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 2012 EN BREF
2011 En Brefs
Fram tells you
Everything you never knew you needed to know about the BGP ... |
Fram's Day Two Intro:
LITTLE NEWS …
 Well,
contrary to what I wrote yesterday, things did change. This
morning, glorious weather – still cold inside the venue though –
and I didn’t get lost! Miracles do happen.
Now, two stories dominated my day yesterday. Joey Barrington
for one created mayhem as ever. First, he forgot his badge next
to his PSATV commentary desk, and a strong volunteer just
wouldn’t let him through without it!
“I’m sorry Sir, but without a pass, you are not going anywhere”
Val Cottam, MBE, was telling him.
 I
tried to plead his cause “listen, I promise you he is part of
the organisation, he is the commentator for PSA TV”. Didn’t
work.
"Out of arguments, I went “he is Joey Barrington, the son of the
Legend Jonah Barrington…”
And the sharp answer came back: “He could be the Queen of
England, he is not going anywhere without a badge”!!!! I just
collapsed laughing…
That’s not the end of it… Joey caused further distraction as for
some weird reason, we could hear the TV commentary during the
first match, loud and clear, as the players came back on court
for the second game. A few “Shut up Joey” could be heard in the
audience – I promise you, with big smiles in the voice!!!
For the second story, it’s a short one. Actually, a shorts one
...
OK, not very serious you may say, but the buzz yesterday was all
about LJ’s new style of shorts, much shorter than normal
– not as much as the old style ones when I was young – but still
much more advantageous for the figure than those baggy ones the
players seem to like these days!!!
What I don’t understand is why everybody just kept on asking ME
what I thought about them. As if I was interested in men’s
outfit or looks. Really….
When questioned about the change of style, LJ simply replied
“Fram, they are not called shorts for nothing”…
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Day One Intro:
THINGS NEVER CHANGE….
Reassuring isn’t it… Two things never change when I come
to Sport City. One. It rains. Two, I get completely
lost. As ever, despite having a gps, it took me an hour
to find the right hotel yesterday, and of course, this
morning, I went left, instead of going right out of the
same hotel, and got completely the wrong way yet again.
So tiring to be me….
 Anyway,
joke apart, nice to be back in Sportcity, where I have
put a foot since, well, the Worlds in 2008, I believe.
Happy to be back. No, I mean in, despite the rain.
Press room still at the same place, ok, a bit far away
from the court, as it’s the “small set up” this time,
and the court is on the other side of the arena. But,
it’s comfy, tea, coffee, internet up and running. Happy.
Now, as for the tournament, so sad to have lost our two
top Egyptians, both of them being injured. Shabana
first, a wrist injury prevented him for joining the BGP
Party. “I went to the gym for alight workout and felt a
pain in my left wrist caused by a sore tendon that
should be fine in a week. I just don't want to play any
events that I'm not feeling I can win, I put in too much
effort to just show up and not try to win and compete.”
Don’t worry, I know that Shabana has been working
extremely hard to come back to his best level, and this
is a only a little delay people.
Now, as for Karim, it’s the ankle that let him down,
like it did in Malaysia. “I twisted my ankle before
travelling to Malaysia and I played on it , and then I
slipped and twisted it again in my match with Sidarth
and then couldnt move it properly the next morning.. But
it should be fine by the US open Inshallah …” Karim told
me.
So there you have it. An English dominated draw, 8, and
players from Netherlands, Germany, France, Spain, and
India to complete it… To be noted, Frenchman Mathieu
Castagnet and Simon Rosner were supposed to play in the
first round of the qualifiers, and are now playing in
the first round of the tournament! What’s meant to be…
And of course, this is Daddy Greg’s first tournament.
The Frenchman and his girlfriend Veronica, sister of Jan
Koukal, just had a baby boy, Nolan, on the 28th August.
Let’s see how he handles the sleepless nights…
Have a great tournament all….
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