3 to go

It has been a while since our last entry because we have been busy competing and have now passed half way of the 8 weeks of continuous competition.

So Id better go back a few weeks. Marseille was a strange event with a bye through to the main draw for us, wind delaying play and fire in the hills. Our first training in Marseille was not a good exhibition of our skills, but after moving to a more sheltered court for the next training I was feeling more positive.

When we arrived at the meeting for the qualifying teams we learnt that 6 teams were going to get a bye through to the main draw, and we were the 6th team. It was such a relief not have to put ourselves through a qualification game. The next day we had to wait until 7pm to play our game which was meant to be on centre court, but got bumped out to a warm up court, where we had to fight off main draw men's players who wanted to train so we could use what was rightfully ours!!! Needless to same it was an underperformance and we lost to Geogia.

For the remainder of the week it was a waiting game for everyone. Waiting to see what Mother Nature dished up. Numerous times games were delayed as 70km winds blew through. This made training difficult and as usual meant early ealry starts for us. The hills were also on fire right on the edge of Marseille and 4 fire fighting planes dumped water for around 24hours due to the wind constantly spreading the fire.

From Marseille we went to Klagenfurt. This is always the highlight of the season for the players and Anna and I were looking forward to seeing a new country and to be part of this event. It was a tough day at the office for us with 2 challenging games to qualify. First we played a Japanese team that had upset top seeded teams in Marseille and the a Czech team who frequent the main draw and get good results. We won the Japanese game 16-14 in the 3rd set and then beat the Czech team 15-13 in the 3rd set. The qualifying feeling never ever gets old and this was certainly an event that we didnt want to be on the outside of. Centre court is right beside the lake with pontoons which extend out into the water for the players to relax on the bean bags, hamocks or play fuseball as people fly over head on the flying fox and fill out the stands supporting the local Austrian teams.

Once we were settled into our brand new main draw hotel and I was done prancing around in my massive robe, it was down to business. We played the team that ended up coming second in the event first up which in a way was a good thing. We then played another highly seeded team from Belgium and beat them 16-14 in the 3rd set, (yes we were getting value for money at this event!!!). Usually in pool play (as is the format in the Grand Slams) a win gets you out of the pool. However when we went into our third game against the Swiss, 3 teams were tied and we had to beat the Swiss to get out of the pool. We lost in 2 sets and the points ratio meant that we came 4th in the pool. VERY DEFLATING!!!

For the rest of the week we trained and enjoyed the event and all it had to offer. They sure know how to party and put on an event!!!

From Klagenfurt we went to the back of beyond to Stare Jablonki in Poland. Polar opposites!! We won our first qualifying game against a young Polish team and then lost in 3 sets to an Italian team we had previously beaten in Osaka a few months ago. So now its onwards and upwards again as we head off to Kristiansand in Norway for our 3rd to last event. Last year Kristiansand was the first place we ever qualified into a main draw, so we are hoping for the same this year!!!

Wow, thats enough!!!!

:) Thanks for the support