We arrived in Hong Kong late last night. Only 24 hours door to door! I was a bit concerned after seeing my airline, China Eastern, come in at #7 on the World’s 10 Worst Airlines, but I was pleasantly surprised that it wasn’t that bad at all. And I got a lot of Delta SkyMiles for the flight, which in the end is all that matters!
There are over 700 masters players here from all around the world for the World Masters Squash Championships, and we met a few at the airport last night. The squash bag kind of gives us away. Some of the greatest players ever to play are here: Sarah Fitgerald, Brett Martin, Geoff Davenport and Natalie Grainger to name a few.
The 45+ draw (my draw) is very, very tough. I got a very decent draw as the 10th seed, but in events like this you can never be sure how good someone is just because they are not seeded or you have never heard of them. There are a couple of players in my section of the draw that I saw at the British Open, and I very much hope I have the opportunity to go up against them.
Hong Kong has more squash courts than any city in the world, so even though all the tournament courts are booked for practice sessions, I am going to head over to a public sports center near my hotel to practice a bit before heading over to a great dim sum restaurant that my bud Neil recommended. (With all the great recommendations I got from students and friends every meal is set here for the next 10 days!)
I am very excited for the tournament to start. I have worked very hard on my game over the last 5 weeks since the British Open, and am excited to put it all into competitive action. That being said, however much I enjoy the competition (and I like it a lot!), as I sit here in my hotel room in Hong Kong, I am reminded that the greatest thing about squash is that you can travel the world and meet all sorts of great new people who also carry a squash bag.