Trash talk and sledging!

Due to a recent request I'd thought I'd write about what goes on, on-court and off-court, in terms of trash talk and sledging between the players. I hate to disappoint but there really isn't a lot of it going on. That's not to say that it doesn't happen at all though! You will always get match ups between players where there might be a bit of history or players who simply don't get on, but it's not usually anything vicious.

To be honest I don't think there's anything wrong with a bit of chit chat on court. I know Goughy was a master of it back in the day. I've seen him play matches where he literally didn't shut up the whole match! He tried to get in my ear when we played in Bermuda years ago but I managed to laugh it off and beat him in 4.

A current player who loves a bit of a sledge would be Liam Kenny. He's a funny bugger! We were playing in Halifax a couple of years ago in the first round and I got the first 2 points of the match in about 5 seconds. He served, I volley dropped. Winner. I served, he drove, I volley dropped. Winner. After the first point he's just gone, 'Bit early for that isn't it?!'. After the second he's gone, 'Yeah that's 2 cheap points. Well done'. He said both comments with a totally serious look on his face. I've just started pissing myself laughing! I couldn't stop! I've had to walk to the front wall and back to get myself together!

So although there's nothing personal going on, there's always a cheeky little comment or two being thrown around. It's all fun and games really and I see it as a part of sport. If someone can crack mentally from a comment or two then you'd take advantage of it. No?

Cam

2009 - Year of the Bagel

Well that's the end of another year of squash on the PSA World Tour. Even though our season goes through to about March-ish, it's still the end of 2009, it's the festive season, and most players like to take a quick (or long) break to re-charge the batteries and get stuck into the new year.

During the year I couldn't help but notice how many bagels were being handed out. (11-0). Once a tournament had finished I would sometimes flick through the results and see what happened. Every few tournaments someone seemed to be on the end of an embarrassing 11-0!! I came close to copping one from Darwish in the Qatar Classic. He got to 10-o in about 3 minutes but I had it all under control really. At 10-0 down I broke a string during the rally, he hit the tin, then I went on a 4 point rampage! But seriously, I couldn't believe how many bagels I saw this year. I saw one result where the player who copped the bagel, then went on to win the match! What the hell's going on there??? I've handed out a few bagel's during practise over the years but I've also been on the end of one too - in a tournament - in the final. Names will not be shared...

So, although it's been a very positive year on the PSA World Tour (apart from missing out on the Olympics, which by the way, may have been different had Tiger Woods been exposed BEFORE the inclusion of golf), I still see 2009 as the 'Year of the Bagel'.

Have a good Christmas and New Year everyone.

Cheers,
Cam

Dutch Open

I finished Runner Up in the Dutch Open to Daryl Selby, losing the final 3-1 in 104 minutes. It was a pretty tough final and Daryl managed to play the bigger points better on the day so all credit to him. I am pretty happy with the way I played throughout the event, just felt a little heavy come the final. It was a real shame to see LJ pull out of his semi with Daryl. He was looking extremely sharp in his first 2 matches and it promised to be a great semi. Hopefully the big guy will get it sorted in the next week and be right for India.

Nest event is the PSA Masters in India which starts the 5th. I'm playing local hero Sourav Ghosal first round which should be very tough indeed!

Latest

The Qatar Classic was won by Nick Matthew in a pretty impressive display against Karim Darwish. He won 3-0 and never looked like losing. I, unfortunately went down to Darwish in the 2nd round where he turned on an impressive display against me!

My next event is the Dutch Open which starts Thursday. I've had 4 days since I arrived back from Qatar and I've use it to just get back in the grove of things. A lot of ball hitting with a practice match thrown in there too. It's a matter of keeping sharp between events both physically and mentally. It's probably easier to be sharp physically to be honest. Mentally you have to keep yourself motivated which can be hard if you're not used to playing so many events back to back.

I will post my results on twitter (campilley) and at the end of the event I will post a summary on here. Good luck to me!!

Qatar Classic and 2nd round predictions!

I've started the Qatar Classic well this year with a solid 3-0 win over Chris Ryder. As expected, it's bloody hot out here but the air con brings the court back to a somewhat normal temperature. Being based in Europe a lot of the year, it's good to come to these countries sometimes to see a bit of the sun!

I played well with very few unforced errors. Next up is the No.1 seed Karim Darwish at 5pm local time. If anyone fancies watching live web streaming, go to http://www.247.tv/. There were a couple of upsets in the first round but no amazing results.

Here's mine and room mate Stewart Boswell's predictions for the 2nd round:

PILLEY BOSWELL
Pilley Pilley
Lincou Lincou
Ramy Ramy
Tarek Willstrop
Boswell Boswell
Matthew Matthew
Barker Barker
Gregory Gregory

So there you have it folks! Obviously there's no favourtism for room mates here. I've thrown in Tarek as a bit of an upset against Willstrop - big call, I know, but the little speedster is playing out of his skin lately and could move the big fella around.