Canon Kirk Irish Open
I arrived in Dublin on Tuesday before the 1st round on Wednesday. It was an easy journey. Especially after my nightmare in Montreal. I was drawn against a qualifier who turned out to be Orla Noom. I haven't played her for a couple of years so i'll have to make sure I prepare properly.My match was last on at 9pm. Very late! I practised at 11am with Alison and then had all day to kill. I got some lunch then watched Alison's match. After that I went back to the hotel for a couple of hours. Had another snack about 5.30pm and then went back down to the club for about 7pm. Watched a couple of the matches before I played. I warmed up about 8.40pm and me and Orla got on court on time at 9pm. I played well at the beginning of each game and through the middle of the games. I was 10-4 up in the 1st and won it 11-6. In the 2nd I was 10-3 up and won it 11-5. Then in the 3rd I was 10-6 up and won it 12-10 which wasn't great but pleased to get off in the 3rd after being 10-6 up. I play Jackie Hawkes tomorrow at 8pm who had a close 3-0 with Dom Lloyd Walters. That will be 3 times in the last 3 (KL, Montreal and Irish) tournaments i'll have played Jackie!
Thursday was quarter final day and I had a good practise and was feeling good. I watched some matches, chilled out abit and went down for my match about 7pm. I made a fantastic start and won the 1st 2 games fairly quickly and easy 11-4, 11-6. Then i'm not really sure what happen. I think initially I lost my focus on what I wanted to do which lost me the 3rd game. I then got abit edgy and tired and stopped attacking for both of the reasons above. I have had a tough few weeks and hit abit of a physical brick wall. I had a national squad then Ilkley then flew straight to Ireland. Not clever looking back. I ended up losing the match 3-2 12-10, 12-10, 11-9 in the last 3. Very close but it the first loss to Jackie in WISPA and my first loss to a person outside the top 10 for a long time! I was disappointed but on the other hand am taking positives from how well I played in the 1st and 2nd and going to use it to pump myself through the summer! Next stop Malmo for the European Teams.