Hi guys, for this post I will be talking about my trip to Kazan, Russia for the European team championships!
We left on Saturday the 10th of February on an 11am flight to Istanbul where we then got our connecting flight to Kazan. A long, long day of traveling that was. We arrived in Kazan at 3am, each and every one of us knackered. I just wanted to fall into bed. It was 4am before we got into our beds... Some sleepy faces were seen the next morning at breakfast.
Sunday 11th: Today was our first proper day here in Kazan and we used it to try and recover from our long travels. We slept most of the morning after we got breakfast. All we did was go for a hit in the practice hall from 4-6. When we got back we had time to explore around the local area and to our delight we found a shopping mall connected to our hotel. We walked around the shopping center looking for somewhere to eat which was quite a task as everything was in Russian. We found somewhere eventually and got some lovely food! Then it was time to head back to the hotel where we chilled out a little and then prepared for the next day.
Monday 12th: The day before the competition started and we tried to get ourselves into a bit more of a routine. We got up and had breakfast at 10 before relaxing for the morning. Then we went to train in the main hall from 2-4. We were all trying to get used to the big arena feel to the hall. I liked it a lot. It was slow, so hard to out the shuttle away but really nice for rally badminton. We just had a light session today which incorporated some simple movement routines before playing some sets of doubles against each other!
Tuesday 13th: Today was game day! We were up at the crack of dawn for our first team match against the Ukraine at 10am. I was so excited to get out on the court and gain my first senior international cap for Ireland. I was awake most of the night just excited and trying to prepare myself. I only found out who I was playing on the morning of the match so it was hard to do much preparation but I was up for the challenge of taking on European Junior silver medalist from last year. On this occasion I wasn't able to get the win but I put in a good performance against a tricky opponent and I showed myself and my coach that I am capable of competing at this level. The other girls and I all put in some top quality performances but our opponents were too strong on the day and we fell to a 5-0 defeat. Time to get our heads up again for our remaining 2 games tomorrow! This evening was the opening ceremony and I was the lucky person who got to hold the Irish flag🍀. It was a proud moment for me getting to carry our flag and it just made me think of all the things I have accomplished and that if you want to get somewhere in life you need to work your ass off to get it!
Wednesday 14th: Today proved to be a really tough day for us. We were up at the crack of dawn again, this time for our match starting at 9am against Lithuania. I was selected to play singles and doubles again by our coach which I was delighted with. This time we came out on top beating Lithuania 5-0 and I was absolutely delighted with my performances to pick up my first wins for the Irish senior team. Something I will never forget. Our evening match against Germany, started at 7pm and once again I was selected by my coach to play singles and doubles. I was extremely excited to play my singles this time around as I knew the opponent and she is ranked top 80 in the world. Obviously, it was a very tough encounter for me but I was very happy with my performance. I didn't get the win unfortunately but I competed well above my level and it showed that I am able to jump to a new level.
Thursday 15th: Today we didn't have any matches as we hadn't progressed out of our group but we got to go and watch our men's team playing against Denmark as well as some of the other matches that were on. It was nice to be able to have some time to ourselves after some busy days. Although we didn't do nothing as we had training courts booked so myself and my partner headed down to do some training. No cheat days as you would say.
Friday 16th: Today was our last day here in Kazan and what an experience it has been! I am currently sitting in Kazan airport waiting for our flight home. It is going to be a long night as it is only 2am with our flight due to leave at 3am. But I cannot wait to get home. This has been one of the best experiences of my life I loved every second of it. Getting to represent my country and make my friends and family proud is really important to me and I hope that I can keep that going. I am not done now that I have played for Ireland I must keep pushing to reach the next level. To any junior sportspeople (badminton players in particular) reading this I urge you to keep working and training hard as things only get better. It is a magical feeling being able to represent your country at senior level and its something that doesn't come by to easily. This is something that I will always be able to look back on and think to myself well it was all worth it in the end. All the effort and dedication over the years is all worth it. No matter how difficult it may be to keep going, do! Because you'll look back one day and say why didn't I do that. So keep going, keep working, you can do it! And in the words of Walt Disney "If you can dream it, you can do it!".
We left on Saturday the 10th of February on an 11am flight to Istanbul where we then got our connecting flight to Kazan. A long, long day of traveling that was. We arrived in Kazan at 3am, each and every one of us knackered. I just wanted to fall into bed. It was 4am before we got into our beds... Some sleepy faces were seen the next morning at breakfast.
Sunday 11th: Today was our first proper day here in Kazan and we used it to try and recover from our long travels. We slept most of the morning after we got breakfast. All we did was go for a hit in the practice hall from 4-6. When we got back we had time to explore around the local area and to our delight we found a shopping mall connected to our hotel. We walked around the shopping center looking for somewhere to eat which was quite a task as everything was in Russian. We found somewhere eventually and got some lovely food! Then it was time to head back to the hotel where we chilled out a little and then prepared for the next day.
Monday 12th: The day before the competition started and we tried to get ourselves into a bit more of a routine. We got up and had breakfast at 10 before relaxing for the morning. Then we went to train in the main hall from 2-4. We were all trying to get used to the big arena feel to the hall. I liked it a lot. It was slow, so hard to out the shuttle away but really nice for rally badminton. We just had a light session today which incorporated some simple movement routines before playing some sets of doubles against each other!
Tuesday 13th: Today was game day! We were up at the crack of dawn for our first team match against the Ukraine at 10am. I was so excited to get out on the court and gain my first senior international cap for Ireland. I was awake most of the night just excited and trying to prepare myself. I only found out who I was playing on the morning of the match so it was hard to do much preparation but I was up for the challenge of taking on European Junior silver medalist from last year. On this occasion I wasn't able to get the win but I put in a good performance against a tricky opponent and I showed myself and my coach that I am capable of competing at this level. The other girls and I all put in some top quality performances but our opponents were too strong on the day and we fell to a 5-0 defeat. Time to get our heads up again for our remaining 2 games tomorrow! This evening was the opening ceremony and I was the lucky person who got to hold the Irish flag🍀. It was a proud moment for me getting to carry our flag and it just made me think of all the things I have accomplished and that if you want to get somewhere in life you need to work your ass off to get it!
Wednesday 14th: Today proved to be a really tough day for us. We were up at the crack of dawn again, this time for our match starting at 9am against Lithuania. I was selected to play singles and doubles again by our coach which I was delighted with. This time we came out on top beating Lithuania 5-0 and I was absolutely delighted with my performances to pick up my first wins for the Irish senior team. Something I will never forget. Our evening match against Germany, started at 7pm and once again I was selected by my coach to play singles and doubles. I was extremely excited to play my singles this time around as I knew the opponent and she is ranked top 80 in the world. Obviously, it was a very tough encounter for me but I was very happy with my performance. I didn't get the win unfortunately but I competed well above my level and it showed that I am able to jump to a new level.
Thursday 15th: Today we didn't have any matches as we hadn't progressed out of our group but we got to go and watch our men's team playing against Denmark as well as some of the other matches that were on. It was nice to be able to have some time to ourselves after some busy days. Although we didn't do nothing as we had training courts booked so myself and my partner headed down to do some training. No cheat days as you would say.
Friday 16th: Today was our last day here in Kazan and what an experience it has been! I am currently sitting in Kazan airport waiting for our flight home. It is going to be a long night as it is only 2am with our flight due to leave at 3am. But I cannot wait to get home. This has been one of the best experiences of my life I loved every second of it. Getting to represent my country and make my friends and family proud is really important to me and I hope that I can keep that going. I am not done now that I have played for Ireland I must keep pushing to reach the next level. To any junior sportspeople (badminton players in particular) reading this I urge you to keep working and training hard as things only get better. It is a magical feeling being able to represent your country at senior level and its something that doesn't come by to easily. This is something that I will always be able to look back on and think to myself well it was all worth it in the end. All the effort and dedication over the years is all worth it. No matter how difficult it may be to keep going, do! Because you'll look back one day and say why didn't I do that. So keep going, keep working, you can do it! And in the words of Walt Disney "If you can dream it, you can do it!".
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