|
|
|
 21-Jul,
Semi-finals:
Froot in Plate Final
Chris Smith reports
Mark Froot to the court today in
the Semi-Finals of the Plate Draw.
He faced his second member of the deep South Africa Team. After
taking down a non-team player yesterday, Mark faced their #2 Jason
Cole Niven. Today's match was on the stadium show court in the huge
Arena Manawatu. Mark had an early morning practice session on the
court to help adjust to the court. The glass court takes a lot to
get used to in general but like all the courts here in NZ, this
glass court is very cold. Mark couldn't get his depth down in his
practice session and this continued in the start of his match.
 Being
a little off his game and depth while facing a strong foe, Mark went
down early in the first game and had little control of the ball. He
started to get things back to form at the end of the game but it
wasn't enough and he dropped the game 10-9. Hoping to get his length
figured out in game two, Mark still couldn't put things together and
dropped the next game 9-0. Mark was complaining of some shin splints
and didn't feel confident in his game. He went back out to what the
crowd that had gathered assumed was the last game. Mark showed his
toughness and after falling behind 5-1 in the third, something
clicked.
The American captain never looked back. He took the third 9-6
despite his shins being in obvious pain. During the break, I rolled
out the pain with our 'massage stick' while Mark got his breath.
Mark's depth continued working for him and he took the match
momentum stayed with him. He won the next two games 9-4, 9-2.
This was a huge win for Mark and for Team USA. By showing the
seeding committee that our #2 took down South Africa's #2, Mark made
the case that Team USA should be seeded higher. Its up to the
seeding committee now.
Mark is into the Finals tomorrow at 1:30 against Australia's #1 Zac
Alexander.
The team is about to head over to watch the semi finals and learn of
our seeding for the team event. |
Photo Gallery
 |
|
TEAM USA Gallery & Report - Day Five
|
 |
 |
 |
|
Chris Smith reports
Trevor
McGuinness just got done with an amazing match against Hong
Kong's #1, Max Lee. Trevor lost 3-2 in a tough battle that had each
player exhausted afterwards. Trevor's close battle with Lee may give
the USA a very strong case to be seeded over Hong Kong come Friday's
re-seeding of the team event. Todd Ruth (USA's #6) beat Hong Kong's
# 3 yesterday.
Earlier today, Trevor beat Japan's #1,Yuuta Fukui, 3-0
Mark Froot continues to push himself and the Team forward
with every win. Today he had his hands full with a gutsy player from
South Africa, Wian Louwrens. Mark took the first two games easily
9-3, 9-1 but Louwrens battled back to knot the match at 2-2. Mark
steadied himself and took the final game 9-1. Mark moves on to the
semi-finals of the Plate Division and takes his game to the Glass
Court tomorrow at 2:00pm.
Earlier today David Canner beat Matthew Nation of NZL 3-1 to
send him to the Classic Plate Quarter Finals with Trevor. David ran
into England's #1 Chris Tasker-Grindley and lost 9-3, 9-3, 9-7.
David gave Chris a strong match and went out of the tourney on a
high note as he played well. David (USA's #7) had a great run in the
tourney and our congrats go out to his efforts.
CJ had a great run as well and his time also ran out today in
the
Consolation Plate. He lost to Cameron Jamieson (NZL) 3-2. CJ has
never played better squash and we are sorry to see his time on court
end. We will look to CJ, Dave, Chris, and Todd Ruth to provide
necessary hitting partners for the team as they get ready for
Sunday's start in the Team Tournament.
|
Photo Gallery
|
July 20th Results:
Classic Plate - 2nd round
David Canner (USA) def Matthew National (NZL) 8/10 10/9 9/1 9/4
Trevor McGuinness (USA) def Yuuta Fukui(JPN) 9-4, 9-3, 9-3
Plate - 3rd Round
Mark Froot (USA) def Wian Louwrens (RSA) 9-3, 9-1, 6-9, 6-9, 9-1
Consolation Plate - 1st Round:
CJ Plimpton (USA) lost to Cameron Jamieson(NZL) 9/6 2/9 9/6 1/9 9/0
|
|
The Canadian team with the coveted
Cowboy Hats ....
Shivone (flag bearer) Arthur Hough (head coach), Andrew
McDougall (captain), Colin West,
David Glass, Keith Pritchard, David Letourneau, Trevor Borland
(assistant coach/manager) |
19-Jul:
Team USA on Day Three
Chris Smith reports
 Team
USA continues its steady and focused climb through the individual
tourney. At the mid point of Wednesday's play, Team USA has three
players through into the third round of the plate draw.
Unfortunately Reed Endresen and Mark Froot have to play each other
next round. Both Reed and Mark are playing well after unlucky first
round match ups. Mark, USA's #2 drew a 5/8 seed first round and
Reed, USA's #3, drew a tough Egyptian.
Mark has taken out two New Zealanders in the plate so far. Reed had
a huge win over Ireland's #3 Chris O'Kane yesterday. Both are fired
up to show the ranking committee that they are some of the top 64
players here despite their losses in the first round. Both could get
through deep in this draw of 64 had they not drawn each other in
round 3. Their match goes on later this afternoon.
Todd Ruth (Team USA's #6) just completed a gutsy 5 game triumph over
Hong Kong's #3. This win will be a big help for Team USA's seedings
come the Team Event. Todd's win today showcases the depth of Team
USA and should help strengthen our hopeful move up the team event's
seeding order.
Chris Callis lost a well played 3-1 match to India's (and Trinity
College's) Manek Mathur. Chris was in the match the entire time and
pushed Manek the entire match. Chris is the first of 8 Americans to
be out of the tournament. Chris' passion and spirit for his game is
an inspiration to us all.
|
Canner & Preston
Wednesday's Matches
Plate
2nd Round :
Chris Callis lost to Manek Mathur (IND) 3-1;
Todd Ruth beat Alan Tsang (HKG) 3-2;
Reed gets a walk over to the next round;
Mark Froot beat Conor Matson (NZL) 3-0
Next up later this afternoon-
Ruth, Reed, and Froot all play in the 3rd round of the plate.
Classic Plate (2nd round main draw losers)
Trevor McGuinness beat Ramit Tandon (IND) 3-0;
David Canner plays Reiko Peter (SUI)- 4:30pm;
Todd Harrity plays Matt Reece (AUS) 4:30pm
Consolation Plate
CJ Plimpton (USA #8) beat Nathan Kam (Australia #5) 3-2
|
18-Jul:
A Good Day for England
Mike Harris reports
Day 2
 Overall
England had a good day at the World Juniors Championships, Joe, Pash
and Snelly, reaching the last 16.
Joe, 16 years old from St George’s Hill, Surrey, had a
comfortable 3-0 win over Ramit Tandon, India, then in the 3rd Round
he defeated Ivan Yuen, Malaysia 3-0.
Pash, 18 years old from Ringmer, Sussex, also had a
comfortable morning beating Randy Lim, Malaysia 3-0, then in the 3rd
round he defeated 9/16 seed Sandeep Jangra, India 3-0. Snelly,
18 years old from Exeter, Devon, on the other hand made heavy
weather of both matches in the 2nd round he squandered 2-0 and 5-2
lead against Rex Hendrick, Australia, to eventually claw back a 7-2
deficit in the 5th to win 10-8.
In the 3rd round against Leo Au, Hong Kong, James started with heavy
legs losing the first two games, but showed his stubborn side
following a few choice words from the coaches, he then went on too
win 9-3 in the 5th.
Adj, 16 years old from Enfield, Herts, had a good win in the
2nd Round defeating 17/32 seed Matt Reece, Australia, in a hard
fought 3-1 victory. In the 3rd round Adj found it hard to cope with
the speed and accuracy of a very determined No 2 seed Aamir Atlas
Khan, Pakistan, losing 3-0.
TG unfortunately squandered a 2-1 lead to Cam Choong Hing,
Malaysia, going down 3-2, 10-8 in the 5th. Finally AL, started well
in the plate event defeating Cameron Jamieson, NZ, in comfortable
3-0 win.
Heard it’s warm at home, it’s been dry and sunny for a few days but
we have been reliably informed that it’s going to get cold and wet!!
Day 1
England had a good start to the World Junior Championships, Joe
Lee (Joe!!), Tom Pashley (Pash), James Snell (Snelly),
Chris Tasker-Grindley (TG) and Adrian Waller (Adj) all
had comfortable 3-0 wins. The only defeat of the day was Alex
Ingham (AL!!), 16 years old from St George’s Hill, Surrey who
lost 3-1 to the 9/16 seed Bilal Zaman from Pakistan.
Set up here is great, the city of Palmerston North have welcomed us
all with open arms and all is well in the England camp.
Speak Soon
Mike Harris
England Squash High Performance Coach
|
Three English into Last 16
Joe Lee & Tom Pashley report
3 English boys into the last 16, Joe Lee, Tom Pashley and James
Snell, all of whom will face Egyptian opponents.
Joe came through his last 64 match with ease beating Ramit Tandon of
india 3/0. He then met Ivan Yuen of malaysia in the last 32 where he
also won in straight games. Tom Pashley came through his last 64
match also against a malaysian called Randy Lim, Pashley won 3/0,
and then faced Sandeep Jangra of india in the last 32 He repeated
his earlier performance winning 3/0.
James Snell had a very hard day, in the round of 64 he beat Rex
Hendrix of Australia 3/2 having been 2/0 up, he then went on to face
Leo Au of Hong Kong this was also a long battle James winning having
been 2/0 down.
Chris Tasker Grindley was unlucky to fall in the second round losing
10/8 in the 5th to Choong Ham King of malaysia.
Adrian Waller came through a tough last 64 match against Matt Reece
of Australia winning 3/1, he then came across Amir Atlas Khan the
second seed, putting up a good fight but Khan proved to strong on
the day.
Alex Ingham continues to march on in the plate, recording a
comfortable victory yesterday.
Ciao for now!
The England Team
|
18-July, Day Two:
Day of Reckoning for Indians
Cyrus Poncha reports
 A
day of reckoning for the Indians at the 14th World Junior Men's
Squash Championship here in North Palmerston, New Zealand.
Sandeep and Parth won won their matches in the morning however lost
to higher ranked opponents Tom Pashley (Eng) and Simon Rosner (Ger)
in the 3rd round.
Earlier in the day in their second round matches both Sandeep and
Parth moved ahead in contrasting fashion. Sandeep had an easy 3-0
victory whilst Parth had to battle thru and win in 5 games. Both
Harinder and Naresh lost in matches that too went the distance. Both
boys after losing their first games played with a lot of grit and
determination to take a 2-1 lead. Unfortunately they both could not
convert it into a victory.
Naresh lost to David of Canada who was seeded 17/32in the event.
Playing some delicate drops and forcing the length Naresh was in
control of the match. David fought real hard. 7-7 in the 5th was
anybody's match. David took his chances and hit 2 perfect forehand
kills to win the game and match. Harrinder losing the first easily
came back real strong hitting winners at will.
Leading in the 4th game suddenly he was unable to convert any of his
winners and made a series of errors. Overall the results gives us a
perspective of what needs to be done to ensure we do well in the
teams which is our main goal.
Cyrus Poncha |
Indian Results:
Round 3
Sandeep Jangra lost to Ton Pashley (Eng) 5-9, 5-9, 1-9
Parth Sharma lost to Simon Rosner (Ger) 0-9, 2-9, 1-9.
Round 2
Parth Sharma bt Benjamin Fischer (Sui) 0-9, 9-8, 9-4, 6-9, 9-1
Sandeep Jangra bt Bastin M (HK) 9-2, 9-0, 9-3
Naresh Kumar lost to David Letourneau (Can) 1-9, 10-8, 10-8, 3-9,
7-9
Harinderpal Singh Sandhu lost to Colin West (Can) 2-9, 9-2, 9-2,
3-9, 1-9
Vikram Malhotra lost to Ramy Ashour 0-9, 3-9, 2-9
Ramit Tandon lost to Joe Lee 5-9, 3-9, 1-9
Sandeep Jangra bt Alan Tsang (HK) 9-2, 9-0, 9-3
 |
Good Luck To the German
Team from Bremen
(Barry, Carsten, Florian, Norman, Simon)
Best Wishes from many followers/fans in BREMEN , Northern Germany,
who are watching the team closely.
GOOD LUCK to especially Simon Rösner playing probably his last
Junior tournament-we are all holding thumbs for one of Germanys best
ever juniors, (on and off the court)! You can go all the way Simon!
The reporting on squashsite has been great.
Unfortunately a little far for some of us to have come across and
watch! Please lets see a photo of the team soon?
Greetings
Derek Lawrence |
 |
17-Jul-06:
Team USA Results,
round one:
David Canner beat Tatsuya Shinkubo (JPN) 3-0
Todd Harrity beat Naishadh Lalwanni (IND) 3-0
Trevor McGuinness 17/32 seed beat Aatos Mannroos (FIN) 3-0
Mark Froot lost to 5/8 seed Yasir Butt (PAK) 3-0
Chris Callis lost to Keith Pritchard (CAN) 3-0
Reed Endresen lost to Omar Tarek Mahmoud (Egypt) 3-1
CJ Plimpton lost to Chris Lloyd (NZL) 3-0
Todd Ruth lost to Randy Lim (MAS) 3-0 |
A MESSAGE TO THE DUTCH TEAM ...
 Good
luck boys in the land of the Kiwis !!!
Groetjes en toedeloe.
 |
17-Jul-06:
Six out of Nine for India
Cyrus Poncha reports on Day One
The Indian's had a reasonable good day with 6 of the 9 participating
boys entering the second round at the 14th World Junior Men's Squash
Championship here in North Palmerston, New Zealand.
Naresh Kumar, playing his first event after winning in Penang,
continued his good form to defeat Bryce Redman (NZ).
 The
8 degree temperature has been a bit of a concern for the entire
contingent as it is very different from playing in India, however
all coped well and five of the boys won their matches in straight
games.
The SRFI decided to expose their top two boys u15 Ravi Dixit & Ramit
Tandon. Ravi played against Asian champion Max Lee and kept him on
court for 32min. Ravi was retrieving many shots which unnerved Max,
however Max was too strong and won comfortably. Ramit progressed due
to a walk over. Both boys are guaranteed three matches and this
exposure will be great for them.
RESULTS:
Naresh Kumar bt Bryce Redman (NZ)
9-5, 9-0, 9-4
Parth Sharma bt Nathan Kam (Aus)
9-7, 9-0, 9-1
Harinderpal Singh bt Ji Yang Fund (HK)
9-3, 9-5, 9-4
Vikram Malhotra bt Ahmed Hassan (ZIM) 9-3, 9-2,
9-4
Ramit Tandon bt Omar Al-Jam'aan (KUW) W/O
Sandeep Jangra bt Alan Tsang (HK)
9-2, 9-0, 9-3
Manek Mathur lost Kam Hing Choong (Mas) 7-9, 0-9, 8-10
Ravi Dixit lost Max Lee (HK)
3-9, 2-9, 1-9
Naishadh Lalwani lost Todd Harrity (USA)
4-9, 2-9, 4-9
|
Day One:
ENGLAND NEWS
It was a good opening day for the England squad, with 5 out of 6 of
us recording 3-0
victories.
Tom Pashley and Chris Tasker-Grindley defeated two of
the home boys, Adrian
Waller and Joe Lee beat two Australians and James
Snell brushed aside the
challenge of his South African, all in very "workmanlike" style.
Alex Ingham was the only casualty, putting up a brave fight
against Pakistan's Bilal Zaman, going down 3-1.
We are all looking forward to tomorrow, where the last 64 and 32
rounds will take place, with some mouth-watering match prospects
set.
Ciao for now!
Love from the England boys.
 |
 |
16-Jul-06
A GRAND OPENING
The World Junior Championships kicked off in Palmerston North with a
dazzling 45-minute opening ceremony.
Almost 400 International visitors among the 900 present were treated
to, amongst others,
, a traditional Maori welcome,
and a parade of the teams with local schoolchildren carrying the
national flags.
The individual event gets under way at a very civilised 11.00 on
Monday, with just the Kuwaiti contingent still to arrive ...
News from all the teams welcomed
|
Short
video of the opening
thanks to Cyrus
Poncha |
 |
16-Jul-06:
Let the Games Begin
Chris Smith can't wait ...
In our last day of prep before Monday's start of the individual
event, Team USA had a test match with Canada and took part in the
opening ceremonies.
Preston and I gave the boys until early afternoon off and then
headed over for a late afternoon test match with Canada. CJ, Reed,
Chris, David, and Todd Ruth took to the court against the top 5 from
our North American counterparts. All the families who have started
arriving in the last couple days showed up to show support for the
team. It's nice to have a cheering section.
After some intense games of PAR scoring to 9, we all headed to the
hotel to get ready for the opening ceremonies. I would like to take
the time to thank both Canada and Ireland for getting on court with
us the last couple of days. It is a very good way to prep for the
tourney by playing others we aren't used to being on court with. We
wish the best of luck to both teams (except when they play us).
 The
opening ceremonies took us over to the "other" venue for the first
time. Arena Manawatu has the 4 glass court and 1500 seats around it
and will hold some amazing squash over the next two weeks. The
ceremony featured a Fire Spinning dance called the Fire Poi and an
intimidating traditional Maori Haka Dance. We were also treated to
an entrance of the flags carried by children from Palmerston North
including our very own flag bear from the St. Mary's School.
Also with us at the ceremony were Allan and Troy our amazing local
volunteer "liaisons" who make sure the team has
everything we need. They have made us feel at home and we thank them
for their continued support. It was a wonderful night that was
topped off with a full team dinner, including parents and family, at
one of the best local restaurants in "Palmy". Thank you to our
cheering and support section for treating us to such a great dinner!
Preston and I handed out gifts to the team today in the form of
native Maori necklaces. Each player received the Hei-Matau symbol
which is a symbol of power, strength, and authority which are held
in great reverence by the Maori people. We will look to these
necklaces for some added strength this week.
After a lifetime of dedication to the sport of squash, two years of
working to make the team, and 4 weeks of training for this very
moment, the games have started for Team USA.
I'm so proud of this group of young men. They truly embody the
spirit of team and even in an individual sport, these individuals
have each other for strength and support.
Chris Smith |
|
 |
16-Jul-06
Indians Ready for the off
Twenty-six
hours after we left our homes we arrived at the hotel in Palmerston
North on the afternoon of the 14th July.
The stopover in Singapore was no problem, where we met up with the
Pakistan and Malaysian teams who were on the same flight to New
Zealand. Fog in Auckland meant a five-hour delay there, and after a
rather bumpy flight we finally set down in Palmerston North.
Since then everything has gone smoothly. The organisation is very
good, there's lots of volunteers around, and we've already managed
to get four practice sessions under our belt so it's all systems go.
It's much cooler than we're used to, but the boys are coping well
with that and we're looking forward to a good competition.
The setup is great. Palmerston North is primarily a University town,
with 10,000 of the 70,000 population connected with the University,
and the compact nature of the town means that there's no need for
buses to get around. The hotel is just 150 metres from the venue,
and it's only a 7 or 8 minute walk to the centre with shopping
malls, food courts and other amenities.
A special thanks to our liaison officer Grant Watts, who has
provided everything that I've needed!
We haven't had time to explore yet, but we're looking forward to
getting out and about over the next two weeks, and to some great
squash. It's the opening ceremony this evening, then the action
starts ...
Indian National Coach (SquashGym
photos from Cyrus)
|
 |
16-Jul-06:
Final Preparations for the US
Preston Quick reports
 Day
4 for the team was quite eventful. We started the day with a test
match vs. Ireland. Froot and Endresen both lost their matches,
3-0 and 3-1 respectively. Harrity's match ended in a 2-all draw in
hopes of not wearing out the players too much before the event.
With the days training already finished, the team headed to
Wellington for some sightseeing.
The 2-hour drive from Palmerston North was highlighted by fantastic
views of mountains to the east and the ocean to the east. We started
with some culture at the Museum of New Zealand called Te Papa.
The highlight of the museum was the Lord of the Rings exhibition
with exquisite costumes and jewellery, finely worked weapons and
armour.
The rain kept us from exploring the city properly, so we hit the
largest movie screen in the southern hemisphere called the Embassy
Theatre. There we watched the new 'Pirates of the Caribbean' movie
in a real cinema environment that is certainly lost in most US
theatres.
Sunday will begin with a test match vs. Canada followed by the
opening ceremonies in the evening. Let the games begin!
 |
 |
15-July-06:
High Hopes for Canadians
Canada's national junior squash team is headed down under with high
hopes at the men's world junior squash championships. The Canadian
team members are two-time defending national junior champion
Keith Pritchard, Andrew McDougall and David Letourneau,
all of Calgary, Colin West of Toronto and David Glass
of Winnipeg.
It's in the team event that the Canadians feel they can potentially
battle for a medal. Canada was eighth at the last world juniors in
2004 and is currently seeded sixth for this year's tournament. Those
seedings can change depending on results in individual competition.
Canada is in a pool with number-three England, number-11
Switzerland, the U.S., and Zimbabwe. Egypt is seeded number-one and
defending champion Pakistan number-two.
"We have a lot of depth this year and our goal is a top-four
finish," said Canada's junior men's team coach Arthur Hough
of Calgary. "Keith provides us with some valuable experience while
both Davids and Andrew are also seeded in the individual draw. We're
in a tough pool but we can definitely get through it and advance to
the playoff round."
Pritchard is the sole returning member from the 2004 team.
"We know we're a strong team," said Pritchard, 18. "Most of us have
seen these top players before in tournaments. England and
Switzerland will be tough but if we can pull off a big upset, then
we potentially avoid Egypt and Pakistan until the semifinals."
Canada's last medal in team competition was a bronze in 1992. That
team featured national team members Jonathon Power of Montreal and
Graham Ryding of Toronto.
In individual competition, Pritchard is seeded in the nine to 16
seed bracket while Glass, Letourneau and McDougall are in the 17-32
seeding. West is also in the main draw.
"My goal is to reach the top-16," said Pritchard, who opens Monday
against Chris Callis of the U.S. "In the round of 16, I'm seeded to
likely meet the number-one player which will realistically be tough
to win. But I'm going in this year a much improved player. My game
has matured a lot."
|
McDougall & West
 |
13-Jul-06:
US boys miss a treat ...
Chris Smith reports from Palmerston North
Day 2 in Palmerston:
We woke up this morning to a great breakfast at the hotel and a
morning practice session at SquashGym. We are all well rested and
right on the local time table.
After a couple hours of drilling and playing and some massages, the
team took the rest of the day to relax and do some final
catch up on the jet lag. The boys wanted to relax in the hotel with
some trivial pursuit battles and time on the PS2.
 Preston and I tried with no success to get the boys to go exploring
with us. Unfortunately for the boys, Preston and I saw some amazing
things. We drove out of Palmerston through some tight roads around
the Manawatu River up to the southern hemisphere's largest wind
farm.
The field is 55 enormous wind turbines generates enough clean,
sustainable electricity to meet the annual needs of over 45,000 Kiwi
homes. These turbines are enormous and when standing next to one,
they make some serious noise.
Enjoy the photos.
Friday we have two practices set up with three days left before the
tourney starts.
www.squashbusters.org
|
The boys stay at home ...
... as Chris & Preston
go sightseeing
|
12-Jul-06:
England off to a flyer in NZ
Mike Harris reports from Palmerston North
 After
our long journey we were overwhelmed by our reception at Palmerston
Airport, where we were greeted by Donna Wilson and a fantastic team
of volunteers plus Principal Nick Reed and students from Ashurst
School who performed the Haka.
I'm glad I don't have to stand in front of the All Blacks!!
The Club is only 200 yards from the hotel and the city centre is
only another 200 yards further on. The newly refurbished venue
Squashgym Club is nearing completion with the paint hoping to be dry
by Friday.
The England team are settling in well, last night we played a match
against the Central District where we won 7-0. I won!!! There's
still life in the old dog!!!!
I would like to Thank Paul Tuffin, New Zealand High
Performance Coach, his team and supporters who came along last night
for a great match and there kind hospitality.
A severe weather warning was issued yesterday for this area and last
night we were given a great thunder and lightning display, plus
strong winds and horizontal rain.
Today Tom Pashley and Chris Tasker are off soon to do a Radio
interview then the team are off for practice.
Speak soon ...
England squash High Performance Coach
|
England 7 Central 0
Joe Lee bt
Kent Darlington 9/5 9/2 9/2
Mike Harris bt
Anthony McLeod 9/5 9/5 9/6
Chris Tasker-Grindley bt
Paul Tuffin 9/2 9/2 9/2
Alex Ingham bt
Tim Preston 9/4 9/4 9/3
James Snell bt
Mike McSherry 3/9 2/9 9/7 9/0 9/5
Adrian Waller bt
Matt Nation 9/3 9/3 9/4
Tom Pashley bt
Glen Carson 9/1 9/0 7/9 9/2 |
11-Jul-06:
England Arrive to a Haka !
Upon arriving in New Zealand following a brutal flight we were
greeted by some local school children who performed the Haka for us
in an intense fashion! We were made to feel very welcome by all the
organisers and locals.
We are beginning to slowly adapt to New Zealand's time difference.
The club is looking good however there is still construction work to
be done as the bar has not yet been built and some of the courts are
still lacking service lines!
It is pretty chilly over here and the courts are quite slow and
cold, so Tom Pashley is sure to be eying up the nicks when the
tournament commences!
We started training today and we all found it hard to keep up due to
the jetlag, especially Adrian Waller, who is finding it particularly
hard.
The team has a match tomorrow against a local side, and coach Mike
Harris has opted to occupy the 7th string, in a vain attempt to try
and shed the pounds.
Be in touch soon,
Ciao for now.
Tom Pashley, Joe Lee and Alex Ingham
|
England arrive ...
... to a Haka !!!
Photos from
2006worldjuniors.co.nz
|
|
The
Canadian Team today at the World Juniors had 4 of it's 5 players
move into the round of 32.
We
hopped on a puddle jumper and got to Palmerston where we were
greeted by our pen-pals from St. Mary's School. There were no
missing bags or kids--which is a nice start to a journey. 
