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Everything you never knew you needed
to know about the World Open ... |
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EMOTION, EMOTIONS
If you ever hear somebody saying that men, and especially
English men are cold and emotionless, just ignore them, they
just don't know nothin'…
 Today,
I was watching Ben Ford against young Wan from Malaysia,
and although I saw Ben play for quite a long time, I never saw
him as determined, as "aggressive" in the most positive way
possible, as desperate to win.
And as I was talking to him after the match, he just admitted
that that victory, that first ever World Open main draw meant a
hell of a lot to him. And then he stopped talking, and the words
"… because this could be my last tournament…" were nearly
inaudible, and ending in silent tears that he couldn't repress.
You know me, I started to feel the same emotion coming up, so I
just stopped the interview, and we just stayed there, silently,
for a few long seconds.
If you knew how much those boys are loveable, and how much I
feel their joy, their pain, happiness or despair, every minute
of every day I spend with them. They are a special bunch, you
know, a really precious one… |
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"Cherchez l'erreur" |
SAMSON'S SYNDROME?
There were two players on the circuit, famous for their squash,
but also for their long hair, South African Steve Coppinger,
who really looked like a blond lion, and Englishman Joe Lee,
more in the Romantic feel, with gorgeous curly hair.
Well, they both cut their hair, and that really didn't bring
them luck now, did it, as they both lost in the final of the
qualifiers. Should Tom Richards get worried?????
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All the way from Iran |
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ANTHONY SLEEP BREAKFASTING
I was so glad to see that face again on the tour, I must say. It
was so nice to see Anthony Ricketts walking into the
breakfast room, but he nearly went past me without saying hello.
So, OBVIOUSLY, I stopped him, and he seemed like he didn't
recognise me at first, and then had his stunning charming kid
like smile.
"Hi Fram, sorry, I'm just still sleeping", he apologised. "Ah,
did you just fly out from New Zealand", I asked.
"Well, yes, no, actually, I woke up at 5am, thought I still
needed to sleep, so I took a sleeping pill. Now, I'm not sure
that was such a good idea".
Trust me, it was not, the man was like, not on a cloud, but IN
IT!!!!!
Only Anthony…. God I miss him… |
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I'm ANGRY, Man ...
Ouch, that's my FOOT! |
TWO OUT OF THREE
Poor Peter Genever, who maybe thought that after he
retired, his life would be much simpler, less of a roller
coaster…
Wrong…
As he is coaching seven players on a regular basis (Joe Lee, Tom
Richard, Robbie Temple, Phil Nightingale, Wan and his brother
Jam, plus Azlan of course), Peter had to go through the affrays
of seeing his players try and qualify, and actually two playing
one after the other, first Wan, then Joe, and a bit later
Robbie.
But what is great with Peter, is that he never looks that happy,
or that unhappy. "You know, we all have different ways of
expressing ourselves", he smiled. "I'm not unhappy. It's just my
way… But the other day, I was walking in the street, and I met a
guy who sold the Big Issue [a newspaper sold in the UK by
homeless people], and who actually told me "come on, man, cheer
up".
That says it all about Peter. He is just…. in another world all
together, but such a nice one…
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True Locals
There were three true 'locals' in the men's qualifying draw,
definitely not the imports you sometimes see but three
youngsters who have grown up with the squash development
programme in Manchester and been nurtured by first Nick Taylor
and now Vicky Botwright.
 Tom
Dwyer, Morgan and Ky Hibbard (twins, 18) had a lot of
support today, although it was unfortunate that they were all
drawn to play in the first batch of matches, so the supporters
could only pick one match to watch.
They all lost - not unexpectedly - but they all enjoyed it
immensely and the experience will undoubtedly do them good as
the continue their squash progression. |
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 "This
was my first ever senior tournament! I was very nervous in the
first game, but relaxed a bit and did more running in the second
and third. Ky was on the court next door, and to be honest I was
probably paying too much attention to his game and not enough on
mine, I should have been listening to Vicky …
"I found out afterwards that he's 59 in the world - I
deliberately didn't look before as that would have made me even
more nervous, I already had my mum, dad, brother, grandma and
granddad watching.
"It's great for the sport to have the World Open here in
Manchester. This tournament has been advertised really well so
the crowds should be big. So I'm happy about the tournament,
even if it means I can't play at the centre for another week …"
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 "We've
played some BSPA events and the Nationals here earlier in the
year, but this is by far the biggest thing we've ever played in,
it's very much in at the deep end.
"We wanted to watch each other, so it was unfortunate that we
were all drawn at the same time. We both played well, but it's
just a different level. That's how we expected it to be, we knew
we would be up against it but we're happy with how we played.
 "We
started playing in year five in primary school. It was a case of
'you're going to try squash', none of our parents or friends
played, so it was completely new to us. After that ten week
session was over we just carried on with the Saturday morning
sessions, joined Lancs and started to play for Chorlton. Then
you realise there's a whole junior circuit out there and you
just get drawn into it.
"We've both got out level one coaching qualifications now, we
ran some Summer programs here at the centre, so hopefully we can
help to bring more youngsters into the game, like we were.
"The next aim is to hopefully be selected for the England squad
to play the European Under 19 Championships in April. There's a
lot of competition, but it would be great to be able to
represent your country, like Vicky !"
Ky has the longer hair |
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