NIMES, FRANCE
Monday 12th November; 10h30 (France Time)
RSA vs Spain
Monday 12th November; 17h30 (France Time)
RSA vs Malaysia
Match will be available on LIVE STREAMING on
http://www.squashsite.co.uk/2009/wwt2012nimes.htm
Tuesday 13th November; 14h30 (France Time)
RSA vs China
SUNDAY 12TH FEBRUARY 2012
Relief surpasses happiness today. I was relieved to get off that court as the winner, because in some moments, it could have easily gone the other way, especially when she had match point at 10-9, or match point again at 11-10. Fortunately, lessons I had learned somewhere from squash experts about keeping calm under pressure, or memory of Rudyard Kipling’s poem studied in high school saying “if you can keep your head when all about you are losing theirs”, all those lessons came in handy today.
SATURDAY 11TH FEBRUARY 2012
As the match progressed, I found better ways to keep my opponent working hard out of the back corners, which made it a little easier to use opportunities to the ball to the front.I am happy to be through that match with a win.
It was nice to know that I had the support of family and friends watching at home and around the world through the live streaming on the internet.
SANTIAGO DE COMPESTELLA OPEN
SPAIN
Squash in Spain turned out to be of a learning experience than I hoped.
I struggled through my matches on the all glass court. The girls matches were scheduled while the afternoon sun was still beaming on court erected in the Area Central Shopping Complex. This made visibility of the ball difficult at times, especially if was a low hard cross court, or high lob. It made me look slow to the front…actually, let me put excuses aside, I was slow to adapting and played the wrong game on it.
1st Round
19th October
Opponent: Catuxa Codesido
Nationality: Spain
World Ranking: 273
Result: Won 3-0, 11/9 11/3 11/5 (14min)
Quarter Finals
20th October
Opponent: Cyrielle Peltier
Nationality: France
World Ranking: 120
Result: Won 3-1
Semi Final
21st October
Opponent: Lisa Aitken
Nationality: Scotland
World Ranking: 68
Result: Lost 3-0, 11/7 11/9 11/5 (18min)
Against Lisa, I fell apart somewhat- maybe “choked” is the word. I wanted it too much and ended up crashing instead. I tried to match her fast paced game, and lost my accuracy along the way. I forgot the new crucial lesson I picked up in Pontefract in July. I hope to bring them to surface again soon.
WORLD OPEN
ROTTEDAM, NETHERLANDS
Round 1 Qualifiers
29th October
BYE
Round 2 Qualifiers
30th October
Opponent: Milou van der Heijden
Nationality: Holland
World Ranking: 51
Result: Won 3-1; 4/11 11/4 12/10 11/8 (42min)
Official Media Report:
The last Dutch interest in the qualifying competitions came to an end when Siyoli Waters came from a game down to beat Milou Van Der Heijden before a partisan home crowd.
“Milou made it hard for me, but I also made it difficult for myself,” admitted the South African, “I made a few errors trying to create something out of nothing and lost some good leads.
“You put more pressure on yourself to win when it’s a big event like this, so I’m just aiming to play good squash in my next match and not worry about the score, the opponent or the crowd.”
That next opponent will be Kanzy El Dafrawy who boosted the already impressive Egyptian tally with a 3/1 win over yesterday’s quickest winner Birgit Coufal, although Kanzy needed to refocus after dropping the third game 11/0, which she did to take the fourth 13/11.
More info: http://www.worldopensquash2011.com/index.htm
Round 3 Qualifier
31st October
Opponent: Kanzy El Dafrawy
Nationality: Egypt
World Ranking: 35
Result: Lost 3-0, 11/6 11/4 11/9 (33min)
I didn’t play at my best in the first 2 games, and found myself running aimlessly after balls. In the third game, i got some structure back into my game, but gave her such a big lead at the start that I made it too difficult for myself. Naturally I’m disappointed, but in some sense, am excited about the future and the development of my game.
Kanzy went on to have a great tournement, beating an Egyptian champion and former world no.4, Omneya Abdel Kawy. She was then stopped in her tracts by the up and coming Indian star player, Dipika Pallikal. Another young Egyptian, Nour El Sherbini, celebrated her 16th birthday by beating the world no.13, Donna Urquhart from Australia. These youngsters never cease to amaze me. I guess I’m just going to have to learn to stay “young at heart”.
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.)
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
SIYOLI WATERS 