This year's New Zealand PSA Series has just come to an end. What an exciting and amazing time for Squash in New Zealand with such inspirational squash played all over the country. After yet another NZ Classic by SquashGym, Palmerston North, I travelled down south to take part in the Christchurch International and the New Zealand Southern Classic in Invercargill. Apart from facing some excellent Squash players on court, I had planned to have a great road trip with other Squashies and see the beautiful South Island once again. I looked forward to it all!
The off season was great. I was determined to help the academy juniors improve their fitness. I joined in the sessions myself and got fit and strong. There were setbacks as well - as there always are. After recovering from a broken right hand, the leg press machine in the gym caused a deep and very slow to heal hip flexor injury. I got through it all and started this years season 5kgs lighter and in the best shape I have been in for five years.
This year's New Zealand PSA Series has just come to an end. What an exciting and amazing time for Squash in New Zealand with such inspirational squash played all over the country. After yet another NZ Classic by SquashGym, Palmerston North, I travelled down south to take part in the Christchurch International and the New Zealand Southern Classic in Invercargill. Apart from facing some excellent Squash players on court, I had planned to have a great road trip with other Squashies and see the beautiful South Island once again. I looked forward to it all!
The squash season started well as I took out a home title at the Palmerston North Open in March. April saw me go down in four games to Campbell at the Herne Bay Open. It was a match I badly needed and was great for me in more than one way. By May I was almost firing on full strength. A loss against an in form Lance Beddoes in Havelock North was a great reminder of things. Interclub matches and Cousins Shield provided the final match practice and and lessons I needed to get ready. After yet another week's hard and smart training - and I felt great! I was ready for my goal of the year - the New Zealand PSA Series.
As soon as the NZ PSA Series was announced last year, I knew I had found my goal - and started working for it. An international series of events at home - playing well in front of home crowd and hopefully adding a title to my squash career gave me the drive that was required to train at this level of sport.
NZ Classic
Ofcourse, it was going to be a tough task - especially because I was in the qualifying rounds. However, I got through those two matches against Victor and Zac with less time spent on court. I was ready for the main draw and faced 6th seed Adam Murrills from England. Adam played excellent squash to win the first game but I came back strong and managed to grind him down to a 3-1 victory in 63 minutes - the longest match of the tournament. I was pleased with my fitness and looked forward to playing 3rd Jan Koukal of Czech republic.
It turned out to be one of the strangest matches I had played. He wasn't playing as well as he usually does and I was puzzled by it. Anyway, I continued with the task and went up 1-0 quite quickly. The same happened in the second and I thought to myself that there was certainly something wrong with him physically. I still stayed focused and won the second comfortably as well. The third started the same way and for the slightest of time I got distracted by his body language and let thoughts in my mind that were unnecessary. A couple of errors resulted due to that lack of focus and all of a sudden a 4-1 lead was levelled by him at 4-4. I had made the worst mistake one could - I had let him in the match.
It was a hard intense match from there on but the momentum had shifted to his side. Try as hard as I might Kouki kept getting better and better to level the match at 2-2. He played flawless squash putting me under a lot of pressure with his deft touch and light movement. I could find an answer for his attacking play. I defended at first and then attacked myself and then mixed both - to no avail. He took the match away from my reach - closing it out in 63 minutes to go through the semi final.
I was very disappointed with the loss as well as the mental breach in my concentration - only myself to blame. I was out of the tournament that I really wanted to and believed I could win. Nevertheless, there were positives in performances and it was no time to be negative. A few other successes came in the form of juniors doing very well at the event as well as reaching a personal goal on the weekend. I was smiling in no time and had a great weekend at the buzzing squash club. I looked forward to the next event - Christchurch International - as well as travelling down south.
Christchurch International
Christchurch is a special place for me. My first visit to the city 20 years ago left me with everlasting memories of the place. It still feels like yesterday that we played the World Junior Champs there. My first PSA win also came in the form of the South Island Champs in 2003. Having just rejoined PSA, I went through the qualifying rounds to beat seeded player enroute to winning the final. This resulted in my ranking jump being the best for that whole year on the PSA World Tour.
Mike Corren is always an excellent challenge
The trip
We started on our road trip to the South Island a day before the matches began. Enjoying the crossing and the drive down with the guys from overseas as well as a few of our own. Stopping by the seal colony just before Kaikoura, we got close to the beautiful wildlife. Soon after that, we were Christchurch and nicely settled into our motel afte. A good rest helped a lot and we were ready for action the next morning.
The Squash
With my history in Christchurch in mind, I had my eyes set on a good tournament and hopefully a title. I got through the qualifying and my first round match to come up against the ageless Aussie Mike Corren. Mike had beaten me at the same stage last year and I knew I couldn't make the same mistakes again. I didn't - and ended up playing very well to beat an uncomfortable Mike in 3 games. Played very well in the semi against the Austrian number 1 and good friend Aqeel Rehman - well, for the first two games atleast. The ball slowed down and he adjusted to the change in pace brilliantly to come back strong and win the next two to level the match. The 5th could have been anyone's as I pushed the pace up once again and we both challenged each other in all ways. Aqeel kept going where he had left off in the fourth and didnt give me much to play with. He closed out the match 11-6 and I was out in the semi final.
Dunedin - a replica of Edinburgh
Even though I was disappointed with the loss and not achieving my goal in Christchurch, I was happy with my form. With one more event to go, I could only be positive and look ahead. It had been an excellent tournament and we enjoyed watching the squash. After thanking the organisers at prizegiving, we were off for a day's rest in Dunedin - on the way to Invercargill for the next event.
Dunedin
After a nice sunny drive and lunch in Timaru, we were in Dunedin. It was very interesting to be there for the first time and we had an excellent evening and morning walk. We also made a visit to the world's steepest street and witnessed a race between the boys. In the evening we also went to the very end of the peninsula to see the blue penguins coming back to their nests - an amazing sight. It was also good to catch up with Amy Alison in town who introduced me to the Quick Brown Fox. Thanks Amy - it was great catching up!
New Zealand Southern Open - Invercargill
The next evening we were nicely settled in Invercargill. Being the biggest of the three PSA events, it had the strongest draw. With having to deal with the qualifying draw again - it was always going to be hard for me. I was feeling good and looked forward to the event.
Invercargill is home to Burt Munro and The Fastest Indian
The Squash
Squashcity Invercargill was buzzing with the anticipation of the event. The locals proved excellent hosts as always and provided a great atmosphere for the players to play in. A very well done tournament indeed!
I had a hard three set win in 36 minutes against the South African JP Britts in the first qualifying round. This was followed by another hard fought 3-2 win over young Malaysian Hannan Tarmidi to set up a clash with the 4th seed world no.66 Aussie Rex Hedrick. I went down to Rex in a hard five setter 13-11 in the last game in 94 minutes. Once agai, slightly disappointed not to convert but happy with my fitness which was my goal for the season. I know I am doing the right things and that I will improve even more.
The rest of my time in Invercargill was divided between watching Luke, Corbin and Sterno play and doing commentary for the live streaming we had organised for the event. It all went very well as the boys played excellent games and I kept busy interviewing players and officials as well as commenting on the games. It was a long and tiring weekend but amazing for Squash. After thanking everyone at the prizegiving, it was time to head back up north - but not before stopping on the way to experience the South Island.
The trip back North
We had 48 hours before we caught the ferry in Picton and looked forward to sightseeing on the way. we stopped in Queenstown for the night and went for a nice meal and a drink at the Below Zero bar. The next day we went up the gondola for some stunning views of the surroundings.
456 meters above Queenstown
After
Queenstown we stopped in Wanaka but missed the sight of the mountains in the
backdrop as the weather got rough. We had decided to go up the West Coast and
it was a race against time to get to Haast before any road closures. We made it
through and settled in at a rainforest retreat in Franz Joseph.
It was great to see the Franz Josef glacier and the area in the morning. It was my first time there and I thoroughly enjoyed it. The glacier is melting quite quickly so I felt lucky to have seen it before it completely disappears.
It was a long drive from there to Picton. A few good stops on the way helped and we were on the ferry back north. A slight delay meant an extra 40 minutes break from driving and we were back home in palmy at 1am.
What a great trip it had been and even though we were quite tired at the end of it, we were all buzzing from the excitement of it all. The Squash was good and even though I didnt get the title I was after, the tournaments boosted my world ranking 65 places higher to 130. The off court stuff was even better and it will forever remain in our memories. I already look forward to next year!
Sterno, Adam, myself, Corbin and Luke were 5 of the 8 that started the trip from Palmy.
NZ Classic
Ofcourse, it was going to be a tough task - especially because I was in the qualifying rounds. However, I got through those two matches against Victor and Zac with less time spent on court. I was ready for the main draw and faced 6th seed Adam Murrills from England. Adam played excellent squash to win the first game but I came back strong and managed to grind him down to a 3-1 victory in 63 minutes - the longest match of the tournament. I was pleased with my fitness and looked forward to playing 3rd Jan Koukal of Czech republic.
It turned out to be one of the strangest matches I had played. He wasn't playing as well as he usually does and I was puzzled by it. Anyway, I continued with the task and went up 1-0 quite quickly. The same happened in the second and I thought to myself that there was certainly something wrong with him physically. I still stayed focused and won the second comfortably as well. The third started the same way and for the slightest of time I got distracted by his body language and let thoughts in my mind that were unnecessary. A couple of errors resulted due to that lack of focus and all of a sudden a 4-1 lead was levelled by him at 4-4. I had made the worst mistake one could - I had let him in the match.
It was a hard intense match from there on but the momentum had shifted to his side. Try as hard as I might Kouki kept getting better and better to level the match at 2-2. He played flawless squash putting me under a lot of pressure with his deft touch and light movement. I could find an answer for his attacking play. I defended at first and then attacked myself and then mixed both - to no avail. He took the match away from my reach - closing it out in 63 minutes to go through the semi final.
I was very disappointed with the loss as well as the mental breach in my concentration - only myself to blame. I was out of the tournament that I really wanted to and believed I could win. Nevertheless, there were positives in performances and it was no time to be negative. A few other successes came in the form of juniors doing very well at the event as well as reaching a personal goal on the weekend. I was smiling in no time and had a great weekend at the buzzing squash club. I looked forward to the next event - Christchurch International - as well as travelling down south.
Christchurch International
Christchurch is a special place for me. My first visit to the city 20 years ago left me with everlasting memories of the place. It still feels like yesterday that we played the World Junior Champs there. My first PSA win also came in the form of the South Island Champs in 2003. Having just rejoined PSA, I went through the qualifying rounds to beat seeded player enroute to winning the final. This resulted in my ranking jump being the best for that whole year on the PSA World Tour.
|
| Mike Corren is always an excellent challenge |
We started on our road trip to the South Island a day before the matches began. Enjoying the crossing and the drive down with the guys from overseas as well as a few of our own. Stopping by the seal colony just before Kaikoura, we got close to the beautiful wildlife. Soon after that, we were Christchurch and nicely settled into our motel afte. A good rest helped a lot and we were ready for action the next morning.
The Squash
With my history in Christchurch in mind, I had my eyes set on a good tournament and hopefully a title. I got through the qualifying and my first round match to come up against the ageless Aussie Mike Corren. Mike had beaten me at the same stage last year and I knew I couldn't make the same mistakes again. I didn't - and ended up playing very well to beat an uncomfortable Mike in 3 games. Played very well in the semi against the Austrian number 1 and good friend Aqeel Rehman - well, for the first two games atleast. The ball slowed down and he adjusted to the change in pace brilliantly to come back strong and win the next two to level the match. The 5th could have been anyone's as I pushed the pace up once again and we both challenged each other in all ways. Aqeel kept going where he had left off in the fourth and didnt give me much to play with. He closed out the match 11-6 and I was out in the semi final.
|
| Dunedin - a replica of Edinburgh |
Even though I was disappointed with the loss and not achieving my goal in Christchurch, I was happy with my form. With one more event to go, I could only be positive and look ahead. It had been an excellent tournament and we enjoyed watching the squash. After thanking the organisers at prizegiving, we were off for a day's rest in Dunedin - on the way to Invercargill for the next event.
Dunedin
After a nice sunny drive and lunch in Timaru, we were in Dunedin. It was very interesting to be there for the first time and we had an excellent evening and morning walk. We also made a visit to the world's steepest street and witnessed a race between the boys. In the evening we also went to the very end of the peninsula to see the blue penguins coming back to their nests - an amazing sight. It was also good to catch up with Amy Alison in town who introduced me to the Quick Brown Fox. Thanks Amy - it was great catching up!
New Zealand Southern Open - Invercargill
The next evening we were nicely settled in Invercargill. Being the biggest of the three PSA events, it had the strongest draw. With having to deal with the qualifying draw again - it was always going to be hard for me. I was feeling good and looked forward to the event.
|
| Invercargill is home to Burt Munro and The Fastest Indian |
The Squash
Squashcity Invercargill was buzzing with the anticipation of the event. The locals proved excellent hosts as always and provided a great atmosphere for the players to play in. A very well done tournament indeed!
I had a hard three set win in 36 minutes against the South African JP Britts in the first qualifying round. This was followed by another hard fought 3-2 win over young Malaysian Hannan Tarmidi to set up a clash with the 4th seed world no.66 Aussie Rex Hedrick. I went down to Rex in a hard five setter 13-11 in the last game in 94 minutes. Once agai, slightly disappointed not to convert but happy with my fitness which was my goal for the season. I know I am doing the right things and that I will improve even more. The rest of my time in Invercargill was divided between watching Luke, Corbin and Sterno play and doing commentary for the live streaming we had organised for the event. It all went very well as the boys played excellent games and I kept busy interviewing players and officials as well as commenting on the games. It was a long and tiring weekend but amazing for Squash. After thanking everyone at the prizegiving, it was time to head back up north - but not before stopping on the way to experience the South Island.
The trip back North
We had 48 hours before we caught the ferry in Picton and looked forward to sightseeing on the way. we stopped in Queenstown for the night and went for a nice meal and a drink at the Below Zero bar. The next day we went up the gondola for some stunning views of the surroundings.
|
| 456 meters above Queenstown |
After
Queenstown we stopped in Wanaka but missed the sight of the mountains in the
backdrop as the weather got rough. We had decided to go up the West Coast and
it was a race against time to get to Haast before any road closures. We made it
through and settled in at a rainforest retreat in Franz Joseph.
It was great to see the Franz Josef glacier and the area in the morning. It was my first time there and I thoroughly enjoyed it. The glacier is melting quite quickly so I felt lucky to have seen it before it completely disappears.
It was a long drive from there to Picton. A few good stops on the way helped and we were on the ferry back north. A slight delay meant an extra 40 minutes break from driving and we were back home in palmy at 1am.
What a great trip it had been and even though we were quite tired at the end of it, we were all buzzing from the excitement of it all. The Squash was good and even though I didnt get the title I was after, the tournaments boosted my world ranking 65 places higher to 130. The off court stuff was even better and it will forever remain in our memories. I already look forward to next year!
|
| Sterno, Adam, myself, Corbin and Luke were 5 of the 8 that started the trip from Palmy. |
