Pioneer and Dutch Junior Open '06
I had the pleasure of taking some of the Malaysian kids to the above tournaments recently, 4 boys and 3 girls. We were the last group of Malaysians to leave the country as there were 2 other groups who left earlier for a playing tour of the UK. We were supposed to meet up in Cologne for the Pioneer.

Arrived in Cologne and checked in the hotel. I think that we do a better job for accommodation here in Malaysia. Rooms were poor for the prices we paid and no air-con, it was summer as well. We were put in another building, next to the actual hotel. They said that it was their apartment type rooms. So my team were the only people there while the rest of the Malaysian team was in the main building.

The courts where most of the matches were played had 16 courts. The ACR sports centre is about 15 minutes from the hotel and was quite nice. That was still not enough and they had to use another 2 more centres to accommodate the whole tournament. All the centres are very nice, they are clubs that have paying members. Lunch and dinner was packaged into the entry fee as well. What a good idea! The food in Germany was so much better than the Dutch. Got fat there eating too much....hahaha.

The tournaments were basically screwed up before it even started due to the seedings. The European Squash Federation (ESF) used their points system to seed the players. This meant that those who have played in any of the European Junior Circuit would have collected some points. Thus, only the Malaysians who played in the British Juniors had some points but insufficient to get a good seeding. The Egyptians and Hongkies were in the same boat with us.

So in both tournaments, the good players played each other in the early rounds and the so called top 8 seeds were bundled out early if they met an Egyptian, Hongkie or Malaysian. There were some people saying that unless the ESF start doing something about the seedings, most of the foreigners will no longer support the events. That would be a big shame.

How did the Malaysians do? I would say quite well. Some of the players showed that we are at par or better than the Europeans and can match the Egyptians. As for my group, it was a learning trip for them. They did do well in their own way and hopefully build on what they have learned there.

My only grouse was that there was no interaction between the national coaches and my group of kids. Not only that, there was not much discussion between them and me as well. Felt like there was 2 Malaysian teams there. They don't realise that the group I took will eventually be in the national squad some day. So why aren't they spending a fraction of their time with the kids? I have no idea. I'll leave that for another time.

Till next time, happy reading and squashing.