jasmasson

So, I'm still here. I just keep forgetting to update this thing.

Snooker is still my life. Well, it's the interesting part of it, anyway. I've been to the UK again - this time to the British Open in Cheltenham. It was incredible on so many different levels, but right now I'm also a little bit annoyed because I've also managed to bring back an unwelcome guest from island country to the west - a cold. I've been spending the day mostly curled up under a blanket, freezing in a room which isn't actually cold.

Also, on a different note, SAS (airline) managed to lose my bag. Apparently they have located it, and it's supposed to turn up here tomorrow, but I don't believe anything like that until I see it. That's a first, though - maybe because it was a small bag, so it might have gotten lost between the bigger luggage somewhere... It has the key to my flat inside (yes, I know, I should've had the presence of mind to move that to my pocket on the morning of leaving the UK, don't remind me - I know that was foolish of me!), so I'd very much like to have it back soon.

It's still so wild to think that this is my 4th trip to the UK alone, and that it worked out quite fine this time as well. I didn't really like Cheltenham as a town, though. Mostly because the important things seemed very spread out, and many streets were very bumpy, had tree roots sticking up through the pavement, had too narrow pavements for me to be on them, or otherwise felt really hard to navigate in a wheelchair. Luckily, there was a bike path and footpath about 75% of the way between the town centre and the snooker arena, so getting there and back every day was okay. In fact, once I'd learned the best way to go, it took me only about 15 minutes to get there by wheelchair. I still took the bus back most evenings, though - well, apart from the final evening, because we left so late that the bus had stopped running for the night.

Also, buses? Yes, they say that they can take wheelchairs within certain measurements, and mine is within those limits. But it only JUST works, and I have to be really precise to go on the bus and get into the wheelchair spot. This is the same with some trains, by the way - but some others are much more spacious, so I guess it depends on the train operator and what kinds of carriages they use.

I was a bit stressed about getting from the hotel to the railway station on the day I was going back, because that was completely in the opposite direction of the area I had been in, and when I tried going there one day, I just decided that it wouldn't work if I had all my bags and stuff on me. So, I ended up going by bus - which also sounded challenging with the bags on, but it worked out fine. Well, not fine enough for me to remember to pick my key out of my bag, though.

Anyway - the snooker? Mark made it to the semifinal, so I got to follow him almost through the whole week. More importantly, I also talked with him several times, including once where he stood around for 10-15 minutes talking of this and that, football and his family and the fact that he was quite tired as this is a rather intense time in the snooker calendar. He even said that he had gone home on his day off (he played on Monday, and then not again until Wednesday) to see his daughter, because she was missing him like mad. I loved being able to have that conversation with him. To be honest, I felt quite shy, and probably didn't talk as much as I should've, but it was still such an incredible moment.

Also, I don't remember now when it was, but he asked me if I was okay after one of his matches. I mean, what? Him, asking me if I'm okay? Shouldn't that be my question for him? I admit that I wear my emotions on my sleeve when he plays, though... and he had a couple of really close matches.

He also had one really magical match against Chang Bingyu, though. He won it 4-0 in only about an hour, and I was probably smiling all through the match because he was playing so great. And I'm quite sure he gave me a very subtle wave afterwards, which was also lovely.

Unfortunately, the joy ended in the semifinal, which was a clear 1-6 loss to the eventual champion, Shaun Murphy. To be fair, Murphy was playing great all week, so I was very aware that it would be hard match as soon as the draw came out. But still - Mark gave me a lot of joy, and many magical moments in a few days.

He was happy to let me have another photo with him, too, look:



As for other players, there are some really lovely things to mention about some of them, too. First of all: Iulian Boiko! I saw him walking with some people a bit ahead of me one of the first days. Then, when he saw me he said hello, and stopped and waved me over. I've only met him in person at the shootout last year (my first tournament), and that was just for a few seconds at a time, but I message him on Instagram sometimes, and I'm in his Telegram group. It was still lovely how he absolutely knew me, though. I gave him a little gift because it was his birthday (I hadn't even expected to be able to see him on the day, as he wasn't playing until the day after), and he came over after his practice later that day to thank me. He was so, so lovely.

I also got a picture with him, though I think there's too much sunshine here for one photo. One (two?) at the front, and then the actual one in the background, making the photo come out as it did:



Maybe I should mention Judd Trump as well. To be honest, Judd is one of those players I hadn't met yet, and I was a bit nervous about him because he's got quite a reputation for being a bit standoffish with fans. Like, some fans said that he wouldn't sign autographs for them, or let them have photos with him. But when I met him, he was an absolute sweetheart. He held his arm around me and we took a photo together. He was very soft-spoken and sweet, actually.



I was really lucky this time around, getting a lot of photos with players. But these three were the most important for me emotionally. Unfortunately, Iulian got drawn against Ali Carter already in the second round, so he went out then. As for Judd, he lost to Murphy during the mid-week or so. I guess we can't really complain about Murphy being the champion in the end, as he had a really tough run to the title, beating Neil Robertson, Judd Trump... and then Mark, of course. The other finalist? Anthony McGill, who apparently hadn't been in a ranking final for 8 years. He played really well this week, though.