... A BETTER WEEK IN HONG KONG

Hong Kong Open:

I wasn't really sure what to expect from myself in this tournament asI had been struggling with my health for 3 weeks since picking up food poisoning at the world teams in Canada and had been ordered by a doctor to rest for the week before travelling.

Not the best preperation for a major event but there wasnt a lot I could do about

Oct 18: 1st round vs Latasha Khan

This match was always going to be a big test for me just to see whether or not i felt physically strong again. Latasha played extremely well using the fast walls to hit low hard winners from all around the court butI dug deep and was very relieved to get past the 1st round as well as not suffering any effects on my health from the match.

Oct 19: 2nd round vs Dominique LLoyd Walter

I was feeling much more confident going into this match, I had played Dominique a few times and I had always won 3-0. This match followed the same pattern as I played really good attacking squash and felt much stronger in the rallies than the previous evening. Another good win!

Oct 20: Q-Finals vs Nicol David

Playing the world number one in the Q-Finals of a major event is something you should relish as a squash professional so i was looking forward to this match. I lived with pace really well in the 1st game despite loosing it and even better in the 2nd game whenI took an 8-1 lead.

Unfortunately for me though one of Nicol David incredible attributes is her ability to lift the pace of a game when she senses the time is right and I unbelievebly lost the game! In the 3rd we had more fast and furious rallies but she always had the upper hand. I was really pleased with this performance though as i started to feel like I was playing good squash again and feeling fully fit.

I cant wait to get some training in now and build on this performance for the world championships in my home country of Northern Ireland!