Loving the Canadian life despite defeat!

Posted 12:21 17 February 2010 in Tournaments

 

Loving the Canadian life despite defeat! – Chris Fullers Professional Squash Blog

 

 

 

Having never gone to Canada I was very excited about both the up coming tournament and seeing a little bit of Vancouver and how the tournament was run. Amongst the PSA players tournaments in North America are very popular. Firstly this is due to the fact that we obviously get to travel to some great locations and Vancouver was certainly no exception. Secondly and possibly more importantly to us poor squash players though it is because in North America instead of having to pay for hotels to stay in players are usually put up by families called billets (and these billets are usually pretty well off) making the cost of a tournament in North America similar to one within Europe!

 

 

 

Again my trip to Vancouver was no exception. After travelling for almost 20 hours (I went via LA as the flight was cheaper) I got met at the airport by the billets of Cambell Grayson who I had travelled from LA with (he had come from New Zealand ).  Quickly followed a great meal and a small trip back to my billets where I was staying along with Lewis Walters who I know well and train with occasionally up at Nottingham . A quick 12 hour sleep later and I woke to the most incredible view of the centre of Vancouver from my room on the North shore – not quite what you get at most European tournaments!

 

 

 

Predictably I felt a little grubby that day but luckily was not playing for another two days so had a couple of good hits at the club – again a really nice place – and again got some more good sleep in! The following day followed much the same with plenty of sleep, some good squash, a little bit of Mario Cart on the Wii and not having to dive once into my wallet or lift a finger to make either breakfast lunch or dinner! We were staying with two 26 year old women (twins – was not easy to tell them apart) who conveniently where training as Volunteers for the Olympics 2 days off the week and had the week off work for it!

 

 

 

On the Tuesday afternoon the qualifying draw was done and luckily due to a withdraw I had made it into the top 8 of qualifying and was then drawn against a local guy who I beat 3-0. I played well and it was nice to have a good competitive run out before my match the following night in qualifying finals against Adil Maqbool from Pakistan whose ranked 90 in the World.  

 

 

 

Usually I struggle to sleep that well at tournaments but something about being in a huge bed in a massive room all to myself lent itself to a good night sleep that night and I woke up the next morning feeling really good! My match wasn’t till 8pm which was also nice as it gave me plenty of time to have a good hit at the club in the morning / afternoon (I didn’t wake till 11)! and then have another quick nap before heading off for my match.

 

 

 

Although feeling like I played quite well I lost 3-0 but did feel that it was closer than the score line suggests. Adil is very talented with the racket and can and did hit winners from everywhere but lacks a bit in the fitness and speed departments! Therefore I always felt that if I could work him for long enough and get him tired then I would have a great chance to win but it wasn’t to be. After a defeat you always look back and try to think where you could have won it and going over it in my head if I had not needed to take a blood injury break mid way through the 3rd game when perhaps he was beginning to tire it could have been different but it was not too be.

 

 

 

With the game recorded I’m sure my doubts over what went wrong will not last long though as I’m positive when we watch the video together Steve will be able to point out many areas where I lost it! 

 

 

 

After my defeat I had a whole day on Thursday to relax before flying again on Friday so I made use of it by going to the squash club! I had planned to go for a hike up Grosh Mountain with Ashley one of our billets but the rain which had persisted since our second day thundered down harder than ever resulting in a less than keen billet! That evening I watched the first round proper matches and saw a couple of crackers and leant a lot about the players competing.

 

 

 

Currently on the flight home again via LA I have just finished making notes on all the players I saw in my very own Little Black Book! I have lots now on Adil Maqbool so next time …