Hey guys, for these next few posts I will give you an insight into how my first league weekend in Germany went and my week in Berlin! Welcome to the first of the blog series😀
Friday 6th September:
I left home on Friday, nervous and excited for what lay ahead of me. Bags packed and off I went for a week in Berlin. I arrived at the airport in loads of time, dropped my bags off and headed through security to kill the time before the flight. I met Adam on the flight as we both headed off to Berlin to meet up with our new team-mates. The flight was smooth and on-time so we arrived in Berlin a little after 6pm. When we landed, we collected our bags and met up with Kai, one of the players on our team. We went with Kai to the minibus where we drove from the airport straight to the training hall where we got a light hit and met up with some of the other Berlin players. Everyone was very welcoming and we got settled in very fast. After training we went for some food with some of the players from the club before we headed to Kai's mum's house where we would stay. We arrived a little after 10, and they were all very welcoming and made us feel right at home. Their level of english is very high so it was easy for us to chat with them. We headed to bed around 11 as we were up early the next day for a long drive to Hamburg for our first match.
Saturday 7th September:
We woke up at 7:45, grabbed some coffee and made our way to the minibus where we would start our three hour journey to Hamburg. We got on our way just after 8:30 where we had to pick up the rest of our team-mates (Lisa, Francis and Borg). We arrived in Hamburg around 12:30, with our match starting at 2pm. Our first match of the season was against Hamburg Horner TV. I was excited to get started and play for my new team SG EBT Berlin. I played in the women's singles and doubles where I won both of my games. In the league, they use the best of 5 to 11 system so it is different to what I am used to but I adapted quickly. Unfortunately, the team fell to a 5-2 defeat. After the match, we headed into Hamburg and did some site-seeing before heading to the hotel for the evening. 
Sunday 8th September:
We got to sleep until 9 today as our match against TSV Trittau wasn't until 3pm. We had a nice relaxing morning as we weren't in any rush. We actually decided to go play minigolf as we had the morning to kill time. This was a great team-bonding experience as we tried to conquer the adventure golf course (which was much harder than expected...). Some good fun was had and it was good to get to know the team a bit better. After the minigolf, we headed back to the minibus and got on the road again as we had a 1 hour drive to the hall. Against Trittau, I also played Women's singles and doubles. In the doubles, myself and Lisa won the match in a long 5 set encounter against tough opposition. I was delighted to get another point on the board for my team. Meanwhile, on the adjacent court Adam and Kai also won their doubles giving Berlin a 2-0 lead. I was next up for singles where I played Lilit Poghosyan (WR 206). I was expecting a hard match as she is a top-quality player. The first set was very close and I won it 13-11. I came out in the second set, firing and ready to go again and won this set 11-6. The third set again was close and it could have gone either way with a few mistakes from my opponent. I won this set and the match 11-8. I am really satisfied with my performance in this match and happy that I could help my team get their first point of the Bundesliga season. Unfortunately, the rest of the games were won by Trittau, so it was a 4-3 loss for us. Next up is the Berlin derby, as we play the Berlin Breweries next Saturday.
Monday 9th September:
Today, I woke up at 9am and had a relaxing morning and had some breakfast. The plan was to go into Berlin and see some of the sites, however, it is raining so I will hopefully go in tomorrow. I will train later in my club here in Berlin and for the week so I am looking forward to getting some good training and high-quality sparring before I head off to the Polish International next week.
Keep an eye out for my next update 👊
Check out the link below which will bring you to the tournament software page of the Bundesliga:
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