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BJO
En Bref 2007 Issue #1
2006 En Bref
Everything you didn't know you needed to know about the British Junior
Open, from Steve Cubbins ... |
 Passports
Please
It's a requirement this year that
all overseas players show their passports, under pain of being
forfeited. Despite a few worries about how it would work, it's all gone
remarkable smoothly with most of the players having their documents
ready on registration, and countries such as Malaysia and Egypt
presenting them all en bloc. |
The
lonely Ref
"Blimey, where am I supposed to sit?" said Surrey referee Claire Baker,
although know as Wimbledon Racquet Club Assistant Manager, when she
discovered that she was starting proceedings on Abbeydale's court 7, the
glass court.
Well, at 9 in the morning she could pretty much choose, it's not exactly
packed, and as it happened it never got any busier as that first match
turned out to be a no-show from one of the Nigerian entrants.
Claire spent a fair few hours on that court yesterday in the end, most
of it spent just hanging around as she ended up with two no-shows, two
27-1 wins (total time 23 minutes) and a fairly quick 3/1.
"I moved on to court 8 after that," said Claire, "and had some good
competitive matches on that court!" |
A
Variety of Views
 There's
a real mixture of court styles over the two clubs, and a mixture of
viewing facilities too.
We have the all-glass court of course, several
glassbacks with tiered seating, some glassbacks with viewing areas above
and below, and some traditional courts with just a balcony.
Hallamshire's court four presents the most original viewing angle though
- it's a traditional balcony court, with the added bonus of a glass door
... squash through the keyhole! |
 Better
Connections
If you remember last year's En Bref, we
started off with a whinge about being on a modem for a week.
Well, things have moved on, and this year we have WiFi in the hotel
(only in the bar area, but who's complaining?), and our magic T-Mobile
'Web&Walk' cards now allow us to connect at near-broadband speed
virtually anywhere. And yes, it works at Abbeydale, so we're up and
running ... |
Surrey's Hussein Houta ... first on court |
 Lots
of Nations
The BJO is the world's top junior tournament, and the number of entries
from the various nations tell us how popular it is around the world:
Australia 7, Belgium 8, Cayman Islands 1, Denmark 2, England 176,
Germany 1, Hungary 1, Japan 2, Kuwait 3, Mexico 3, New Zealand 5,
Pakistan 36, Slovakia 2, Spain 4, USA 11, Barbados 1, Canada 24, Czech
Republic 6, Egypt 40, France 14, Hong Kong 5, India 18, Jordan 3,
Malaysia 17, Netherlands 7, Nigeria 2, Scotland 5, South Africa 28,
Switzerland 6, Wales 15.
I wonder how many will still be standing come Saturday ... |
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