The first stop of the Squash World Tour in 2018 was Zagreb, Croatia. Unfortunately, it is a little too far to cycle there (besides, the strategy didn’t work for Bratislava either…), so we decided to rent a car. Since interest in the squash world tour is (understandably) on the rise among the general public, we had to take a small bus to take our fans and social media team with us.
We were driving the big bus and feeling really important. I don’t want to bore you, so let me just say it was a relaxing drive with a lot of eating involved…
Fast forward to Zagreb where I wake up in the car in the parking lot (once again a short night the day before), and we enter the squash center half an hour early. We go to the dressing room and pretty quickly I realize I forgot my shoes #teamorange #messup. Well, that’s embarrassing, even lack of sleep cannot be used as an excuse in such a case.
So basically I am in panic mode now. Luckily one of our numerous (two) travel companions had a similar shoe size and was wearing casual sports shoes – salvation! That should be sufficient to beat #teamyellow after a refreshing sleep!
#teamorange not really present
For some reason Peter started his warm-up routine about 15 minutes before our game was scheduled. I used the time to zone out a little…
Zoning in proofed to be difficult though. Basically I shouldn’t write about the match at all, as I was only physically present. I remember walking out after an inglorious first game #teamyellow took with 11:6. I was exhausted, already broken and nothing seemed to work. But then, the surprise, even for me – apparently I had been able to wake up somehow!. The second game worked perfectly for me, I was able to build up pressure and avoid silly mistakes. The result: #teamorange takes the second game 11:3 and the score is 1:1. Hope! More exhaustion!
Unfortunately I don’t remember much about the 3rd and 4th game. I remember a lot of easy mistakes, #teamyellow being focused and having the necessary length in his strokes, the better serve and better drop shots. #teamyellow won the third and fourth game and the match with a total score of 3:1 (11:6, 3:11, 11:5, 11:6).
By now, it is starting to get expensive to pay for all the meals. I mean, the burgers and cevapcici were great and pretty cheap for Austrian standards. But these costs have to end! Today I will sleep, tomorrow is time for revenge!