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Squash: James Willstrop column AUG 31
IT is on the final day of this four-week trip of Australia and Hong Kong that I sit in the 29th-floor hotel room at the opulent Renaissance Harbour View hotel in Wan Chai finding myself staring at the computer screen, searching for some inspiration and struggling.
The best writers are influenced by surroundings of both beauty and repugnance, so they say, and so I turn to the window outside and I am faced by almost threatening but impressive skyscrapers which block the view of the beautiful harbour.
I also see a world of tiny people go about their daily routine and I exclaim to myself that this, surely, is inspiration enough.
It is an inspirational place. The accommodation, the organisation, the ease with which everything is done here and the welcome we players get always makes the Hong Kong Open one of the very best events.
And this is without even considering the aesthetics of the place. The semis and finals are played in a shopping mall, where people crowd around the balconies set on several levels – it is another example of an outstanding venue for squash.
Similarly, the hotel window view is awe inspiring, just like its breakfast buffet, though this morning's feast would have tasted far sweeter had I been in today's final, rather than having gone out in the quarters to Ramy Ashour.
But to see Hong Kong from here in all its high-rise resplendence and to be fortunate enough to be in this hotel, playing a sport for a living, gives me a feeling of contentment, despite the disappointment.
Having said that, sitting here a loser, there is also a feeling of dissatisfaction coming over me, of something which is incomplete.
Our existence as racket-wielding nomads who travel from place to place for half of the year make the art of actual living unique.
A squash player certainly rarely feels settled and at home and there is almost a surreal feeling when finding yourself winding up in a different city each week.
In no way do I mean this to be negative. This trip has been merely a taster: late September through to early November will be spent exclusively on the road.
Maybe I could turn this column of a sporting nature into that of a more travel-orientated one!
However, at least the suitcase can be discarded for most of September.
The annual Lesley Willstrop doubles tournament at Pontefract takes place next weekend and so attention will turn to that, followed by the only major PSA Super Series event to take place in England this year, the Rowe British Grand Prix at Sportcity in Manchester from September 15 to 20.
Tickets and information can be found on www.isportgroup.com/ticketing.
We English players would love to have any support!
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Weather for Leeds
Saturday 26 May 2012
Today
Sunny
Temperature: 9 C to 21 C
Wind Speed: 17 mph
Wind direction: East
Tomorrow
Sunny
Temperature: 9 C to 22 C
Wind Speed: 13 mph
Wind direction: East
