It’s almost three months since I wrote my last article in which I mentioned that my partner Samantha had broken her foot and would be out of circulation for 4 to 6 weeks. After that there was very little to report.
Now that 2013 is coming to an end it is time for a brief look back at a year of which, from a sportive point of view, I had hoped it would have been better than it turned out to be. 2012 was very successful and I would have liked to continue that way. For several reasons it didn’t work out and that’s a pity.
The summer was definitely my sporting highlight. In July Samantha and I played two tournaments in North America and at the Grand Prix tournament in Richmond, Canada we were runner up. Our first Grand Prix final, a great result. Shortly after, we went to the World Championships in China. We could only participate after quite a struggle. We had to pay for this trip ourselves as the Association had no budget for the most important tournament of 2013. As sponsoring is difficult nowadays we started a crowdfunding project to try and collect the necessary funds for this trip to China. I am still very grateful for the financial support that we got from so many people and I am very proud that we really managed to get on court in Guangzhou. Moreover we also played a very good tournament. Although we lost in the second round, we played the European Champions from Poland and lost with the smallest possible margin. (19-21 and 20-22)
Once we were back home we were super motivated to continue on this road to success and work on a further climb on the world ranking. But then, in September, fate hit us. Samantha broke her foot. 6 weeks plaster and a long lasting recovery period lay before her and we could forget playing tournaments till the end of the year. To this day it is still uncertain when our comeback will be. The aim is to be back on court in February and let’s hope that this will really happen. I have been sick of this misfortune but unfortunately such disappointments also belong to sports careers. After I had taken a week’s holiday in October I was back on track again and from that moment on I did everything possible to get the best possible returns from my trainings and workouts. Now I feel that I am more than ready to start playing tournaments again in 2014.
Naturally my playing in the German Premier League was not influenced by all this so this became my “peak moment” of the year. Our team is unchanged from last year and when I say team, it’s not just a bunch of individual players but a group of players who have built up a close relationship, who have fun together and who are eager to try and improve the third place in ranking of the previous season. Until now everything is going very well. We are half way and we are number 1 in ranking. Every match I play for 1.BV Mülheim is a feast and I enjoy every single match.
2013 lies almost behind us, 2014 is imminent, and I hope it will be a year with very many fantastic (sports) moments to be enjoyed in good health. I wish you all a sparkling New Years Eve and all the best for 2014! Cheers!!!
