The adventures of Taylor Flavell on her first big squash trip
I embarked on this journey not only nervous because I had no idea what it had install for me, but also very excited to learn heaps and try and conquer my goals. As I hugged my parents goodbye, I wasn't really sad to leave, I was excited to see what the next five weeks held for me. After three flights and 26hours, I arrived in Glasgow to be picked up by PSA world no.102, Greg Lobban who I had met whilst he was playing in Australia. I would be staying with Greg in Edinburgh before I was to head down to the most prestigious squash junior open in the world. For preparation, I was allowed the use of the Edinburgh Sports Club squash courts, I trained with Greg to get my eye in and get over the jet lag. I only had 3 days before I was to head down to Sheffield, where the British Junior Open was held.
The days when quick and before I knew it, I was on the train down to England. I was most nervous about this tournament as not only is it the second biggest tournament I have been a part of (behind Australian Open WSA) but I was in a unfamiliar place all by myself and knew only 4 people in the entire tournament. I arrived at the hotel to receive my payers package, "BJO 2013" it read.. I had a moment where I had to sit down in my hotel room and review it all, I couldn't believe I had made it to the British Junior Open!
Game day was January 2nd 2013, I wasn't seeded due to never playing major junior tournaments before but there was no bother, all I could do was try. I was playing Annie O'Blower of England at the main courts, Abbeydale. I had no idea who she was or what sort of standard she played at, all I could do was be open minded, go in there and try and play my best. Nervous is an understatement, though I had a close friend, Hollie Naughton of Canada who had played down in Australia during the winter as well, she came to coach me and calm me down. Hollie was seeded 9/16 and is considered a top junior. I knew I could trust her on her advice and was so happy to have somebody there for me. Jessica Turnbull of Brisbane was also playing the tournament, she came in time to cheer for me.. I won 3/0 and was happy to get the first one out of the way. When I went back to my hotel to grab lunch, I was star struck when in the elevator with the one and only Peter Nicol! Peter plays an exhibition match for the kids at the end if the tournament. I played it cool and smiled it him when exiting from the elevator..!
That same afternoon, I was next to play Karolina Holinkova of the Czech Republic, I had heard she was a tough player and was in for a big match.. If that wasn't enough to get me nervous, I had also been moved to the show court at Abbeydale. It's an all glass court with huge stands and room for a lot of people to watch! The only time I have played a match on a full glass court was at the Victorian Junior Open against fellow Kooyong girl, Victoria Leow. But I went on prepared for my match, warmed up and rearing to go. Hollie was unfortunately playing at the same time, so I was on my own for this one. I started out well, yet the court was horrible to play on, dead front walls and bright high lights that hurt your eyes every time you went to high volley. I lost the first game 11/9 and came off court knowing I'd be by myself with no advice. But I was wrong.. Jaclyn Kemp, former WSA President, former world no.12 and former fellow kiwi spotted me playing and saw I had no coach. She rushed down to ask if it was okay to give me advice - of course it was! I felt honoured to have her there. Unfortunately, I couldn't pull it off, losing the next two games. Karolina gave me no opportunities to get into the game, pushing me into that high volley, which I couldn't control properly.. All in all, I picked up a point in which I need to work on - so something was gained.
The next few days consisted of a lot of playing and watching squash. I had a bye the next round to then play Tereza Svobodova, also from the Czech Republic. I went down in straight sets, and figured the Czech Republic mustn't like me very much! My next match was against a girl Emilia Korhonen from Finland who I beat in 3, I was pleased with the way I played and was excited to play my final match for the placing of 21st/22nd. I was up against French girl, Oxane Ah Hu. I had seen her play earlier in the tournament and knew she was strong. But this wasn't stopping me, I went on court pumped up and excited. But after 32 minutes, I went down in four sets. Unhappy, but still feeling like the British Junior Open was one of the greatest experiences of my life.
On Sunday 6th January, it was the big finals day. Since most final matches are played on the Saturday apart from the top four, I got the whole day to hang out at Abbeydale watching the top players of each age group from around the world. A stand out match for me was the boys Under 17 final between Diego Elias of Peru and Mohamed El Gawarhy of Egypt. I had met Diego earlier during the tournament and we had become friends, so I was honoured to be able to cheer for him. The intensity and focus of both boys was incredible to watch. After many outstanding kill shots and a few dives here and there, Diego came out on top and was crowned U17 champ.
After a long and hard week down in Sheffield, it was time for me to head back up to Edinburgh on the train, to prepare myself for my next tournament – The Scottish Junior Open – which started on Monday 7th January.
I started off my Scottish Junior Open campaign as the no.2 seed in the Under 19 draw. I was up against Megan Page of South Africa first round who was seeded 3rd. My body was tired but I knew I had to make my mark and do my best. After being down two sets to love, I regained focus, to come back and win in 5 sets. I found myself and my determination to pull through and was very relieved afterwards.
The next day I was to play Annie O’Blower second round who I had beaten at the British Junior Open. I knew I had a good shot and if I was to win this match, I’d be in the final. I had confidence within myself after I had already beaten Annie, so I had to keep focus and believe in myself. I beat Annie in three sets again to be put into the Scottish Junior Open final.
Due to a round robin draw, the two players with most wins go into the final, so strangely I was to play Megan Page again. This match was huge for me and was a chance to prove I could do well on my tour. I had beaten Megan in 5 before, so my goal was to better the score and come out on top in three or four sets. The match was streamed live on the Scottish Squash website so I sent out a broadcast on Facebook to my friends and family and anyone who was interested that they can watch it. I knew my parents would be sitting on the other side of the world watching online and sweating like pigs at every shot I made…
I was nervous, determined, focused, confident and not to mention, ready to win this title. I calmed my nerves to settle the match in four sets. I was overwhelmed by the messages that had been sent in to me by my friends and family congratulating me and felt proud to be able to represent Kooyong, Squash Victoria and Squash Australia. I received my gold medal from Scottish no.1 and PSA no.27, Alan Clyne.
My first two tournaments of my tour were over so it was time for me to get some hard training and also some fun time in before my last tournament. I went up to Inverness (Greg’s hometown) for a few days to check out the beautiful Scotland. The same week, it snowed which was such a treat for me coming from the city of Melbourne! I saw some amazing sites and spent time in a beautiful city.
On Sunday 13th January, I played two National League matches in Edinburgh for Inverness Squash Club. The first one was against Caron Lawrie of Giffnock who I lost to in three and the second match was against Freya Kerry from Dalgety Bay who beat in three. It was great to get some extra matches in whilst training for my last tournament.
In preparation for the Edinburgh Open WSA tournament, I had the opportunity to train with the National Scottish Squash Squad, coached by Roger Flynn. We were on court, in the gym and doing speed and agility exercises. The training routine was completely different to anything I had ever done with the early morning sessions and even the different exercises we had to do. It was such a great opportunity for me to learn more ways on how to improve by using sport specific exercises. I took in a lot, especially listening and working with Roger Flynn who is a very knowledgeable man. He taught me things in lots of different ways, as all athletes interpret things differently. After hearing things from Roger, I am now able to work on specific things with my coach, Sarah Fitz-Gerald and find new ways to improve my game.
I went on to play the Edinburgh Open on 25TH January, which I made main draw (12 main draw players, 4 qualifiers) to play Victoria Bell of England, WR#65. I had seen Victoria play when she was in Australia a few months earlier and knew she was a tough player. Unfortunately I came off court as second best, losing in 3 sets. Victoria gave me no opportunities to get into the game and I struggled to find a way in. But it was good to be on court and playing and that’s the main thing. The rest of the weekend, I got to watch some of the top players in the world play. Emily Whitlock of England was seeded no.1 in the women’s draw, she’s 19 years old and ranked 24TH in the world. Emily won her final against Lauren Selby, WR#45 also of England. In the men’s British Squash Professionals Association (BSPA) final were Tom Richards of England and Daryl Selby also of England. Tom is currently ranked #11 and Daryl is ranked #13 so it was great to watch a match with two top players ranked so closely together. Daryl came out on top, winning in four sets. This was one of my favourite events I have played as Edinburgh has such a great atmosphere with many spectators and supporters coming to watch all of the games. The standard of squash was great and I loved being in such a professional environment.
After the Edinburgh Open, I spent one last week training with the Scottish Squad and Roger Flynn before I was to head back to Melbourne.
I feel I made the most of this trip and used my time wisely when on court and training or even when I had spare time to check out an attraction or the lovely countryside. All in all, I had an absolute ball over in the UK and picked up some very useful tips for when I want to travel and play overseas tournaments. I feel so honoured to have been able to have this opportunity as not many young athletes get a chance like this. Some people go away on tour for the first time and find it too hard or something that they don’t want to do for a living or some come back knowing that that’s exactly what they want to do. And that’s how I feel; I knew I wanted to make squash my career and travel with it, but now I am absolutely certain that this is my passion and I cannot wait to travel more with it all. Before I left to the UK, I wasn’t as knowledgeable with travelling, I didn’t know what it’d be like to go off on my own and I was nervous to see what the other side of the world had install for me.. At the beginning of my trip, my ranking was #114 on WSA, it is now #105. I now also have the junior world ranking in Girls U19 of #21 as of the World Squash Federation Junior Rankings.
I feel from this trip like I have gained everything, and lost absolutely nothing. (Except for the loss my tan; the sun didn’t make many appearances) but I couldn’t have asked for my trip to go more smoothly than it did.
