You are currently browsing the monthly archive for April, 2007.
With only 7 days to go until we leave, why don’t I lay down the plan for the rest of the international season. We have 6 FIVB Opens (Olympic qualifiers), 1 Challenger and one Denmark national tour event on the cards, and they go something like this:
- FIVB Open, Shanghai, China: 30 April - 5-May
- FIVB Open, Manama, Bahrain: 7 - 12 May
- 1 week break
- FIVB Open, Roseto degli Abruzzi, Italy: 22-27 May
- 1 week break
- FIVB Open, Zagreb, Croatia: 5-10 June
- FIVB Open, Espinho, Portugal: 12-17 June
- 1 week break
- Denmark National Event, Feddet Strand: 23-24 June
- FIVB Challenger, Czech Rep.
- FIVB Open, Montreal Canada: 4-8 July
Needless to say, we cant wait to go and there will be plenty of exciting times coming up.
We’re back in Singapore airport on the way home, and with a 4 hour stopover one wonders what to do with oneself. Fortunately there are a couple of ways to make those unavoidable but painful stopovers a little more tolerable.
- Avoid Bangkok airport AT ALL COSTS! This brand new stunningly expansive airport has endless corridors of concrete walls, tiled floors and metal chairs. We couldn’t find a single couch in the whole place, even Starbucks seemed to have taken on the “cold, hard seating is better” policy.
- If on your way to Europe, in my humble opinion the best way to go is flying Japan Airlines with a stopover in Narita of more than 12 hours. JAL will put you up in a nice hotel overnight free of charge! We did this last time we went to Europe; breaking up the trip plus a chance to visit some quaint Japanese restaurants and get some real miso was unforgettable!
- Singapore airport is nice. They have free internet (yup, thats why I’m writing this right now). They have a “Plaza Premium Lounge” where for only $25 you get 5 hours of comfy couches, food, drinks, more free internet (with comfy couches), and use of the gym. And that includes hire of hot Singaporian “gym attire”. I betcha they don’t have runners in size 14, lucky I’ve got my trusty volleys. Is there anything better in the world? Perhaps beach volleyball. Perhaps.
- Take a boat. It’s better for the environment
I’m off to the gym. See you at home in 12 hours or so.
Brad
We lost our game against China this morning to finish 9th. We started with good energy and won the first set comfortably 21-17 with some good serving, defence and solid siding out. A slow start to the second set let the momentum see-saw in their favour, and we struggled to keep the energy up in the stifling heat. China took their chance and won the second and third sets, 21-16?, 15-10.
It was a bit of a bummer because we had a good chance to win, but we can say that we improved on our last game against them and Duck and I were able to take a few important points from the game.
We feel that we are in a great position to get a good result at the first world tour event in Shanghai in two weeks.
Brad
Just had to put this one up. It’s Duck and I with the guys from Sri Lanka after our 8am game this morning. Notice the shorts? yup, they’re not normally shiny. Thats a still morning in Songkhla for you. Fortunately a breeze typically picks up by mid morning and things aren’t so bad.
Brad
We finished 2nd in our pool after a disappointing 3 set loss to Vietnam this afternoon. After winning the first set quite comfortably the wind picked up and our control took an uncharacteristic turn forthe worse, while Vietnam stepped up with some strong serving and lots of balls on the lines. We didn’t manage to turn the momentum back in our favour in the third, and went down despite a strong finish to the set - it was to late.
This puts us into the elimination rounds against 3rd seeded China 2. We lost a close one to China only 3 days ago, and will be looking to get some revenge and knock them out, but it wont come without a great game from the Duck and I.
Thanks to everyone for the comments and emails, its great to have support from back at home!
Brad
This may seem a weird time for this post, but while the internet works here I’ll make the most of it.
On the 31st of March Andy Wyer and Kate Hewitt got married at Happy Valley Caloundra. Congrats to a beautiful couple, and all the best for a long loving future.
The whole weekend was beautiful starting with a cruise on Friday night, the ceremony at 8:30 on Saturday morning and a brunch reception. The ceremony under trees overlooking the beach with many family and friends looking on certainly was special.
One more piece of exciting news was the announcement that Kate is 16 weeks pregnant. Happy days ahead for sure. A big thanks to the photographer Trudy for the great shots and for making the day a lot of fun. Check out her website. It’s all a bit much for me to comprehend really… now back to the Volleyball.
Brad
The second tournament here in Thailand is pool play (8 pools of 3) and we just won our first game against Sri Lanka. It was a slow start for us in ridiculous humidity, but we stepped up when it counted to win 2-0 (21-19, 21-17). It was a good chance to warm into the tournament before our final pool game this afternoon vs Vietnam 2. We have a pretty easy pool due to our seeding, but as always Duck and I will be looking to bring our best game. The top 2 teams from each pool go though to the single elimination rounds tomorrow.
Brad
We arrived in sticky hot Thailand at the huge new Bangkok airport on Saturday and after spending 4 hours at the airport for a total of 23.5 hrs travel time, finally sunk into our beds at the Phatthalung beach resort.
On day 1 we trained with Japan (Kimura and Suzuki - great blokes!) and got reminded how hot it is here. Yep, just as hot as last time Seany!
Day 2 was the first day of competition and after an easy win over Malaysia two we had a stunning win over the number 1 seeds Andy and Koko from Indonesia (aVc’s words, not mine, check the original news. It was 24-22, 24-22).
Thailand 2 brought us back down to earth early on day 3. We seemed to have nothing for their big blocking and awesome ball control and lost in two sets. That one loss set us up for a long hot day of 4 games, and we were hurting! at about 10:30 - the hottest time of the day in my opinion - we played Thailand 1, and things didn’t look good. After losing the first set 15-21 we were down in the second by a few, and I was hurting from the heat. Right now it was so close to being all over, but somehow we battled on. It was time to go to the floaters and pulling as much as possible, and the Thais didn’t like that at all. We saved the second set 21-19 and then took control in the third, well, as controlled as a 22-20 third set can be! The beautiful thing about these tournaments is the lunch breaks, so Duck and I took refuge and an hour of sleep before coming back for smooth straight sets wins over New Zealand 1 and Indonesia 2 in the cool afternoon breeze.
Finals day. Our semi was against Iran - an unexpected finalist with unorthodox style, but solid skills. They were too good for us and we went down in two sets. I forget the score, but in the end it was a real close batle, 21-19 in the second. We played off for bronze against China 2, and again went down in two sets, 21-19 in the second. It was two close hard games, and Duck and I were satisfied with 4th place, a good effort, and good competition. See the aVc for final placings and a nice photo of a diving Duck!
I’d say that this is the first time we’ve played so strongly for a long period of time: 8 games in three days! We really worked together as a team and adapted well to expose oppositions weaknesses. Time for a well earnt break before stepping it up a level when competition kicks off in Songkhla in two days for the Asian Championships.
More photos at flickr.
Brad
We are now well on our way to the first of 10 international tournaments over the next 3 months. I’m now in Singapore airport and finally have a chance to post our itinerary for this trip. We are playing two events:
Asian Tour Pathalung, Thailand: April 8 -11
Asian Tour Songkhla, Thailand: April 12-16
On April 18 we arrive back in beautiful Brissy at 6:40am… and have 10 short days to catch up with significant others and train before we take off again for the World Tour.
Hit the subscribe button, or keep checking back over the next 10 days for some competition and travel updates.
Ciao!
Brad
