WHAT AN
OPENING,
WHAT A VENUE ...
Steve Cubbins in Paderborn
Well if the opening ceremony was anything to go by, these championships are
going to be a spectacular affair.
The opening ceremony took place in Paderborn's Schloss Neuhaus, a castle in
the centre of town ... and yes, it even has a moat.
All the teams, organisers, local dignitaries, local press and TV crew
assembled in the castle's hall as the event was opened by welcoming words
from tournament director Norman Farthing and Paderbord Squash Club
President Andreas Preising (we'll find out more on those two later).
All in German and fluent English, of course ...
 Entertainment
was laid on with an elegant display of Chamber Dancing followed by a
stirring show by the Skipping Artistes, led by the European Champion - his
piece-de-resistance was to skip while sitting on the floor, somehow raising
himself without his feet touching the floor!
A few of the assembled squash players tried their hand too, with some
success standing up and none whatsoever sitting down!
Then came the parade of teams, with each country introduced behind their
flags, and finally the Mayor of Paderborn, Heinz Paus, declared the
event open.
All that is to say that for an opening to an event which in the past has
been fairly low-key, it shows just how much time, effort and planning has
been put into this event by all concerned. As Norman, who used to be a
master-chef, said when I commented on how much work must have gone in to it,
"it's like preparing a meal for 500. As long as you've got the right
ingredients and do the preparation properly, everything just works." Maybe
in Norman's world it does, but then this week we're all in Norman's world
...
After the food and drink (all laid on, of course) it was off to the venue
for registration and a quick look round. Paderborn is a town of around
150,000 people, and judging by the number of posters plastered around the
place I wouldn't be surprised to see them all turn up tomorrow.
The venue itself, the Ahorn-Sportpark, is fantastic. A big indoor centre,
with an outside running track (and a raised indoor one too) and dozens of
facilities. It's the Olympic training centre for Germany's decathlon and
heptathlon athletes, so it needs, and has, an excellent range.
 Inside,
the action will take place on seven 'normal' glassback courts, 'centre
court', which is a glassback with ample seating (similar to Nottingham's
show court, where the 2001 European Team championships were held), and in
the main arena the Eventis Glass court with, shall we say, more than ample seating.
Scattered around are bars and restaurants, there's a couple of stands
specially for the players - one with a resident heart expert, one with a
back specialist, one with a ... you get the idea, they've thought of
everything.
I was given the tour with the Pontefract and Scottish party (yes, they were
back on speaking terms), who were particularly fond of the outside beer
garden. I guess there'll be a few photos coming from their this week.
So the scene is set, everything's ready ... now for the squash
... |
Pontefract suffer Scottish plot ...
I arrived at the airport with the Pontefract and Newlands teams, a
little late, so a bus had been laid on specially to take us to the
opening.
The Pontefract party were a little slower collecting their luggage, and
after waiting around for a while, suspecting a German plot, a phone call
ascertained that the bus - a big one - had departed with just the six
Scots on.
To be fair, 10 minutes into the journey the Newlands crew did noticed,
and urged the driver to turn back, but no joy. So a trio of taxis took
Pontefract, who were equally unhappy to be the victims of a Scottish
plot! However, as you can see everyone quickly made up ...
PS: Newlands, on arrival, found they were playing Paderborn - Peter
Nicol et al - in their first match ... some might say serves them right,
but we couldn't possibly comment ... |
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