Last weekend we reached the level of € 2.600. A fantastic amount, brought together by many people, but we still need the remaining € 1.400 to match the target amount. We have 3 more weeks left to complete the necessary € 4.000 because all filings have to be made before July 5th and before that date all the formalities should have been taken care of. If you still consider to support us; the account number is NL81ABNA0508601045 (BIC code ABNANL2A) in the name of F. de Ruiter. Don’t forget to mention your e-mail address.
The past weeks I have spent a lot of time on the crowd funding project and on looking for potential sponsors. I have had many personal conversations with interested parties, with supporters and journalists and I have written letters and very many e mails. In this hectic period I also had to play the Spanish Open. Samantha and I had decided to play this tournament to keep our match practice.
It happened that the English squad had decided not to participate in the Sudirman Cup as they could only compete in the B group, just like The Netherlands. So the whole English squad was in Madrid. This allowed me to also sign up for the men’s doubles together with Marcus Ellis,  my teammate at 1.BV Mülheim.
In both disciplines we played well but the results were disappointing. We were eliminated early. Once again it was proven that a sports performance, whether good or bad, is always the product of your own talent and extraordinary efforts, physically but also mentally. If anything is not right in your mind, if there is too much trouble, your achievements are inevitably affected. Only if you are physically fit and able to fully concentrate on your sport and tournament you have the best chances to win matches. During this tournament it was physically as well as mentally not OK.
Samantha and I have subsequently evaluated everything and have gone through all the points once again. Monday, after a week of rest, we  have picked up the thread again and have started to work with renewed energy. Nevertheless peripheral issues keep on bothering us and it would be nice if these could be dealt with as quick as possible!