well run event. It has been very hard to turn around this long lasting slump in performance due to a recurring injury and rehab that followed. It feels good to find form again and hopefully I will maintain it for future events. My next event will be the medium sized Irish Open from 11 April and I hope to improve a bit more until then.
The city of Geneva
Monday was the day to see a bit of the city. It was slightly different to what I was expecting. It was smaller than I thought it would be and quite diverse. It was very french and not the Switzerland of Bern or Zurich that I had seen in the past. It was nice enough though and even though the town centre was a bit rough, there were some very nice parts of the city on small hills with narrow streets. My bus past by the UN and WHO offices everyday. The walk by the lake was very nice and less touristy then I expected. The main attraction was definitely the saint Pierre cathedral and the view of the city and the lake from the top of the north tower - an amazing sight. Underneath it was the actual archaeological site of the church from centuries ago. The old square next to it has been around for 1500 years since Roman times. The weather was great which is always helpful and made it quite enjoyable to listen to the talented and enthusiastic musicians. We ate at a couple of nice places including an old French cafe with exquisite vintage decor. Overall a great long weekend - merci beacoup Geneve!