EURO DATE IS JUST A WALK
IN THE PARKE FOR SIMON
 Simon
Parke will be enjoying the ultimate "home" fixture when England meet
Scotland in the opening match of their European Team Championship defence in
Nottingham on Thursday. It will, literally, be a walk in The Park for the
30-year-old, who lives in the same road as the impressively refurbished
Nottingham Squash Club.
Parke, having overcome both testicular cancer and ankle surgery in his
illustrious career, will celebrate his tenth England appearance in the
European Championships since making his debut as a 17-year-old in 1990.
Raised in Harrogate in Yorkshire, he moved to Nottingham eight years ago to
train with his good friend Peter Marshall, the then world No.2.
The former world No.3, who is one of a large group of leading international
players who have used the club as their training base over the past decade,
quipped: "It will be fantastic for the laziness in me to have the event at
my home club in Nottingham. Even though I live in the same road as the club,
I am often tempted to drive - and I get a lot of stick when my car is seen
in the club car park.
"It's great to have the event back in England after such a long time, and to
have it here in Nottingham will mean so much for the sport in the area.
Hopefully everybody remotely interested in squash in the region will know
it's on and want to come along and cheer us on. I hope the club will benefit
too, as I know they will do a great job."
The Nottingham club will also provide partial 'home' advantage for French
No.3 Renan Lavigne and Scotland's world No5 John White. White's compatriots
Pamela Nimmo, Wendy Maitland and Lisa McKenna, three-quarters of Scotland's
women's team, are also based at Nottingham. Wales No.1 Alex Gough will also
return to the club where he was based for many years before his recent move
to Berkshire.
Parke remembers with fondness his European debut in Zurich in 1990 when
England beat Germany to lift the title. "I was the rookie, but I won all my
matches and it was a great experience. There is always a fantastic
atmosphere at the Europeans, with matches always played in a great spirit
with strong nations mixing with those that are not so strong - and
everything rounded off with a big party!"
He also recalled the emotional crowd scenes on his third appearance in 1992
in Aix-en-Provence, France, when England lost to Scotland in the
semi-finals, thereby failing to make the finals for the only time in 30
years! Ironically it was Parke's team-mate Peter Nicol, the world No.1
making his England debut this year after moving from Scotland two years ago,
who won the deciding match which caused England's demise.
"It was an unbelievably close contest, with all matches finishing 3-2, but
what I remember most vividly was how everybody was cheering for Scotland,
led by the Welsh! My now good friend Alex Gough was the ringleader, I seem
to remember, but I thought we handled it with a great deal of dignity,
especially as it was the old enemy!"
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PARKEY FANCIES
DINNER DATE WITH BECKS
Today's Daily Telegraph carried an
interesting interview with Simon Parke, who revealed some of the secrets of
his life in squash, the inspirations behind his career, and his love of
Manchester United. Here are some of the highlights:
WHY A LIFE IN SPORT?
From the age of 10 I knew I wanted to be a professional squash player. I
consider myself lucky in the respect that I knew what I wanted and I was
able to go out and get it. Most players can stay at the top until they are
33. I'm 30 now, and hoping to be one of the exceptions. Ten years ago I
would have said I'd try something different when my squash career was over,
but now I can't imagine a life without it. I want to be involved on the
coaching side eventually.
TOUGHEST PART OF YOUR SPORTING LIFE:
The training and the travelling. It becomes increasingly difficult as
you become older. There are a lot of miles in those legs already. I've cut
down my training to make it shorter. We are travelling for about four months
of the year. It's the long-haul flights I don't enjoy, though once you are
in Qatar, Hong Kong, Singapore or the US, it's great. The cities of New York
and Boston I particularly like, for different reasons.
MOST MEMORABLE SPORTING MOMENT:
Winning the US Open in 1999, beating fellow Brit Peter Nicol 3-2 in the
semi-final and Canadian Jonathon Power 3-2 in the final. Beating the numbers
one and two in the world in five-setters was a great feeling, and put me at
No.3 in the world rankings.
WORST SPORTING MOMENT:
Being diagnosed with testicular cancer towards the end of 1995. On the day
it was diagnosed by the specialist I thought my career was over. But three
months after chemotherapy, I got back to training and playing again. I
amazed myself with the recovery.
SPORTING HEROES:
Kevin Keegan; Muhammad Ali, an obvious hero for millions of reasons. Jonah
Barrington, who I have worked with on and off over the years. He transcended
squash and put it on the map. And Eric Cantona, who epitomises the spirit of
Manchester United in the Nineties.
FAVOURITE SPORTING LOCATION: Playing in a glass court in front of the
pyramids in Egypt at night, with seating for 3,000 spectators. It looked
like something off the cover of a Jean-Michel Jarre album.
QUESTION ASKED MOST OFTEN BY THE PUBLIC:
You play squash. Is there any money in it?
AND THE ANSWER?
You can make a living from it, but you have to be one of the best in the
world.
GREATEST CHANGE YOU'D LIKE TO SEE IN THE RUNNING OF SQUASH:
For the men's international body to develop more big tournaments.
SPORTING MOTTO:
Never give up. There have been plenty of times when I have come back from
2-0 down to win a five-set match.
WITH WHOM WOULD YOU MOST LIKE TO GO TO DINNER?
David Beckham. He could pay and I could ask him if he really is going to
Real Madrid. |
