Squash Section

On the 5th September, 13 Marsa Squash club members headed for a 9-day training camp in Liptouski Mikulas in the eastern part of Slovakia. A skiing resort in the cold winter months, it is transformed as an enchanting and picturesque village during the rest of the year where adventurous spirits can indeed quench their thirst for sport and physical activity.
I myself formed part of the team made up from the lucky 13, who set out for this trip towards the Mantras Mountains which surround Liptouski Mikulas to provide a spectacular setting to this small village. The charming family-run hotel we stayed in proved to be a cosy refuge which provided for our relaxation at the end of each strenuous day of our stay there.
Training sessions were of one and a half hour duration each and we were arduously put under test twice a day for almost every day of our stay there. This training camp was organized by Paul Lake and apart from the Maltese contingent, participants included Polish as well as British athletes. Sessions were organized in such a way that each player could not only take part in training sessions but also test their hand (!!) at playing some friendly matches with equally skilled opponents. This training camp reached its climax in a tournament during which Slovakian players also participated, which also added a broader cultural perspective to the whole experience. The tournament was impressively won by a 14-year old Slovakian teenager, who outclassed all of the participants with his skill and impeccable technique. Quite unexpected as well, has been the passion which a considerable number of young people within this small village of just 33,500 inhabitants, have exhibited for this sport in order to achieve a high standard of acquired skills and performance.
One of the activities other than squash we had planned for was river rafting. I have to say it was an amazing experience, and even though I myself was not new to this sport, personally I found it was one of the most gruelling yet fun activities I have ever taken part in. We were lucky enough to have 2 Olympic medallists as our raft instructors or rather unlucky in that they pushed us to our physical limits paddling right, paddling left, and going up and down in the freezing water for some hour and a half. Needless to say, overturning with the raft became the order of the day during which the water currents and the cold temperatures didn’t help. However I am sure that for me as well as for my colleagues, this has been an unforgettable experience which has contributed to making the whole trip a success. Of course having the mountains all around, we could not but go for some trekking along one of the many onerous paths which litter the scene all around. I must not forget to mention our tobogganing activity, a rush of adrenalin as we shot down from the mountainside on the funny-looking toboggans. Due to the unstable weather conditions we had to cancel our paragliding activity and that will have to be something to look forward to for another trip. Although the days were brimful with activities, during the evenings we still managed to muster some energy to socialize and have our share of party and fun in the few entertainment areas found in this village. To the risk of sounding cliché I have to say that this has truly been one memorable experience which gave all of us not only more exposure to the techniques of other players at the European level, but it has also brought us closer together as a team within this sport which we all and individually practice zealously. As a final remark I feel it is my duty and my pleasure, to give mine and my colleagues’ thanks to Paul Lake for taking the full responsibility of organizing such an excellently planned trip and for which I will take the liberty to say was, I’m sure, a truly enjoyable experience by all participating…and to this last comment, I have to add “I sure am looking forward to the next one Paul…”
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Marsa Sports Club achieved a well-deserved second place in the 2007 Poznan inter-city squash challenge. The Marsa team started with two 5-3 victories against the teams from Tychy and Warsaw before losing in an entertaining final match 6-1 to the hosts and tournament favourites Poznan. In the individual ‘A’ event Nigel Dunkerley, who had previously voiced his ambitions of a ‘top three finish’ realised that overseas competition is a lot tougher than the local competition in Malta. Dunkerley, seeded 3, went out in the 2nd round to Jacek Krzywosz but went on to finish a credible 5th. The final was won by Sebastian Bernard, Poznan, who defeated Jacek Krzywosz, Poznan, 2-1. In the ‘B’ event Mark Wright and Alex Scerri both did well to reach the semi-finals. Wright put up a courageous fight against Michal Swoboda before loosing 2-0 while Scerri was able to gain revenge for his 2-1 defeat in the team event by defeating Daniel Jaworowicz 2-1. The final was extremely close with both players competing at their limits. In the end, Swoboda managed to edge home and secure a clean sweep of victories for the players from Poznan. The overall opinion of the players from Marsa was extremely positive. ‘Excellent organisation, perfect hosts, friendly, polite, fantastic trip, can’t wait for next year’, were just a few of the comments. “Matches were won and lost, friendships and experiences gained” summed up the 4-day trip. Paul Lake the trip promoter and organiser, “the whole event was played with the correct attitude of competitiveness together with fair play and respect for the opponent. The Maltese players were able to visit the old town market, Polish museums, some of the historical towns close to Poznan, and get a close up of some of the aspects of Polish life making the trip a sporting and cultural experience for all involved”. The 2008 inter-city squash team challenge will be held in Tychy, Southern Poland and the unanimous verdict of the Maltese players was “we’ll be there for sure!”.