SportsShoes Blog

I am currently competing in the above event. unfortunately a day before the event started i got food poisioning so wasn’t in the best condition. I played Neil Hitchens in the 1st round and somehow won 11-8 in the fifth. I’ll never Know how I won that match! Unfortunately, this match plus not eating for 2 days took has taken its toll on me and consequently I lost 1/4s in 3 to another englishman Tom Pashley.

 Very frustrating as I had higher expectations.. not to worry.

 Next is the kenya Open which kicks off in Nairobi on wednesday..

Had a tough match Versus yesterday, going down in 4!! after winning the first 11-7 a drop on intensity saw the match go level at 1set each. the 3rd was anyones with Miguel putting 2 good rallies together to close it 11-9. the 4th was nip and tuck all the way. Saved a couple of match balls but wasn’t quite enough as went down 13-11. There were 1 or 2 erorrs at crucial times and this was the difference but have learned alot and picked up some good ranking point.

Next stop , Nairobi , Kenya!!

I am currently in Santiago spain competing. the venue is pretty cool as they have set up an all glass court in the main shopping centre, giving the game great exposure.

Won my first round against an Egyptian player Emir El Salahamy which i won quite comfortably in 3sets.

Next was against Austrailia’s Bradly Hindle, a very tough opponent. Match didn’t start too well with Bradle taking the 1st 11-3 and the 2nd 11-8 but managed to turn it around and bring it to a 5th, where I played an almost flawless game to take the set 11-1 and the match.

Next up is world no.23 Miguel Rodrigez of Columbia.

training wise the last few weeks have been mainly maintenance work and keeping the body fresh. at the weekend just gone we had a national squad held at heaton tennis and squash club and a test match V selected english/south african team which went really well with ireland taking the tie 4-3! next up is santiago, spain - commencing next monday. hopefully th weather’ll be a little better!!

lost early doors - 1st round! at the world open in manchester. not the result i was looking for. it was a great event and well run - manchester should be proud! the venue was amazing and it being me first world open i was a little overwhelmed at the expierence which told at times. didnt play to badly but was just a little ambitious at crucial points when i just needed to keep it steady.. anyways, next stop - santiago, spain!

last week i played 2 events. the first was the leinster open. here i lost in the last 16 to scott handly. not a day to remember and unfortuneatly playing infront of a home crowd couldnt help me turn a poor performance into a result!

next i played the irish Grand Prix tour event 1. bounced back well from the previous event by winning it. semi made up for poor performance in leinster..

the world open starts on the weekend so looking forward to that and feeling optimistic i can go well there!

got back from chicago last week.. took a few days off with some light hitting work and practise. some interval work yesterday, some circuits tonight,. squash and conditioning tomorrow and some match practise before my next tournament next week in dublin - the leinster open. looking forward and hopefully a home crowd can spur me on to cause a few upsets!!

just lost in a tight match with daryl selby. first game was played at a very high pace. had a good lead at 9 - 6 but a few intersting refering decisions went against me and i lost it 11 - 9.. second game was similar to the first but vise versa - a bad start losing the first 5 rallies making alte come back but unfortuneatly losing 11 - 9 and the third 11- 6.. dissapointing to lose but encouraging signs and looking forward to the next event , leinster open starting on october 2nd..

had a tough match earlier with Chris Gordon, US no2 and world 66. lost the first game 11-8 but made him work pretty hard to win it. upped the pace a little in the second. got an early lead and maintained it right the way through to tie at 1 game all. as the match went on i was seeing the ball vetter and hitting good length. holding him and working him and in the end won 8-11 11-4 11-7 11-1 in 88min.. tough match tomorrow againt Daryl Selby ranked 35..

In Chicago at the moment competing in the above evnt. amazing city and venue. court is built outdoors on the main avenue. great exposre for the game and players. first round went under way today. played dutch international Bart Ravelli and won comfortably in 3 , 11-1 11-2 11-5. have USA no.2 and world 66 tomorow so should prove a tougher test.. looking forward