|
|
2009
- A Moment A Month
Personal highlights from Steve Cubbins |
It's been a busy year for the site, with more major
tournaments covered than ever, and a host of stories and
features. So it's not easy to select just one moment from
each month, but that's the task I decided to set myself (ok
I was biased by photos), so here goes ...
|
JANUARY
Egypt's Amr Aboul Souad takes the first title of the
year, the British Junior Open U13 in Sheffield.
India's Kush Kumar led 7/3 in each of the first four games,
but still lost out in a five-game encounter which featured
two sets of very, very noisy supporters ...
Egypt would go on to take six titles, again.
 |
 |
|
 |
FEBRUARY
The British Nationals
were as memorable as ever, with some marvelous moments as
Nick Matthew & Jenny Duncalf each won their second titles.
But for me the moment was turning up one morning to see an
apparition practicing on the glass court - we know that
Alister Walker is sponsored by Tecnifibre, who ran a
campaign promoting the "colours of squash", but I couldn't
help feeling that Ali had taken it just a little too far ...
My favourite image though, was one which simply had to be
called "Giant James" ...
 |
MARCH
Reflections can sometimes be a real problem when you're
trying to take action shots, especially on glassback courts.
Sometimes though the reflections can actually improve an
image, and in Canary Wharf we managed to get a good
number where the reactions of the player and the crowd were
captured in one image ... like David Palmer, on his
way to taking the title.
And David being David, we got some dives too ...
 |
 |
|
 |
APRIL
Hurghada
was a place of highs and lows ... the high being
climbing some rickety scaffolding on a windy night to get
the best view of the court, the low being the trip in a
submarine to see the wonders of the Red Sea.
 |
MAY
Some tournaments are just plain fun, and the Cayman Open
definitely fell into that category. They even had a "free
beer challenge" on finals night, although I didn't realise
that the idea was to drink the free beer BEFORE you went on
court to take on Jenny Duncalf ...
Oh, and the trip to Stingray City wasn't bad, either
(that had free beer too) ...
 |
 |
|
 |
JUNE
Ok, the ATCO Junior Open finished on the last
day of May, but June was a quiet month.
For me it was a bit like the British Junior Open without
knowing who was playing where, or when ... but it all seemed
to work out!
And if you think the Egyptian squash factory is going to dry
up any time soon, think again...
 |
JULY
If there's any group that would have benefited most from a
successful bid for the 2012 Olympics, it was the
juniors assembled in Chennai for the World Juniors,
who would all have been in their prime come the London
games.
Those hopes were dashed soon after, and I hope my little
appearance on Radio 5 Live on the day of the IOC decision
wasn't instrumental ... I was sure I did better than Jimmy
Tarbuck, but golf still got in! |
 |
SEPTEMBER
I always joke with Tommy Berden about how he seems to
have a knack of scheduling the longest matches to be the
last ones of the day.
Well, at the draw for the Women's World Open in Amsterdam he
proved just as adept (is that the word?) at pulling the
wrong balls out of the hat.
First out was wildcard Orla Noom, to play .... Nicol David.
Next was Camille Serme ... to play Isabelle Stoehr.
After that it was qualifier, after qualifier, after
qualifier, after qualifier, after qualifier.
Maybe becoming a Dad will help ...
 |
 |
 |
OCTOBER
There are some great venues for squash, but if you want a
self-contained venue for a tournament, with hotel, sun, sea,
snorkelling, shopping, spectacular court setting ...
basically everything you need all in one place ... then
Sharm's Soho Square is your choice ...
 |
NOVEMBER
Taking action photos in Qatar's Khalifa Centre isn't
easy, with the TV cameras blocking the two decent spots and
all the photographers having to share two tiny, cramped
spots in the middle. Still, I managed to get a good one ...
 |
 |
|
 |
DECEMBER
 They
say you shouldn't look directly into the sun, but when it's
as spectacular as it was one evening at Sunset Beach
in Saudi Arabia, how can you resist. It finally clicked how
the place got its name, and few minutes' blindness was well
worth it. |
Merry Christmas and
best wishes for 2010 to everyone ...
For full details of all the tournaments mentioned here -
and more - visit the
Tournaments Page
|
|
