Another trip to Europe – this time the 3rd Yonex Luxemburg Open. Because of rush hour traffic it was an early start on Wednesday with flights from Manchester to Munich and on to Luxemburg. Or that was the plan! Having set the alarm early, I woke to find an email from the airline that they had cancelled the flight from Manchester, but had booked me on a later one – which was direct meaning that I got to Luxemburg 30 minutes earlier having left 2 hours later!
Second problem – on arriving in Luxembourg I discovered that my case was not there. How this can happen on a direct flight is another question.
Met up with some colleagues at a buffet meal before the briefing and the rest at the briefing itself – some old faces but mainly new ones. I was actually described as a “senior” umpire in the briefing along with Christof Osebold and colleagues were told to talk to us if they had any questions or wanted to discuss things! Myself and Christof were the only BECC umpires at the event, and at the weekend it was only me!
Straight to work on Thursday morning with the qualifying rounds. Fortunately, I always have an umpire shirt, black trousers and shoes in my hand luggage. However, my first match was a walkover as one pair had not arrived, and had not withdrawn! This was (not?) going well. In the afternoon, the referee kindly allowed me to go and get some essentials from a supermarket a short ride away on the tram. While in the shop, I had a phone call saying that I needed to send a copy of my passport before they could deliver my luggage. I rushed back, as I couldn’t send it on my phone, and match control kindly sent this for me. I was hoping that meant my case was imminent – but no. Several colleagues had offered me the loan of a BEC shirt if necessary for the weekend, which was much appreciated!
Friday was first and second round day. Finally news about my case – I came off court and was told that there had been a message that it would be delivered by 5pm that day. Checking with the reception at the venue (which also doubled as the hotel reception) there was good news that evening – it had arrived and luggage-gate was finally over! Looking at the labels, it seems that it didn’t leave Manchester until Friday morning, so it was surprising that I got it that afternoon. Slightly ironic as the airline I ended up flying with were one of the tournament sponsors, but it seems it maybe wasn’t their fault (Manchester airport instead!)
Saturday saw the quarter finals in the afternoon and semis in the evening. Matches were of course getting closer and there was more tension on the court. The ten umpires working on finals were announced before the semis, and fortunately I was one of the group. As the only BEC certificated umpire it maybe should not have been a surprise, but you never know! Of the 10, as well as myself there were 4 BEC accredited and 5 unbadged umpires selected.
Unusually I had not had many 3-games matches, either as umpire or service judge, although there was one particularly challenging one that of course went to 3! Saturday night after play had finished there was a volunteers “party”, with free drinks at the bar. It was nice to unwind and socialise with colleagues.
Sunday morning the organisers had arranged a walking tour of the old city, which was a welcome opportunity to see something other than a badminton court! Fortunately the weather remained fine, and most umpires enjoyed the opportunity. The venue for the tournament is in the European Quarter and we got on the tram outside the new European Parliament building. The guide proudly informed us that when a country joined the EU, a tree was planted to mark the occasion. I commented that the British tree would have been removed, but no it is still there apparently! We also got a wave from the Grand Duke of Luxemburg as he was driven past on his way to a church service!
Finals started at 1pm, and duties were “revealed” in the briefing. I was given the Men’s Doubles final, which was an all Danish affair, and was the last match of the tournament. The 4 finals which preceded this all finished in 2 games. So I am sure that all my English colleagues know what happened – yes the Men’s Doubles final was 3 games! At the end of the match, the referee and deputy were both very complimentary about the way I handled the match, which was good to hear.
Sone of us who were staying until Monday went for a meal in town that night with some of the line judges and again it was a great opportunity to socialise and relax.
I took advantage of the Bank Holiday Monday in England to stay on an extra day, and because the weather was absolutely rubbish I used the bus and train to go to some other towns. I should add that public transport in Luxemburg is free, which is a great idea. Even Monday morning, just after rush hour, there was very little traffic in the city compared to Manchester! I was very energetic and walked up to both castles (Vianden and Larochette) – can totally understand why castles are usually built on the top of a hill!
Because my flight back on Tuesday was late afternoon, I had the opportunity to revisit some of the places we saw on Sunday, and also found other areas in the Old Town which we didn’t have time to see. Making my way to the airport (again on the free bus!) I was hoping that my case would arrive in Manchester at the same time as me!
The good news was my case did arrive back in Manchester at the same time. Unfortunately, it took about 45 mins to get through the border due to the egates nationally crashing. To make matters worse, the motorway on the way home was closed with no signed diversions, and at about 1am it was not easy to think of an alternative route! Thank goodness I was working from home that day.
Overall the tournament was a great experience – well run, and the group of Technical Officials all got on well. The fact that the hotel was in the same complex as the arena was an added bouns (and an extra few minutes in bed in the mornings !)