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Squash: James Willstrop column FEB 23
Apart from the lure of the places themselves, the events at this time of year are so interesting. Impressive arenas, grateful and interested audiences and top-class organisation.
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Two of them over this period are in England. No jet lag and some crowd support.
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Nothing is simple, though and in between Sweden and the National Championships in Manchester I had a mini stress to deal with.
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I conceded in the Swedish Open final to Sheffield's Nick Matthew and I felt bad for the tournament organisers and for the big crowd which had gathered to watch.
I spat my teddy out of my cot for an hour or two and then remembered that Borja Golan, a world top 15 Spanish player, is currently out for a year with a cruciate ligament injury.
So I stopped stropping about and glanced to the bright side. I'm always being told to lighten up; this is the time to do so.
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Alison, my physio extraordinaire, booked me in the next morning and so I changed my flight. Sixteen hours later I was on the physio couch back in Leeds and 48 hours after that I had had three treatments from her, one a massage and had touched on every rehab exercise ever invented.
I was back on court on Tuesday after the Sunday final and I tentatively hopped and skipped around waiting for the adductor to snap.
Thankfully it didn't and because of the hard work I made it to the final later that week where I lost to Nick again. I was happy to just be there.
There have been some notable results for Yorkshire-based players of late.
Vanessa Atkinson won three tournaments in a row, capturing her 12th Dutch National title; Jenny Duncalf just missed out in Manchester in the women's event, losing 12-10 in the fifth game of a quality match to Alison Waters, and Carrie Ramsey, pictured below, reached the first round of the women's event, with the odds stacked against her.
As I write, my little head is settled in Richmond, this most conservative of US cities, where people drive around with anti-abortion stickers in the back windows and talk of George W Bush.
I always find it strange to revisit somewhere after a prolonged period. Some things are so different, yet others are just the same.
This tournament marks the two-year anniversary of this column, the last time I was here, which simply staggers me.
And if anyone who read that first article is reading this, I'll be delighted and, perhaps, a little staggered.
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Weather for Leeds
Saturday 26 May 2012
Today
Sunny
Temperature: 8 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
