|
|
Austrian Junior
Open 2011
03-06 March, Vienna ... Andy
Holland reports |
 Adopt a
Bamber Gascoigne voice here please :
”So here we go, your starter for 10 ..."
“Which job might you be undertaking if you if you were
working 80 hours or more a week, running around like a blue
arsed fly, making 50 telephone calls or more a day and being
driven to drink after explaining the same thing over and
over again to nearly two hundred people per day?”
“I’ll have to hurry you!”
No answers? Then I shall tell you.....
You’d be working as the tournament director of a
European
junior squash event!
|
 |
Reflections ...
Apologies for starting off with a bit of Bamber there! And
come to think of it, I think Jeremy Paxman has been doing it
for years now. Then again is University Challenge still
running at all? Does Granada Television still exist? Over to
you boffins at Keble College Oxford!
Guess I’m showing my
age here!
Which brings me on to something; I was checking over the
list of entry’s for this years Austrian Junior Open in
Vienna (when I was still relaxed and drinking coffee to
savour it, rather than just to keep me awake!!) and noticed
to my horror that the oldest player in the event could
easily be my son! Although that would look very odd, seeing
as neither my wife nor I am over 5 foot 4 and Zbynek
Standera is about 7 foot 3!!
About 20 years ago I also used to play junior events and I
notice that not very much has changed, except perhaps that
we didn’t have mobile phones, laptops and Facebook!
Most of
the players who have been around longer all know each other
well and organise amongst each other which tournaments to
meet up at and share a room with.
You have the one guy who
all the girls watch and of course the female player making
the guys nervous! There is always one person who is not
satisfied with something, but we strive to keep everybody
happy if we can. The show must go on!
Much to the dismay of our restaurant owner in the club, the
numbers at this year’s event were down on last year. I’m
certain however that the Czechs and Slovaks (not the kids
obviously!) made up for his distress once he saw how much
beer they had consumed over the weekend!
|
The
Competition
Top seeded for this year’s under boys 19 event (bit of
squash here!) was the afore mentioned Zbynek Standera who took on
Czech compatriot Daniel Mekbib in the final.
The two must
have played hundreds of times before which set the stage for
a real humdinger. Standera got the better of his opponent
from the start and although he lost a tight fought third, he
regained the momentum in the forth and took the match 11/7
11/8 9/11 11/3.
Tessa Ter Sluis (pronounced Slois, so I was told before the
prize giving after having called it out incorrectly the
whole weekend!! Thanks Tessa!), won the girls U19 event with
a 3/0 win over top seeded Czech girl Denisa Peleskova.
The
Dutch number two seed showed real determination and
outwitted her opponent to take the title 11/2 11/7 12/10.
There was also something to cheer about for the Austrians as
Sabrina Rehman took third place, beating Eszter Csokasi 3/1
and gaining revenge for the defeat at the Hungarian Junior
Open in November.
There were some surprises in the other events as the top
seeds were upset early. Ireland's Sean Conroy, seeded 5/8,
defeated number 2 seed Lenard Puski in the U17 quarters. His
run continued up to the final where he was eventually
defeated by the next Czech player Martin Svec.
The boys
under 15 title went to another 5/8 seed; Fin Matias Hänninen
won a real battle against Akos Szücs winning 12/10 in the
fifth!!
The girls U15 and U17 events were a family affair. The two
Gilis sisters from Belgium, Tinne und Nele, won their
categories without the loss of a single game.
The under 13 titles went to Vojtech Ryba and Kristyna
Fialova, both of the Czech Republic.
|
And
finally ...
This just leaves me to thank all the players for taking
part, all the parents and coaches, the club and of course
Bamber Gascoigne!
Did you know the guy is now 76 years old?
That’s twice my age!!
Andy Holland
|
|
2010 Event |
|
|
|
