European Individual – Budapest June 2006
After what seemed like a long trip via Zurich to get to Budapest we arrived safe and sound. We were staying in an area about 15min from the airport in The Stadion hotel. It was nice and just a short walk from the club which is always a good thing.
It was my first time in Budapest and the first time playing in this event. England had decided to send 4 players. They were myself, Jenny Duncalf, Pete Barker and Jon Kemp. We also had the help of David Campion as coach.
Myself and Jenny had byes on the first day (wed) so we decided to take the underground into Budapest. It was a lovely city and we enjoyed taking a walk to the river. We made sure we got back to watch the men play and they both won fairly comfortably.
On Thursday morning Jenny and I had our first round matches. I played Birgit Coufal from Austria. She’s a young girl and I’d never seen her play. I took the match seriously and managed to win in 3 games. After we both won it was back to the hotel room for abit of R & R before we had to play again in the evening. I played another younger player this time from Spain, Chantal Moros. We played on the glass court that was erected by the Hungarian Federation. Unfortunately Chantal seemed to struggle with the court more than I did and again I managed a comfortable 3-0 win.
Unfortunately at this point both of the men were out of the competition. Pete withdrew because of an ankle problem and Jon lost a tough match with Renan Lavigne.
The next day I was due to Play Isabelle Stoehr of France at 6pm. For the morning all the team decided to go up to the castle. It was a lovely place and the views were amazing. After a nice leisurely walk back in the sun to the station Jenny, Camps and I got the underground back to the hotel for a gentle hit and some lunch before our matches.
About 30mins before my match I made my way down to the glass court. Isabelle is ranked inside the top 20 and so this was always going to be a tough semi final. I didn’t make a good start and went 2-0 down before I started to play a little better. After a long match I eventually won in 5. 9-6 In the 5th game. It was then straight back to the hotel for a stretch and an ice bath.
The next day it was an all English Final as Jenny had won her semi 3-0. I had a good day and tried to plan around my match. We played at 4pm and unfortunately I lost 3-0. I didn’t play my best squash but Jenny played extremely well. I had used too much energy the day before in my semi final and so I was disappointed I couldn’t give it as much as I would have liked in the final.
Aside from the fact I didn’t win I really enjoyed my time in Budapest and the tournament was run extremely smooth. I’d love to play this event next year and hopefully go one place better.
All the pictures form this event are in the photo gallery link.