A really bad week.....

Posted 14:18 08 February 2010 in Weekends.......What are they?

First tournament of 2010 = Devon Open.

Last year had a big loss in the semis with Graham Hurrell, losing to two Welsh Internationals.

So a plan to avenge that this year.

 

 

Adam had been in Oz for 4 weeks from New Year, he’d hit shuttles once whilst out there…..so we were hoping for a favourable draw to get used to being back on court. We were both only playing men’s doubles, so decided to travel down Saturday morning. Start time of , meant being at his in Salisbury for half 8. We travelled down and arrived a little after 11. The tournament was running a little behind, so it gave plenty of time to warm up, catch up with friends and watch a Mr Bean episode on the iPhone…..truly awesome….the one where he’s at the swimming pool…..hilarious!

 

We were surprisingly number 1 seeds, Hurrell and George Bevan were no.3 seeds and the Corby brothers were seeded 2. At four in our half were Dow and Hilton-Jackson from Sussex. We had a game against two young lads from Devon, with the only real threat being one of them having a lethal drive serve, fortunately (as I couldn’t hit it half the time) he over hit it and it went long….so not too dangerous. These sort of games are a great reminder of how privileged I am to have reached the level I’m at….there was a time I was in their boat, it now makes me realise that there were older players I played against, who knew exactly where I’d hit it and strolled around dealing easily with what I did, without breaking a sweat. Reminds me that I’ve come a long way from a young lad with a big whack (now an old lad, with not quite such a big whack as I used to!).

 

Our second game, was against two lads from Dorset, who we’ve played a couple of times before and even come up to my club in Southampton for a game, we came through the first set ok, but eased off in the second and they started playing much better, where we then came through to 18 or 19.

 

Into the semis and our opponents were Hilton-Jackson and Dow from Sussex, a pair we’ve beaten a couple of times before and I beat recently in a county 2nd team match. I’ve never been one for thinking “oh we’ve already won this!”, but on this occasion they definitely had a higher desire and played better than we did, taking us out in two tight sets 21-19, 22-20 I think. Gutting……to top it off, Adam said his shoes were broken and he couldn’t lunge or move off very easily…..also he didn’t have any spare shoes and we were playing the Nationals in 6 days.

 

After showering and driving back to Salisbury, the loss was compounded with the realisation that I’d left my coat on a chair in the hall…..NUTS!

I got in touch with the tournament secretary (Malcolm Slack) and the man has been a star in organising the collection of it, keeping it at his place, finding out if any Hampshire players were playing in a junior tournament in Exeter, then taking it with him and now its with one of the Hampshire girl’s parents, whom I will see at county club this Wednesday. Mr Slack….you are brilliant…thank you!

 

The week passed, a club match on Tuesday evening, with a handicap of -10 and the opposition were +4….this led to a very long match! Practice at county club on Wednesday.

 

I was off Thursday and Friday to travel to Nationals. Adam however was working on Thursday, so I picked him up just after 6 and we drove to his folks in Macclesfield, arriving there just after 10.

On the M6 we agreed we’d stop for food…..agreeing that Burger King would be sufficient. Adam said “If we stop at the BK we are not having the same conversation we always have!” I said “What’s that?” he replied with “They don’t sell donuts at the services ANYMORE!!!!”.

 

We got out the car at Stafford services, went in and up to the empty BK counter, I ordered a Bacon Double cheeseburger meal, answered the questions about a drink. Then the young lad asked “Is there anything else you would like?” Well, there was…….”Do you have any donuts please?”……before he could answer Adam burst out laughing and started holding his head behind me……the lad replied, after looking strangely at Ad (Don’t we all!) “No we don’t sell donuts”…..which led me to ask why they didn’t as they always used to and that they’ve not been sold at services for a couple of years. The lad shrugged his shoulders and wondered off to get my drink. Adam, still with head in hands, refused to discuss why Burger King had stopped doing donuts….something I guess I will never know….but every BK server will suffer being asked for years to come!!!

 

My start time for the Friday was , I got up at , and we were in the car by , driving to the Velodrome. Arriving a little after 8 for Adam to have a knock on the courts, before his mixed game.

Watched some knock up (very boring), then trundled over to the ASDA for some supplies and much needed Orange Juice. My better half at home co-ordinates the shopping, so when I run out of things that I solely eat, I need to add it to the shopping list. The only thing that she checks to make sure I’ve got is OJ, because I am so grumpy until I’ve had some in the morning. Some people need tea or coffee in the morning, I need Orange Juice…..very strange lad!!!

 

Sat and supported Adam in his mixed; sadly he lost in two sets against two young England players. The rest of the day was spent watching some badminton, wandering around to avoid the body stiffening up, trips to get food outside and some loafing around in the quiet players enclosure by my bag.

 

It was a really long day, made more bearable by having some fun!!!

 

1) As a player you need to sign in at a desk by the players’ entrance, to get your players badge. I walked up to the desk, where the lady looked at me…..”I know you” she said, I smiled and nodded, she said “What is your name?”, I without pause replied…..”Yeltzin, Boris Yeltzin”, she smiled and looked down her draw, “Really, well where are you in the draw?”….I looked and decided that the call of ASDA was bigger, so pointed out there I am, Chris Evans. She looked and shook her head. What makes me laugh is that the first year I played, she got really grumpy, the 2nd year she got a little grumpy….now I’m surprised she doesn’t just ignore me!

 

2) There’s a lady who manages the Players moving from the Players enclosure to the tunnel, to go out on court at the right time. She’s a really nice lady, who again gets the raw end of the deal in dealing with me! She came round to make sure all the players who are due on in the next 20/30 mins are ticked off and around to be called. She asked “Have I ticked you off yet, if not what are your names?” Adam and I were talking to Tom Armstrong, my response to her was simple…..”Nope not ticked off and my names Franking….F R A N K I N G, people often spell it wrong. First Name Boris (A favourite for that day!).” She looked, I added “I’m on at ”….she looked some more, “There’s no games”……”What, surely I’m in the draw, is what my letter said.” We both looked at her list…..”Ah” I said, “they’ve got me down as Chris Evans”, she gave me an evil look (much like the look I’ve got off her the last couple of years). I told her that Chris Evans was my real name, as I do a radio show on Radio 2, but for badminton I go by the name of “Boris Franking”, Adam and Tom had long since laughed and wondered off! The very nice lady was not amused, but I was ticked off and it added some humour to a long and tiring day.

I do sympathise for some of these people.

 

3) Other fun was had when bumping into Umpire’s (including the adorable little Ian Spear!) and giving them some abuse, also the tournament organiser who works for Badminton England Chris Miller, a man who has now moved up to Suit wearing standard….very amusing!

 

Eventually we were called into the tunnel. Where you are mixed in with the Umpire’s and line judges….more fun to be had….with the obligatory tunnel shake…..always concerns the lines judges, they think its an earthquake…..fools! A bit more banter and we were then led out onto court. I was first, put my kit down then wandered to where the Umpire’s were on court; there he was…the best Umpire in England….Dave Martin from Notts. A couple of years ago, I was in exactly the same place and as he reached over the net to shake hands, I quickly flicked my hand up to my nose and waved my fingers at him. He said afterwards that he was killed in the bar that evening by other Umpire’s who had seen it. So this time round, I thought the chance was there…..but tentatively he raised his hand then grabbed mine very quickly to make sure it wasn’t doing anything other than shaking his.

 

This was the end of the enjoyable bit, Adam and I didn’t play well, we won a tight scrappy first set 21-17. But then proceeded to lose the 2nd to 19, some things were working, my smash was good for a slowish hall, but my backhand was a bit suspect…..not hitting it exactly how I wanted and put us into a little trouble, with both of us making errors, we lost the 3rd set to 19 as well….disaster. Lost to another pair, we’ve beaten before and really should have made sure of the win. We showered, left to Macclesfield and then drove home Saturday morning. Gutted with the performance!

 

Previous years we have gone back on the Saturday to watch when we haven’t been playing on it…..but this time we both didn’t want to be there.

My fiancée was disappointed for the loss, but was very pleased for me to be home early, we had a good weekend (day and a half), not dwelling on the badminton and enjoying a normal weekend.

 

Now, the realisation that this season is almost over, Wiltshire in two weeks time and then hopefully Middlesex at the end of Feb……with the final badders of the season the county weekend (if selected) at the end of March. Otherwise its full steam ahead for my wedding on the 1st May.

 

Then the focus for next season……