 BJO
En Bref 2005 Day FIVE, Thu 6thEverything you didn't know you needed to know about the British Junior Open ... More photos in the GALLERY |
  FALLING TROPHY Poor Basit, as if he wasn’t emotional enough after his victory! After thanking God, and the sponsors, and the officials, and the referees, and Sir Rahmat, and Ayaz, and his mum, dad, sister who he loves, and everybody, he went to lift up the trophy… which fell. Everybody laughed, of course. Put it back on the stand again, and up he lifts it… and down it goes again… So, very nicely, James Sandwith, the Director of the RAC, tendered him the smaller version that he gets to keep, a miniature trophy, much easier to handle… Only in the BJO….  |
 STATISTICS… So, India, present in only one final, gets one title. The Egyptians were in all the finals, except one (shame on them, how dare they…?), the under 19 girls, and they walk away with 4 titles. And Pakistan, present in all 4 boys events, walk away with 3 titles. I know a bit of Pakistan, so I guess that next stop for me is Egypt…
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THE WHITE PLATE… Zulfiqar
Ahmad, Secretary General of the Pakistan Squash Federation, today gave me
an answer to a question I was asking myself for a long time, where do I
find all the ideas for my stories?Well, he told me a story about a white plate. One boy was given a white plate, and left in a room for hours, and asked to write about it. He could only write a few pages. Then, he went back, and let his imagination, his emotion, his spirit run free. And he wrote pages and pages, and pages. That’s what I do at every tournament. Every time, I arrived, panicked, thinking “what the heck am I going to write about”. And suddenly, I just let my emotions, my imagination go, take a deep breath, and go with the waves… And every time I’m terrified nothing is going to come out of my silly brain, and every time, pages and pages seem to flow to the keyboard… Magic… |
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NO TEARS PLEASE The terrible thing about Junior events is tears. Here you are, looking at a little boy being a drama queen, and you hate him on court, and then, suddenly, you see his eyes filling with water, and you heart melts… I do love Junior squash…  |
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THE B TEAM DOES ALRIGHT… Do you remember that I mentioned that four of the best Pakistani players did not come to the BJO for disciplinary reasons. Well, it was a very tough decision to make for the Pakistan Squash Federation, but it was obviously a good one, as their results are still outstanding… Like I said, if that’s their B team, I can’t wait to see their A…  |
 GOOD
THINGS…The last evening in Sheffield, Gulshan, a very nice Pakistani Restaurant invited the whole Pakistani Team to come and eat for free… It’s a place where Rahmat and his friends go to every time they come to this city, and which makes them feel welcome… And the food was very good, thank you… AND BAD THINGS Do you remember the lovely “weapons of Squash Destruction” Canadian girl, Neha Kumar. Well, unfortunately, as she was watching the finals, somebody got into the storage room, and stole her backpack, with her passport, money, air ticket, her trophy for the Scottish Open, etc… That is a sad end to what was a perfect event… |
  NEW RACQUET
FOR MATTHEW?Matthieu Castagnet didn’t have a good tournament. He didn’t play well, and was not happy with his performance. So, the last night, we all went for a meal, and as Matthieu was eating his pizza, Fred Lecomte, the Boys’ Coach, asked him if he changed his racquet sponsor. To which Matthieu replied, “Who knows, I probably would have had better results with it”… At least, we know how to laugh about ourselves, don't we… |
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BJO
En Bref Day FOUR, Wed 5th Everything you didn't know you needed to know about the British Junior Open ... |
 A PASSIONATE CLUB MANAGER “My wife sees squash as 'the other woman'”, laughs Jason Foster during the 10 minutes break he has before rushing back refereeing. Jason is well know in the Junior World, as he is the manager of Bishops Stortford, who hosted the Under 17 National Championships last October. “I used to work as a policeman, but when my daughter had some health problems, I had to free some time to be closer to her, and that’s why I got into squash. “Now, I still work long hours, but at least I work in a field I’m passionate about, and also, my daughter can come and stay with me while I’m at the club.” So, thank you Mrs Foster, for lending us your husband for a few days. It’s thanks to people like him, voluntary workers, that great events like the BJO exist… |
A VERY SPORTING FAMILY ... In a previous En Bref, I told you about Tarek Mohamed and his mum, Sherifa Maraghi, the tennis player. Well, this time, I had the chance to talk with the lady herself. “Tarek’s father is a soccer player, and I did play tennis at a young age, and yes, as you said, I played at Wimbledon, but only as a junior, I’m afraid… ” When I asked her why on Earth her son chose squash over lucrative tennis, she smiled. “In Egypt, squash has much more future than tennis, but Tarek is also concentrating on his studies, as in our country, if you want to play squash you’ve got to be very strong in the academic field. But it is true that Tarek’s dream is to be one of the top squash players.” Well, he’s got the potential, that’s for sure…
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 YASIR IS LEAVING THE JUNIOR SCENE Last night's match against Tom Richards was probably Yasir Butt’s last appearance as a junior. “Yasir has had some great results on the PSA circuit, and in six weeks, has come from 150 in the world to 64 this month. So, it’s time for him to concentrate on his senior career”, said Rahmat Khan this morning. So, good luck Yasir, and no doubt I’ll see you again soon… |
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GUARDIAN ANGEL AND REFEREE...  When
I was in Pakistan, I met a lot of wonderful people. Among them, Imran
Khan, who I nicknamed at the time "my
guardian angel". Well, he was in Sheffield, with two other referees that I will introduce you to tomorrow as I never got the chance to take their pictures yet, to participate in this fantastic experience that is the BJO. |
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SILENCE As everywhere else in Europe today, at 12am, a three minute silence was observed in memory of the thousands and thousands of victims of the Indian Ocean Tsunami. It was, as far as I was concerned, a very emotional moment, as so many nations were present in Sheffield. And to think, it could have been any one of those kids... Sorry, just unbearable... |
 Imran,
like the two other referees, Yawar Islam and Ayed, they came
at their own expense, and believe me, the air fare on its own is VERY
expensive. Is that dedication or what? So, my hat to Imran and his colleagues, who come a long way to support the
Junior Circuit.I think it's worth a big thank you, don't you think???? |
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HISTORIC PAKISTAN A very smiling Rahmat Khan told me today that for the first time ever in the BJO, Pakistan had a finalist in every boys age group. “The minute one pressure is off, getting to the final, another one comes on, winning the final!” laughed the proud PSF coach. “I’m even more proud, as our four strongest boys couldn’t make it to this tournament for disciplinary reasons, so the players who came to Sheffield are the “B” team, if you wish. And they really took advantage of the opportunity and chance that was given to them. I’m very very proud of them.” Blimey, if that’s the B team, I can’t wait to see the others… |
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FULL POWERPLAY
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“Our company counts seven people at the moment, but in the next five years, we are hoping to become synonymous with Squash, and be alongside the main players. We are also thinking of sponsoring between 6 and 10 juniors this year, and providing them with equipment, clothing, racquets, etc.
“I think it’s crucial
to support the parents, as there is too much burden on them as far as the
juniors are concerned. “The
British Junior Open is a fantastic organisation, and indeed a platform for
us, where we have the opportunity to reach 29 countries on a daily basis.
I have to say I’m impressed with the organisation of the tournament, and
with Powerplay, we would like to set a long term relationship with events
like this one, on a three year basis. |
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FORGETFUL
DECLAN You
may remember Declan Christie (day one),
who, thanks to his big heart, won a match he really shouldn't have. Well, Declan is out now, but left a note on the message board that he had left his James Willstrop racket at Hallamshire. So if anyone should happen to find an orphaned James Willstrop racket lying around, you know what to do ... |
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BJO
En Bref Day THREE, Tue 4th Everything you didn't know you needed to know about the British Junior Open ... |
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A FATHER'S LOVE.... Here is a letter that was passed on to me by Arturo Salazar Rodriguez
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FIRST EVER GLASS COURT Did you know (I surely didn't) that the first ever glass court was installed in Abbeydale years and years ago? It was the only place in the world where you could actually see the match sitting down really, wasn't it.... I was told that a few months back, it was completely transformed in a real glass court. But just think... I'm contemplating history here....  |
DON’T COACH PLEASE… Philippe Signoret was telling me today that last year, he was encouraging Camille Serme in French, by saying “Allez Camille allez”, literally “come on Camille, come on”, and was lectured by the referee “No coaching please”. “I’m not” retorted Philippe. “Well, speak in English, then”. And Philippe insisted, “No, I will not, I’m talking French with my player”…Philippe's English is a good as my Russian, I must say… At that minute, the referee said the same words to Rahmat Khan who was supporting Ali Ayud. “I’m not coaching” he said with a smile. And from that moment on, he talked with his player in English, language in which he is fluent, lucky him… It must be so difficult to referee… Coaching or support???? How the heck would they know… |
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CAMERA, NO BOOK... OK. That's it. I've got to retire.... So tired tonight that I not only forgot my camera (that's bad enough) but also my note-book at Abbeydale.... No brain, the French woman, no brain whatsoever... But then again, she IS French after all, isn't she??? |
CHECKING EVERYTHING… We
have a hawk in this tournament, always checking, always there to help with
anything official and with the rules. Eric Cruttenden is on duty call from dawn to dusk. After ruling on the glasses, he was today checking the light on the courts… You wouldn’t believe that there are so many parameters to check, would you??? |
FORGETFUL
DECLANYou
may remember Declan Christie (day one),
who, thanks to his big heart, won a match he really shouldn't have. Well, Declan is out now, but left a note on the message board that he had left his James Willstrop racket at Hallamshire. So if anyone should happen to find an orphaned James Willstrop racket lying around, you know what to do ... |
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BJO
En Bref Day TWO, Mon
3rd Everything you didn't know you needed to know about the British Junior Open ... |
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TENNIS FAMILY Tarek Mohamed Momen is a bit of a phenomenon. He is only 16 (he won the Under 13 event in 2001), so should be playing in the under 17 event, whereas he is playing under 19, and is in the quarter-finals, beating James Wright, a 5/8 seed this evening. But also, his family is in tennis! His mother, I was told, played the Wimbledon tournament… Why on Earth did he choose squash????? Money? |
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| A CONDUCT GAME Linda Davie had a weird experience this morning. Here she was refereeing a match, no decisions made yet. One of the boys was losing 1/0, and in the middle of the second game, out of the blue, she heard the boy shout, “F… F…. F… F…. F…”!!! She couldn’t believe her ears. So she turned to Joyce Hall (Chris’ mother), and said “Did I hear well, or am I dreaming?”. “No, you’re not dreaming, you heard correctly,” replied Joyce. “Oh blast, now I’ve got to do something about it, then!” And Linda had to give a conduct game against the young man… “Why couldn’t he swear in his own language” she said… “I had the impression of being in “Four Weddings and a funeral…” In other words, do not swear, or at least, swear in a language the referee doesn't know …  |
WE ARE FAMOUS IN PAKISTAN… I
just received a lovely note from Fahim Gul, Aman’s father,
under 17, who read my little report on his son’s match, and agreed with me
that his son’s drop shots need to be looked at…This morning, Aman broke our French Hearts by beating Maxime Moriamez, one of the three best French of his age group. “Aman was just too powerful for Maxime”, told me Philippe Signoret, one of the two French coaches present in Sheffield said. “But, at least the first game was very close, and that is important…” "I like to go on your site", Fahim wrote to me. "I get all the information on squash I need, and on top of that, I can follow the performance of my son!" |
| TRAVEL WOES Competitors, Coaches and Families travel from all over the world to play in the British Junior Open, but sometimes it goes wrong, and there's a story behind "W/O" on the draw sheet - here's one such story ... I was following the games on the web site and after reading the comment about "no shows", I thought that I should explain why Bo Harris did not turn up for her game. We travelled from Barbados to the US Open and then came here for the British Open...our only purpose in coming to England. However we came in a few days early and stayed with family in Bristol where Bo has been playing some squash with her coach who we also paid to bring here. We arranged all of our business via on line reservations before leaving Barbados. Everything went smoothly in the USA and up until we went to take the British Rail to Sheffield on Saturday evening. There were no tickets for us and the cost of the tickets were then twice the price we were told. We then called the National Express and asked for information for a coach to Sheffield and was given a time. We took the taxi there only to find out that there was no such bus at that time. We then called the hotel (for which we had a confirmation number booked through Sheffield Tourism) to tell them that we were running late. We then learnt that the credit card which we used to make our reservation was only being used to hold the reservation and was told by a very unhelpful lady that we had to pay in full on arriving at the hotel and that nothing could be charged to the credit card. |
 She told me that I would have to speak to someone at the Sheffield Tourism with whom everything was done. We tried unsuccessful to get hold of this contact....getting only a voice mail on mobile and office numbers....she would be out of office until the 04 January. With no one to help us despite trying many numbers and spending over £35 on the phone, we were forced to return to where we were staying and that was when I emailed to say Bo could not play. However early the next morning, I got everything organised. I called and asked if Bo would have been able to play in the consolation and was told no... I wasted a whole lot of money to come here for nothing. Bo was obviously disappointed as she was eagerly looking forward to participating in the British Open and she wanted to play against the Egyptians. I therefore hope that she would not be looked upon as someone who callously did not turn up as she is a very dedicated and focused player. We are however following the games and for sure....next year...we would not be going through any Tourism Bureau but going directly to all parties. Neither would we ever use British Rail or National Express again as they all proved to be very unreliable. Shelly Ross, Mother |
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BJO
En Bref Day ONE, Sun
2nd Everything you didn't know you needed to know about the British Junior Open ... |
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NICE
FEEDBACK You know, when you are working very hard, like we all are on this tournament, we sometimes have a nice surprise like a lovely Egyptian Lady gave me today. I was in the Novotel lift, coming up to my room, when a lady dressed as the Egyptians do, told me that she was glad to meet me, as she really enjoyed my articles on the Pakistan Open. "I had the impression of being there, with you, she said. And I had the feeling you enjoyed your stay, and really looked at the country from the inside ... "  Well, as that's exactly what I'm trying to achieve when I'm on a
tournament, I was so glad. Reeme Mansi's son and daughter are
actually playing in the tournament. Raneem El Weleily is
top seed and defending champion in the Girls U17, and Tameen, the
boy, is in the U19 event.Thank you for reading us, dear lady, and it was a real pleasure to meet you....  |
 HALF GOOD, HALF BAD Well, Charlotte Delsinne is half good, half bad. Her dad is French, and her mum, Beverly, is English, and has been living in Paris for 20 years. She was "kidnapped" by a French man, she said... Her parents, Lilian and Brian Gee, do not really care what nationality their grand daughter is, don't care at all. |
 Chris
Simpson got a bye today but is slightly wary about tomorrow's match
against Niels Hoevanaar.(He actually won 9/1, 9/0, 9/0 so he needn't have worried!) |
 Tom Richards and his Mum. Tom won easily today, he told me ... (and went on to win 3/0 again on Monday) |
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 Sarb
Matharu, an Indian who lives in England, played squash in Jahangir's
era, and knows Rahmat Khan, of course.His son Joseph and daughter Sarah (who has just just lost in this photo) are both squash players...
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FRENCH SANS FAUTE
 "For
the first time in the history of French Squash, all French players have
won their game today", declared proudly Fred Lecomte, National
Coach for the Boys.  "And
none have actually lost a game", added Philippe Signoret, National
Coach for the girls, "but tomorrow will be different, I'm afraid..." he
added...Oh well, who cares if it rains tomorrow... Let it shine today, guys, and take a bow... |
CANADAHow many players came from Canada? 26. Quite a lot, isn't it? One of the
parents, Richard Hazell, father of Rebecca, U17, has been playing
squash for a number of year, and is now limiting his appearances to the
doubles. His daughter starting playing at 8, "because she was bored to
spend so much time at the club", said her father. Well, that's a new
approach to coaching, isn't it? |
NEW
REFS... I was glad to see new faces this year, in the
referee's box, actually two new faces from Wimbledon Racquet and Fitness
Club, Dave Peters and Rebecca Colthup.  Dave
has been a fantastic friend for me over the years (not to mention that
every Christmas Day, he and his wife Debbie feed me a delicious English
Christmas Meal, bless them). So, welcome to Sheffield, guys... |
NO
SHOWS David Morgan reported how annoying it is to have players not
turning up when they don't want to lose against people less well ranked as
they are... "I think that ES should be more firm with those players, and
sanction them", he said, as one of his players, Carrie Hastings had a bye
today, when an England player didn't turn up... |
AUSTRALIA When we picked the players from Holiday Inn this morning, the bus was full as the Australian Team came on. So the poor Skye Millar had to sit at the front, on the folding seat. But she didn't listen to the Driver, who warned us to sit quickly, and as the seat folded before she had the time to sit, the poor girl nearly sat on the floor. But she was really happy the whole way, as a sort of snow was falling, and she was soooo happy to see snow.... Like I said to her "You've got to be Australian"... "Yes", she smiled... |
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A S(L)IGHT PROBLEM Well, I do not know exactly why, but the WSF do not recognize the protective eyewear that the French are wearing. "Their certificate does not conform", an official told me today. It is a problem, as the Maker, Demez, is the French Junior Sponsor... Oups...
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WEAPONS OF SQUASH DISTRACTION Poor boys. How on Earth do you want them to concentrate on their game, when you have gorgeous ladies looking like Georgina Stoker, from England, and Neha Kumar, from Canada. Have pity, girls... Like they say, if you have it... |
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| Day ZERO, Sat 1st | |
OLD MATES… Those of you who read my “last day in Islamabad” may remember Ayaz, the kind man who lent me his jacket (and who is also Assistant Coach to Rahmat Khan and an International referee). Well, it just happens that he also spent many years in France, as a player and a coach, and knew very well Philippe Signoret, ex French player, and now coach of the French junior girls team. So, here we were, in Sheffield, surrounded by players of all origins (I saw Canadians, Indians, Pakistanis, French and Canadian so far), and those two guys started chatting in French… "And let me remind you of that one, and do you remember this one, and whatever happened to him…" A bit surreal… The world of squash is not only multi-lingual, but also very small… I love squash… |
LAST MINUTE PANIC You
must be aware that Yasir Butt is top seed for the prestigious under
19 event.Well, along with his team mate Basit Ashfaq, the second seed, they nearly didn’t make it to Sheffield… To get a visa to England, a passport must have a validity of 6 months. Those two clever boys had six months minus 3 days… So the visa was refused… Rahmat had an hour and a half to get new passports done, as the English Consulate in Islamabad was closing for Christmas. They virtually flew to the Pakistani Embassy, nearly got it right, got to the Bank to pay for the passports… only to realise that everybody had left. Thank God, the manager was still there, recognised the Legendary Coach, offered him a cup of tea, and asked him what he was doing there…. And that’s how those two birdbrains got their passports … and their visas… What do you say boys ???? Thank you Rahmat Sir… |
| GETTING LOST
IN SHEFFIELD… Yes, you must know by now that I’m not the best at finding the shortest route when I travel (and believe me, I do travel a hell of a lot) in England. I don’t know why, it’s just … the signs are not where I expect them, and by the time I see them, I’ve missed the blipping road. Anyway, I got to the hotel quite easily, only to find out that their phone system was down… Not good when one is working on a website… Anyway, went to the Abbeydale club (that was a fun drive, couldn’t find it, nearly went home back to London, I tell you) to meet the Pakistani team, who had already left. I was told they were at the Novotel, in the centre of Sheffield. Where the heck that was, didn’t have a clue. So, as the Egyptian team was leaving, I took one of the coaches and two players in my car, and followed the taxi that was transporting the others… Arrived at the Novotel under pouring rain… No trace of the Pakistanis, and the French hadn’t arrived yet either. Didn’t have a clue how to get back to my hotel, or how to get to Hallamshire. So, I just decided to have a coke, and cry… But no time for tears, the Pakistani team turned up, all of them (like 15 players, 2 coaches, 5 referees, etc…), and Linda Davie shortly after, as she just collected some more referees from the train station, who had a hell of a journey, as their plane from Pakistan had been delayed by 24 hours… Charming… |
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Anyway, as I had to change hotel (need the
phone, dear), Linda helped me collecting my bags from my previous hotel,
and we tried to get back to the Novotel where I’m now booked in… Let me tell you one thing. Sheffield is just a one-way nightmare. You can never turn right. We knew the direction we wanted to go, but could never get there… It took us a good 45 minutes to eventually get to the big blue sign NOVOTEL. Who on Earth designed those one-way systems, and those roads???? I’m sure that, once you are shown the way, it must be pretty easy, but for outsiders, it’s a bit of a nightmare. Mind you, a Scottish and a French women, both blond… I say no more… |
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