UCT Open 2012 prizes

Grainger Family Prizegiving

So i lost this one 3-1 in the Finals. I was a little disappointed to have lost, considering i had managed to dominate rallies, but made unforced errors when the opportunities opened up. Milnay play consistently well down the lines, but found myself using the drop shot too early, which allowed her openings to attack, and forced me to use my speed to defend, rather than for attacking.

Anyone who watched my league matches the Monday night, and Tuesday night following the Sunday’s final, would have thought I was taking out all my frustrations on my poor unsuspecting opponents. Well i hope i manage to bring that same fire to the Brisith Open.

I flew out to London on Wednesday to compete in the Allam British Open.
Watch this space…

http://www.britishopensquash.net/sun-13th-day-two-at-st-georges/

I’M OFF TO HONG KONG

HONG KONG BULER CUP 
19th – 22nd April 2012 

This week I will be attempting to conquer the buzzing city of Hong Kong. I do quite like going there, and I have had the pleasure of visiting it a few times. The squash promises to be as competitive as ever, with players coming from near and far. I am the no.4 seed for the tournament, which is not a bad place to be. I am drawn to play a qualifier in the first round. My half of the draw contains the no.1 seed and world no.6, Rachel Grinham (see pic below). The other half includes seeded players Joey Chan (world #19) from Hong Kong and Emma Beddoes (#24) from England.

My trip this time around will also include me meet up with some people involved with organisations like Chrisitians in Sport, as well as Ambassadors in Sport. They seek to encourage christians competing in sport, at whatever level. Many people may often view christians as “softies” or “weaklings” (depending on your religious history or upbringing) and may feel the world of sport too brutal a place for the “holier than thou” people. Well…clearly that’s not really the case. I believe this is a God-given talent, and i wish to use it not only to kick butt, but to glorify his name! All my strength to keep training and compete comes from Him!

So, watch this space for reporting on upcoming battles!

Full Draw and results:
http://www.horizonsolutions.tv/entry/wispa/calendar.php?gb=ls&tourid=12SQWI0I 

GRANITE CLUB SEMI FINALS

Wednesday 28th March 2012

Opponent: Alison Waters
Country: England
World Ranking; No.35
Highest Ranking: No.3
Result: Lost 3-0; 11/5 11/4 11/4 

 

Oh dear…it’s all over! i drowned, i flunked, i didn’t show up for work last night. In my difficult-to-contain-excitement, i made every rookie error in the book, losing my clarity of thought (and my length) under that pressure … and she was ever the professional her reputation precedes her to be!!! Oh well…i went down fighting a champ! I need more of the matches against these top 10 players!

Full match reports on: http://www.squashsite.co.uk/2009/graniteclub201.htm

All in all, it was a great trip to Canada, my first trip – for the record! Two beautiful cities, hosted by two great families and got to see an old friend from high school and her family, here in Toronto, as well as old squash friend originally from Zimbabwe. Who knew i had so much love waiting for me here?!

NEXT UP

Hong Kong Bueler Open
19th – 23rd April 2012

British Open, London
14th – 20th May 2012 

GRANITE CLUB OPEN 2012

TORONTO (26TH – 29TH MARCH 2012)

Monday 26th March: Round 1

Opponent: Thaisa Serafini
Country: Brazil
World Ranking: 61
RESULT: Won 3-0; 11/5 11/6 13/11

I had a good start to the match, playing the game i wanted to play, and getting a good feel of the court conditions.
Thaisa fought harder in the third and i had to stay focused in order not to let the third slip away.

On Sunday morning I had a little accident by cutting my playing hand with a broken glass. I managed to practice with it, and strategically placed some band aids to cushion it well …and fortunately it held up nicely during the match.

Tuesday 27th March: Quarter Finals

Opponent: Tesni Evans
Country: Wales
World Ranking:  55

Tesni caused an upset by beating Olivia 3-0 (WR no.45), so she will definitely bring her A game tonight…and so will I, band aids and all.

Full results on: http://www.squashsite.co.uk/2009/graniteclub201.htm

ATWATER CUP 2012

MONTREAL (20th – 23rd March 2012)

Line Hansen

Kasey Brown

Round 1: Monday 20th March

Opponent: Line Hansen
Country: Denmark
World Ranking: No.24
Tournament Seed: 5 
Result: Lost 3-2; 8/11 11/8 11/5 6/11 11/7

 

I knew the match would be a tough one, considering I had played her twice before and lost 3-0 on both occassions. Even though i lost  the match, i am not entirely disappointed because i was able to put into play the things i have been working on, and have seen lots of improvements. The results will eventually come, once the right foundation is put in place. I am very excited to see things falling into place.

I got off to a good start and seemed relaxed and played good squash to move her around the court, and making sure i was placing the ball to a good length. In the second game, she settled down more and my length became a little short. The third game saw me play a few too many errors, but I managed to tighten things up in the 4th game.

She got off to a good start in the fifth and was 3-0 up too early. I was 7-3 down before i realised i needed to dig a little deeper and keep her behind me, because she was already showing signs that she had been working harder than me – but unfortunately i had given her too big a lead, which an experienced player like her knows how to capitalise on. 

All in all, a better performance, could almost taste victory, but as they say “almost doesn’t count”, so I will just have to make it count next time. I also got a chance to train with Kasey Brown, World No.7 the day before my match…that was nice!

NEXT UP…

Granite Open 2012, Toronto
26th – 29th March 

Watch this space. Full results on:
http://www.squashsite.co.uk/2009/atwatercup2012.htm

KUWAIT OPEN DAY 3: A MIRACLE TOO

SEMI FINALS (SATURDAY 8TH OCTOBER)
Opponent: Lauren Selby
Nationality: England
Tournament Seed: 4
World Ranking: 58
Result: Lost 3-0; 11/6 11/7 11/9

This match didn’t really go according to plan. I wanted to go in there all relaxed, but i guess I was too relaxed, and didn’t quite show up in the way i did yesterday. Lauren was in great form, executing her game plan well against me, and i just couldn’t switch it into my favour this time. I know she is a clever player, but today I was too impatient. Not the right game plan. I will just have to learn from this!

Lots of other stuff has been happening in the background though. I had a little complication with my visa to China. Basically left South Africa without one, after being told i could get one here in Kuwait. Turns out that was bad advice. You only get a visa here if you are a resident. Oh dear. So the last few days i sent emails left-right-and-centre to Chinese embassies in SA and Kuwait, as well SA embassy in Kuwait, as well as countless emails to the South African Minister of Foreign affairs’ office, to ask for help in this situation. I got a response from the SA embassy here. They weren’t sure what they could do for me from this side, but they did come to visit me at the hotel…and call me each day to wish me well in the tournament.

My husband, went to ask questions at the Chinese embassy in Cape Town, where the lady was surprised to hear i was denied an application in Kuwait. Somehow, my husband managed to get a helpful response from her, where she agreed to contact the embassy here in Kuwait. I was given strict instructions to make sure i was there first thing Sunday morning, since they operate Sunday – Thursday working days. So that’s what i did, only to get the response this morning, “Sorry, we cannot process your visa here. I do not have the power to authorise this.”
My heart sank. I thought i would cry, but then realised the next plan could be to fly to a neighbouring country/city like Thailand, Vietnam or Hong Kong, and apply there, if time allowed it. Whatever happened, i would need to be in Shanghai to play my match Tuesday afternoon/evening. So, that’s the option hubby and I decided to work on, along with the travel agent who was kind enough to give me her cell phone number for an emergency on Sunday, in case we came to this point. Just as we were about to confirm a possible solution with the agent, i get a phone call in my room. It’s the SA embassy telling me that I should go to the Chinese embassy immediately because my “visa to china is ready.” I said, “What? How?” They just said, “Go!”

I moved as quickly as i could (after letting my hubby know), realising what the time was – 13h30. The embassy closes at 14h00. I asked the hotel to book me a taxi, which seemed to take forever to get here. Finally it came, but we were welcomed by heavy traffic. Oh dear. We arrived at 14h20. The taxi driver tried to phone inside the embassy on my behalf while i was trying to get the attention of the security guard. He told me it was closed and i should just keep calling or press the buzzer. I tried to reason with him…then the driver spoke to him in arabic, which started making him move further away from the small gate, away from us. We went back to buzzing on a bigger gate, and trying to phone. The time now is 14h35. Then the security guard opened the gate and asked me again what the problem was. I told him that if there was any chance someone was inside the embassy, please could he ask them about the South African visa.
“Where is your collection ticket?” he asked. I said, “I don’t have one.”
He then asked, “Where is your passport?”
I pointed to my bag, “I have it with me.”
He quickly exclaimed, “It is impossible then what you are saying, that you must pick up visa if you have your passport.”
I replied,” I know! It sounds crazy to me too, but they phoned me. They told me to come here. If you believe in God, you will believe that maybe this is a crazy miracle!”
He said, “I believe in God.” He then agreed to go inside and ask.

At that moment, we saw three chinese people walk out of the bigger gate. I ran after them. I asked them for the same thing and told them my flight was leaving tonight, so i couldn’t wait to find out tomorrow. Just as one of them was using his phone to enquire, the security guard returned with the lady who had denied me the application that morning. My heart sank again. Then she smiled and said, “After you left this morning, I was informed that I could submit your application, but I didn’t have contact details for you in Kuwait. So, i phoned your embassy to inform them.”

WOW!! I couldn’t believe my ears!!! I’m still shocked and surprised knowing that i can pick up my passport tomorrow. My husband has been working tirelessly to ensure that my flight changes occur smoothly, to still arrive on time for my match. Right now, i will try to remain peaceful and walk in the knowledge that what He has begun, He will bring to completion.

For those of you who pray, hubby reminded me a few days ago of Proverbs 3, verse 5-6.“Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight.”
For those of you that don’t pray, don’t let this freak you out, and forgive me if all this God stuff made this feel a little too “religious” for you. Just choose to see the miracle in an impossible situation.

China, here we come!!!

BLOG CATCH UP: DEC 2010 – JULY 2011

BLOG UPDATE

So. It’s been a long time since I updated my blog. It has been a busy year with some exciting results, other results that I would like to forget and small milestones reached.

(All player’s rankings will be reported on their current August rankings.)

siyoli

egyptian circuit finalist

cape town

on an all glass court

Ladies in Paris

The Indians: Joshnna and Dipika

The victory in Brisbane

NEW SOUTH WALES OPEN, SYDNEY
JULY 2011

Opponent: Amanda Landers-Murphy
Country: New Zealand
World Ranking: No.66
Round Reached: Semi-Finals
Result: Lost 3-2

Hard match to lose considering I had beaten her the week before. She played well and went on to win the tournament. Some good lessons learned in that match.

QUEENSLAND OPEN, BRISBANE
JULY 2011

Opponent: Song Su Mi
Country: South Korea
World Ranking: No.50
Round Reached: Finals
Result: Won 3-0

It was so weird to end a tournament on a win. I guess we get so used to exiting a tournament on a loss. I played more calmly and clearly and it showed…and payed off. This was definitely the direct effect of the previous weeks training.

THREE CHEERS TO MY FIRST WIN ON THE TOUR!!!!

WISPA PYRAMIDES OPEN, PARIS
JUNE 2011

Opponent: Celia Allemargot
Country: France
World Ranking: No.81
Round Reached: Qualifying Finals
Result: Lost 3-0

This was a match that was tough to lose. I wanted to win that match, but just didn’t play well. The tension in my body was too obvious and affected how I played.

Fortunately, after the tournament, I went to Uk to visit family and friends, and also got the opportunity to train in Pontefract. The training I received there was exactly what I needed – a few things were mentioned before by others but no-one had ever been able to show me “how”.

SA NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS, JOHANNESBURG
JUNE 2011

June was a tough month on the squash court because I did not play the squash that I wanted. And the results did not lie either, I felt there was something I was doing wrong, but I did not know what it was.

Opponent: Tenille van der Merwe
Country: South Africa
SA Ranking: SA Champion
Round Reached: Semi Finals
Result: Lost 3-1

WESTERN PROVINCE OPEN, CAPE TOWN
JUNE 2011

Opponent: Milnay Louw
Country: South Africa
SA Ranking: SA No.1
Round Reached: Semi-Finals
Result: Lost 3-1

HURGHADA OPEN, EGYPT
MAY 2011

Opponent: Salma Hany
Country: Egypt
World Ranking: No.79
Round Reached: Qualifying Finals
Result: Lost 3-2

This match was a little weird for me. I don’t like making excuses, however, I would like to say that 5minutes before my match, I seemed to lose all energy that I had. It was weird – yes I all of a sudden felt really sleepy and lethargic.

That means that as the match started I felt groggy and dizzy, which on the squash court looked like I was playing purposeless shots and shoddy footwork.
Suddenly I was 2-0 down…then the electricity went off!! This was probably my lucky break…literally. The lights were off in the entire complex. After a few minutes, I decided to lie down, and had a little nap. After what I think was 20minutes, I woke up with the electricity still gone, but I did feel fresher.

The lights came back on, went back on court and managed to catch up to 2-2 in games, In the last game, Salma showed no signs of giving up, and I started playing the wrong game against her, which gave her more confidence. In the end, she won in a tie breaker. I guess this time, I woke up too late.

EGYPT CIRCUIT NO.1, CAIRO
MAY 2011

Opponent: Heba El Torky
Country: Egypt
World Ranking: No.29
Round Reached: Finals
Result: Lost 3-2

Heba is a strong fighter, so I knew the game was going to be somewhat physical and I would need to maintain my levels of positive aggressiveness. The match had a close result in the end, but I was more happy that I played the squash that I wanted to play.

HONG KONG OPEN
APRIL 2011

Opponent: Joshana Chinnapa
Country: India
World Ranking: No.31
Round Reached: Top 16
Result: Lost 3-0

The Indian girls are known for their deceptive moves. Joshna played well and did not allow me to settle into my game. It was a match that was a bit too short for my liking. It ‘s tough meeting the top players in the early rounds.

INDIA CHALLENGER NO.1, CHENNAI
APRIL 2011

Opponent: Dipika Palikal
Country: India
World Ranking: No.24
Round Reached: Top 16
Result: Lost 3-1

In this match, once again I was on the back foot from the beginning, with Dipika attacking me in the front of the court. The third game was long and had some great rallies and I played more confidently and began to attack her too. I soon had the egde and managed to take the game.
The fourth game is one I would love to forget. She played some great winners to start. Then I became too aware of the score line and lost focus. To close the match with a 11-0 loss, after taking the game before was bitterly disappointing…probably should be deemed “unacceptable”.

VINDEE WISPA OPEN, FRANCE
MARCH 2011

Opponent: Lauren Briggs
Country: England
World Ranking: No.49
Round Reached: Finals
Result: Lost 3-1

Lauren Briggs is a player that has had a ranking in the Top 30. Due to injury her ranking dropped and now she is back in the game. She was a tricky player to play – very calm and deceptive. It was a good experience to play against her game style.
THREE CHEERS TO MY FIRST FINAL!!!!! YEAH!

WORLD CUP TEAMS, INDIA
MARCH 2011

This was a team event where countries sent 3 men and 2 women.
Our SA Team comprised of Steve Coppinger, Clinton Leeuw, Rodney Durbach, Tenille ven der Merwe and yours truly.

Opponent: Raneem El Weielly
Country: Egypt
World Ranking: No.12
Result: Lost 3-0

SA team was in a pool with Egypt, France and Sri Lanka. Only the top two teams were going to make it through to the finals rounds. Unfortunately we lost against Egypt and France.

ISP 100TH CELEBRATION INVITATIONAL TOURNAMENT
FEBRUARY 2011

This was a tournament to celebrate Indian Squash. It was invitational and not for world ranking purposes.

Opponent: Siti Murina Jusoh
Country: Malaysia
World Ranking: No.47
Round Reached: Semi Finals
Result: Lost 3-2

PUNJ LLOYD INDIAN SQUASH TOURNAMENT
DECEMBER 2010

Opponent: Jaclyn Hawkes
Country: New Zealand
World Ranking: No.16
Round Reached: Top 16
Result: Lost 3-0

Jaclyn is known to be a steady player who doesn’t often make mistakes. That means you win by outlasting her or playing accurate attacking squash. In the first two games, I was the won who made the mistakes. I then got into it and was able to rally with her longer and play more accurately. Her experience got he better of me. Next time!!

UPCOMING EVENTS
September will see me playing in the USA. I am looking forward to it.
WATCH THIS SPACE!!

DREAD SERIES OPEN NO.1, WASHINGTON DC
1st – 4th SEPTEMBER 2011

ORANGE COUNTY OPEN, CALIFORNIA
8th -11th SEPTEMBER 2011

PHOENIX OPEN, USA
15th – 18th SEPTEMBER 2011