Written from a personal point of view, it
was good to return to a country where I spent 18 years (until 1990) working for
six weeks a year annually.
It is also a very well ordered country, everything is in place, very clean, very good education and healthcare – everything our Government strives for and always fails to come up with. Its people are politeness personified, the Hotel staff were amazing. Unfortunately, it is hideously expensive, but that’s just a minor point. Junior Fox would have to take his own alcohol. Minimum restaurant price for a bottle of house wine was £21 and beer at least £5 per pint! As squash players don’t drink, it’s not supposed to matter.
The Euro Games was a little disjointed due to differing locations and no buses to ferry competitors to other venues. Tennis was cancelled due to lack of entries and at the squash site we didn’t have time or energy to see other sports in action, although Chris Stahl hit at least 4 golf courses taking his first medal, a silver. Or so he told us.
At least 10 of the entrants didn’t turn up,
including a perennial problematic English player and a couple of others
To the squash. Seven glass backed courts
and one full ABS all glass, for early rounds and finals. The Men’s O65 saw
first British Gold, Lord Stahl of Valetta cruising it in his sleep. So he went
home with Gold and Silver, to a Mayors welcome. All played on normal glass
backs. Yours truly in the O60’s,
although my fellow Chairman (or President) of Scotland, Alec Sinclair, gave me
a hard time. He led 8/4 in the third, but years of alcoholic abstinence allowed
me to claw it back and sneak a 3/0. (This was on the all glass, which I loved!)
Likewise
Then the problems started! Stuart Hardy and James Larcombe (1 + 2 seeds) found former World No 2 Junior Robert Henning, now bigger and stronger (much bigger actually!) than either of them. James went down 3/0 as the referee was rather unaware of the rules, as applied by a very clever 50 year old .. Stuart having led 7/5 lost the first and the second easily before he got a talking to. He retrieved the third but Henning re-established himself in the fourth to take the Title. Some of his delayed top spins were worth (some ) of the entry fee.
In the O45’s Greg Pearman very unexpectedly
went out to
The O40’s saw a German win over a Swede,
Nick Jones, being displaced in the Semi on the glass and in the O35’s Jason
Martin also went out on the all glass, the Final won by a Swedish player. The
two Women’s titles were won by
Isabelle Tweedle in the O35’s, again easily, both played on the all glass.
The Tournament ended on a high note with a
superb dinner dance (which I didn’t attend) but was extremely well organized.