The Spanish Tour

After four weeks of decent training under my belt, I was off to Spain for two tourrnaments. The Santiago Open which I had heard a lot about but never played and the second edition of the Valencia Cup - which I had played last year. Even though I lacked match practice, I felt fit and strong for the events and looked for good results.

Last year's planned tour of the same events ended in disaster. I tore my hamstring in the first match in Valencia and hobbled my way back to the base in South Holland. I had to pull out of Santiago - which was the later event back then. Being injured has been the toughest time for me and to my misfortune, I've had my fair share of injuries. I hoped to avoid slipping on sweat on court this year.

Santiago Open
I was in the qualifying round of this event and drew up and coming Englishman Charles Sharpes. The glass court in the shopping mall was as glamorours as it was uncomfortable to play on. Light coming through the glass from shops behing the walls and the chilly environment of the mall made the conditions very hard for players. However, Charles used the conditions to his advantage well and got the better of me in four games.

I stayed on in Santiago through the week and made full use of other players hanging around to train. Watching good matches was excellent as well - always good to learn from. It was the 30th anniversary of the club and we joined in the celebrations at the end ofth week. The Santiago open was a great event and also provided an opportunity to visit the final destination of the famous Camino de Santiago.

Valencia Cup
We arrived in Valencia in extremely contrasting weather to chilly Santiago. It was sunny and warm and great to be there. However, on court was a totally different issue. The ball was bouncier than it would be in Asia and the sweat pouring through to the sealed floor of the Olympia club.

I won through my first round of qualification against the popular local club champ. In the second round I drew yet another up and coming youngster - this time from India. It was a good match against Hari but not the result I wanted as I went down in close four games. With last year's slip still fresh in my mind and the sweat on the sealed floor, I never felt comfortable moving on the court. Hari did well to fight off the conditions and deserved the win.

Yet again, I was confined to watching Squash for the rest of the week instead of playing myself - very disappointing. However, there are still plenty of tournaments left for the year and the mind needs to fight off the negativity. After the initial low from the loss, I bounced back to take the positives and decided to enjoy the weather and sites of historic Valencia. The weather, the food and the people were great and it was an excellent week in this lovely Spanish city.

I was put up with a brilliant host - an enthusiastic Squash player from the club, Carles. He showed us around regularly and it was always fun communicating with him as it meant we had to use and improve on our very little Spanish. He looked after us brilliantly and very happily. Gracias Carles.

What next
Back to the base in holland on the weekend and another 3 weeks of preparation before the next event - The London Open. There are things to be worked on and learn from. I´m hoping that I will adjust to the conditions in London better. But first, it´s time to hit the gym.