1st Stop Niagara Falls..

Well first place I visited was Niagara Falls..

Amazing tourist attraction, but a some-what surreal fake feeling town. The Falls are beautiful and pleasing to the eye, but the surroundings are filled with ghost trains, arcade machines, popcorn and fast food. This was my 2nd opportunity to play the White Oaks Cup, which was a 1 star event, which means the total prize money is 10,000 dollars. This gets divided down to each player according to their progressions in the competition. This stay was as enjoyable as the first, and the facilities are superb. 

We get to stay at a 5 star hotel for free, which is included in the tournament package. The hotel is connected to the squash club.  For the next 6 days you can stay within the complex, and go without seeing sunlight with ease. Everything is well prepared, and the organiser Mark Sachvie, does a perfect job running the competition along side a busy amateur tournament, and makes sure the players are very well looked after. There's a starbucks, gymnasium, tennis courts, squash courts, pro shop, swimming pool, jacuzi 3 dinning rooms and much more.

I arrived on Sunday and wasn't set to play until Thursday. I was certain my bags would show up before I played, but how wrong I was. I lent a racket from a friend and fellow PSA player, Nathan Stevenson from Australia, brought boxer, lent kit and socks and played in a loosely fitted size medium U.S. Being 5ft 5, small UK is good, and we all know American sizes are slightly more generous than the british. 

Anyways, as much as the situation continued to stress me out, I knew I had to be professional and try to forget about the situation. I prepared well for my first match Vs David Phillips of Canada, but the outcome wasn't as good as hoped. I lost 3-1, and in patches, controlled and played good squash. David is a very steady player, hits good length and is tough to move from the T, due to his size and reach. I was disappointed, as I felt if the circumstances mentally had been better, then maybe I could of pushed my opponent more than i did. I lost 11-8, 11-3, 2-11, 11-5. 

For the next few days, I trained hard, got some good practise matches against Rasmus Nielson of Denmark and hit the gym for my two sessions a day.  The final was a tough affair between Julian Illingworth, the American no.1 and Mark Krajcsak, Hungarian no.1.  Julian, world number 35, looked a little jaded from his previous tough encounters, while Mark looked slightly fresher. Mark came through 3-0 but the score line of 11-9 16-14 11-7 showed how close this match really was.  It was a good match to watch and a few strange back-wall shot choices by Jules could of been his letdown.

The Saturday night held a squash function, where the PSA players socialised with fellow member and players while enjoying the semi-final matches. Myself, Kashif Shuja, Rasmus Nielson, Nathan Stevenson, Adrian Dudzicki Chad Dommasch, Mark Krajcsak and Dane Sharp enjoyed a few drinks and rested up for the night.I was beginning to prepare for my next stop in Canada, which was Ottawa for the Goodlife Open, the following week.