Canary Wharf EN BREF    Issue 4 Everything you didn't think you needed to know about Canary Wharf ...

CLEANING TIP Ken Nairin, a professional masseur to the stars, has been helping at tournaments for a very long time. He is attending the court, picking up balls everywhere around the courts, cleaning the floor of the glass court, and, and... cleaning the white ball. "It's so hard to clean the ball", he said to me. "I don't seem to be able to make it clean enough..." "Well, in Rennes, the court attendant was using Glass Spray, why don't you try that?" Guess what. It worked wonders, Ken told me. And how happy he was to have the ball sparkling clean. I tell you... WHAT WOULD THEY DO WITHOUT ME...

ALAN THATCHER: UP ONE LEVEL Alan Thatcher, Associate Sport Editor of the Daily Star and co promoter of the CWC event with Eventis, was very happy with the past week. "The Event has gone up a level this year, thanks to the collaboration between Eventis and Squash 247, two management companies working together. The mix of skills we have seems to complement each other perfectly well." "Of course, nothing would have been possible without the support of our main sponsors, ISS and CW Group PLC, who have enabled us to improve the whole presentation of the event. Tomorrow is of course a big day for Alan, as he is the instigator of World Squash Day. "I went to Mauritius in November 2004 to the WSF AGM and Conference, and I was happy to infuse the Idea of World Squash Day to the delegates, and they went back to their own countries and organised some events everywhere in the world. The profits of the T-shirts will be donated to emerging Squash Nations, and watch this space, as Alan will inform us of the development and results of those donations... With partner Mark Bellinger, Squash 247 is preparing some exciting new tournaments for 2006, and will introduce some new venues... So, a busy few months to come for Mr Thatcher...

Canary Wharf EN BREF    Issue 3 Everything you didn't think you needed to know about Canary Wharf ...

CHEERING FOR CANARY WHARF CLASSIC I think that was another great idea from the Eventis/Thatcher team, to have a team of mixed Cheerleaders, the Eagles, to open semi final night. I caught the girls as they were changing costumes, and they were quite looking forward to performing in front of the crowd, that came in great numbers, to watch the two great matches on the program tonight. Five young ladies, four young men, good presentation, a bit of athleticism (a lot of throwing the girls up in the air, lots of smile, energy and enthusiasm. Cheers for the Eagles ...

ALL THE WAY FROM NORWAY All this week, we had a very keen squash fan on the first row, David Loite . He didn't miss a match. He knows everything about squash, he loves it, he loves the atmosphere, the players, the game. He is a wonderful spectator, and he is a perfect example of why we are all working so hard... To please and entertain squash fans all over the world. Thank you for coming from so far away, dear David, I hope you enjoyed the show...

Canary Wharf EN BREF    Issue 2 Everything you didn't think you needed to know about Canary Wharf ...

THANKS MISTER BORCHERT… You cannot not have noticed, admired, the action photos of the tournaments we cover. We are lucky to have several photographers that have accepted to work for us or who let us use their galleries of photos. But we have one photographer who is very close to our heart, as he followed us when we opened this site. Back then, he took a bit of heat because he was working for us, but he stuck by us, and went on providing us with great pictures, thank God for that. His photos are brilliant, sharp, passionate, and he seems to be always at the right place at the right time. His site, www.squash-u-bild.net , has got hundreds and hundreds of stunning photos, and if you ever need photos, why don’t you visit it and buy some from the “ClickMagic German”… He has got used to my outbursts and my grumpiness at times when we are on a tournament (mind you, he is no picnic either…). We are so lucky that he has chosen to work with and for us. So, from all here at SquashSite, thank you Fritz.

HARDING & SON If you are even slightly involved in squash, you must, you can’t not, know about Mr Press himself, Howard Harding, already media director for PSA, WISPA, WSF, ESF, and newly reappointed England Squash PR as well. Well, he was at Canary Wharf with son Charlie, who seems to be a clever young man, as he is staying away from the madness of the squash world to start Medicine studies next year. “Squash is my hobby, but I leave the professional side of it to Dad…” Like I said, a clever young man…

MORE LEFT HANDERS… I was sitting near to John Williams, Managing Director of Pursers, who has been the sponsor of lefthander Peter Nicol for years, and Chris Dittmar before him, another famous lefthander. “Being a lefthander myself, the fact that those two great players were lefthanders was a factor in my choice to sponsor them. Do you know that the percentage of lefthanders in racquet sports is extremely high compared to the general population? The average is about 4 to 5%, whereas in racquet sports, we jump to around 20%.” And the man was spot on, well, if we look at this tournament anyway. We have 8 players, and 2 are lefties. So it is a 25% proportion. Something to do with sides of the brain, foetus, neurones being connected or not connected, not sure about that. But one thing is sure, the lefthanders are the best people in the world… I would say that, now, wouldn’t I???

PASSIONATE AUSTRALIANS… Blimey, must be something in the Australian water, like I said to Anthony Ricketts after his match against Peter Nicol, as the two Australians Anthony and David Palmer tonight were so intense, so “in their match”… For them, it was no exhibition match, let me tell you. There is a specific reason why I really appreciate David and Anthony … on top of their fantastic squash I mean. It just happens that they are so like like me…passionate, intense, over the top sometimes, and incapable to just “take it easy”. Yes, all my life, I heard “why are you so intense, why are you so emotional, relax and enjoy the ride… Why do you have to be so serious all the time…” I wish I was able to be more laid back, more “cool”, as they say. And probably (this, I don’t know, I can only guess) Anthony and David would like to be able to “take it easy” as well. But intensity is not something you can switch on and off. You have it or you don’t. And if you have it, it’s there for life, mate… And it’s sooooo difficult to keep it under control sometimes…

Canary Wharf EN BREF    Issue 1 Everything you didn't think you needed to know about Canary Wharf ...
FULL HOUSE I am so happy… With the amount of work that Eventis have done for a few years, it’s extremely pleasing to see that, with co-promoter Alan Thatcher, they have filled the house from the word go. It’s good for the players, the atmosphere is great, it’s good for the organisers, the sponsors… In other words, it’s good for the sport…. Well done guys… Which goes to prove that the good guys do win sometimes…	PETER: PLAYER, PROMOTER, COURT ATTENDANT??? I have to say that it was an unexpected sight to see the Boss sweeping the court when I arrived this afternoon.  Especially as he was using the most ridiculously small broom you can think of in one hand, and had his mobile in the other. Dirty job, being a promoter, let me tell you...

CHRISTIAN IN CW The new chief executive of the WSF, Christian Leighton, was here to watch some great squash, and hoping that the IOC members will also enjoy it tomorrow. When asked by Alan Thatcher, co promoter of the event, how the Olympic Games bid was going, Christian was very hopeful: “It’s going very well, thanks to the support of the squash fans here and all over the world. Elements like history and the tradition of the game are very important for the IOC members, along with the fact that our sport is played in more than 150 countries, and that our top players would be not only honoured, but also so happy to participate to the Olympics. "Tomorrow, we’ll have the IOC members in attendance, as they also came to the ToC in New York, where they enjoyed the show, and the venue. "I’m sure they’ll enjoy the show here as well…"

STRESSFUL VISA Travelling is no fun... Amr Shabana, the "Prince of Egypt", as Robert Edwards calls him, had a nasty surprise at his arrival at Heathrow today, as his visa had been wrongly issued, and seemed to allow him to stay in England... for only one day, as the start and the end dates of the visa both stated 15th March 2005! So he had to call the Embassy to have another visa issued, with the correct dates this time. So imagine his stress, the panic not to be able to arrive on time, to miss the competition, etc... We all know that Amr can be a bit... easily distracted, so, I think he did pretty well to play a good long five setter, and especially to win a long match in those conditions... Well played mate!

BUSY DAY FOR BEN It's no picnic being the son of a squash star, let me tell you. I've got to check if the seats are working properly, up and down they go, fine, that one is sorted, about another 499 hundred to go. OK, seats checked, now I've got to help dad to work on his drop shots, they were not up to scratch on his last match, so, who's got to sort him out ???? Oh boy oh boy, I wonder how he did succeed to play that well before I came along...