Alison Waters – Squash Professional

Part 4. China

I’m writing this on the plane home from Shanghai. It’s a 12 hour day flight which is probably the hardest flight. Day flights are no fun, it’s so hard to sleep. I have watched 3 episodes of ‘The Killing’ so far and the flight time remaining is telling me 6 hours 12 mins to go!!!! Ahhhhhhhhhh. I’m only halfway and I’m as bored as hell.

So Shanghai was the final stop in this miniseries of tournaments. This was always going to be tough as from Philadelphia the time difference is 12 hours ahead so sleeping could prove difficult. I had got my head round this trip and was looking forward to playing especially as the American tournaments hadn’t gone as well as I would have liked. It’s sometimes quite nice to get straight back out there and get on with it and I had got my head more or less in shape and wanted to show myself I could bounce back.

Shanghai is an interesting place, it’s strange as it’s an 12 hour flight which is a long way but you really do feel like you are literally miles away from home. It’s tough with the language barrier at times and makes for some funny conversations. I rang up the hotel reception once asking for the maintenance man to come and fix a light and me asking for the maintenance man was reception thinking I was asking for the internet and then checking out. So Its hard as you end up laughing really hard whilst trying to get something done. You kind of just have to go with the flow in China and this was the theme for the week.

The first few days were pretty brutal for jetlag. It was the hardest I have ever experienced. It was a zombie like feel for the first few days with trying to practice and getting used to the courts at the same time.

It was almost better when the first round started as when you have a match your body  has to get ready for it so even if you are feeling jetlagged you literally have to switch into gear otherwise you are going home. First round for me was vs Nouran Gohar. An up and coming Egyptian player and one to definitely keep an eye on in the future. I wasn’t taking her lightly going into the match as she had beaten two seeds in qualifying so I knew she was playing well. I won 3-0 but it wasn’t easy and I was really impressed with Nouran. I really enjoyed the match and felt like I played well especially after two disappointing tournaments my goal this tournament was to go and enjoy playing and just play my game. I did this and it was a good start.

Quarter finals moved onto the glass court which was outside on the harbour front. It was a good location but it was a cold night and proved some tricky conditions for everyone. I was up against Nat Grinham who has been up to number two in the world so I knew that it would be a tough match. I started well and Nat seemed to take a bit longer to get used to the conditions. So I found myself 2-0 and 5-1 up and signs were looking good and I was feeling good. Nat to her credit dug in well and changed her game and tactics around. I think I had 3 match balls in the 3rd but couldn’t convert any of them. It was tough as Nat had the momentum going into the 4th game and on a court where it’s dead the momentum can change so quickly and once it’s switched its a real fight to get it back. I didn’t get it back and ended up losing 3-2.

Tough to take especially having match balls in the third and matches like that you end up playing over in your head thinking all I needed was one point to win 3-0 and I end up losing 3-2. That one final point can be the hardest point which is crazy as it should just be thought about as any other point. It being match ball should be irrelevant.

I felt much better and played much better than I did in Philadelphia so that is a positive to take home with me and something I can use to move on from these tournaments and focus on what’s coming up ahead. So after a month of travelling I’m looking forward to getting back home for a bit of normality. I have a month before the next tournament in Hong Kong so this gives me time to freshen myself up and change things around a bit. I’m always learning and hopefully I will look back at this time and think yes I needed to go through this rough patch to work out what I actually really want in squash. Sometimes you have to learn the hard way.

This is the last part of ‘Life as a touring pro’ and I have enjoyed writing down and sharing my thoughts and feelings during and after tournaments and my life away from home. It’s actually been quite hard writing this as squash wise it hasn’t been the best month and when you lose it is defiantly harder to write down how you’re feeling as you just want to forget about it. It’s easy to write a blog when you are winning and playing well so this has been a challenge in itself for me and actually I think it has helped me by writing this. Hope you have enjoyed it as well.

Ali

email: alisquash@outlook.com

Part Two… Time to move on!

I’m now in Philadelphia for the US open starting tomorrow. US squash have done an amazing job and the men and women have equal prize money for the first time. Great news and hopefully this can be the start of many. We are staying with a really nice family in the suburbs about 20mins from the club and it’s a lovely lovely area. Again a nice change from staying in a hotel and more of a homely feel.

So since losing last week at Carol Weymuller I sulked for a day or so and then realised that it was time to move on. You can’t dwell too much really especially with big tournaments coming up. You have to take some positives from losing as hard as that maybe to find them sometimes. Camille was playing really well and she got to the final so yes I could have played better but sometimes you just have to hold your hands up and say your opponent played better on the day.

Move on!!

So we stayed in Brooklyn Heights for another 5 days and we went into Manhattan and went to see Romeo and Juliet on Broadway. I love going to shows and especially when Romeo was played by Orlando Bloom!!! New York is such a great city with so much to do that it’s a great place to hang out in. I think it’s important after a match to get some time away and clear your mind. It’s tough after losing and the last thing you want to do is stay around the club all day as that’s mentally tough. However I did make myself watch the matches the following day which was hard to do as I was desperate to be there playing!

So now I’m in a Philadelphia and it’s raining and cold and feels like home!!

First round I’m playing Aisling Blake from Ireland and we are playing on the glass court! I like playing on the glass courts as they are more rewarding! They take a good shot but at the same time they are punishing if you play a weak shot so you have to really make sure you are finding your length on their otherwise it can be a question of being made to do courts prints on there!!

Can’t wait to get playing now…

Keep posted for part three! 

Ali xx

Was it a surprise that squash didn’t get into the 2020 Olympics ? Deep down I wasn’t that surprised. Very disappointed but not surprised.

As soon as Wrestling was taken out it was immediately the favourite to go straight back in. This seems absolutely crazy to me. How can a sport taken out only six months ago because it lacked women’s categories and needed the rule format changed to make it more viewer friendly change in that short a time.

Squash has been campaigning for the last few years to get into the Olympics. We missed out last time to golf and rugby seven and the time before we missed out on the majority vote rule which is no longer in place. What do we have to do to show the IOC we deserve to be there? We are a fast paced exciting sport played worldwide and it’s amazing to watch live and on television.

For any squash player to play in the Olympics would be the pinnacle of our careers. Surely this is what the whole ethics of the Olympics is. Would Tiger Woods rather win a gold medal at the Olympics or a golfing major? Would Andy Murray rather win a gold medal at the Olympics or win Wimbledon? For a squash player winning a gold medal would be the ultimate achievement.

Where does squash go from here? We all know that squash is an amazing sport, we have a healthy worldwide circuit and we will keep pushing forward and adapting and changing to the times. We deserve to be in the Olympics but it feels like we are not just competing against other sports to get in but we are competing against the IOC. I think they need to take a good look at the system and take a piece of their own advice and change with the times.

Too much goes on ‘behind the scenes’ which is the only way we can understand how squash hasn’t got in again.

We feel cheated by the IOC and surely they should be accountable for the time/ effort/ money that squash has put in when deep down they knew that squash and the other sports had no chance of getting in. Wrestling was a dead cert from as soon as they were taken out.

Is this the world that we live in now? A corrupt, unfair and unjust system?

If so then shame on you the IOC, shame on you …

Alison xx

If you would like to comment on this article, it’s been published at http://getsquashintheolympics.com/?p=1533

I’m off to Malaysia for the first tournament of the season. Can’t wait to get back to playing tournaments now as it has been about three months since the last event.

I have had a good summers training of about 10 weeks. Have had quite a few squads in Manchester over this time as we have the Commonwealth Games next year so we are working out the pairings for the doubles. So a different summer, but a good one and can’t believe how quickly it has gone.

It’s a massive day on Sunday 8th as we hear if squash has got into the Olympics for 2020.

Huge Huge time for squash!! It would be the ultimate part of any squash players career to play in the Olympics so fingers crossed!

First round starts in Malaysia on Wednesday 11^th September and I’m playing a qualifier first up.
Can’t wait to get started!! The season begins!!

Ali xx