Olympic Dreams: Richard Kruse

Name: Richard Kruse

Date of Birth: 30/7/1983, Age 28

Event: Fencing – foil

Career Highlight: Finishing eighth at the 2004 Athens Olympics when just 21

Did you know? In the build-up to Beijing Olympics, Kruse worked part-time as a civil engineer on the London 2012 site.

Fencing has not historically been one of Great Britain’s strongest sports at the Olympics. However, the influence of one man has given Britain real hope of a medal this summer at London. Foil fencer, Richard Kruse, burst onto the scene in 2001 when he became the youngest ever British champion at the tender age of 17, and his career has gone from strength to strength.

In 2004, he surprised the whole nation by reaching the quarter finals of the Athens Olympics. It was the best finish for a British fencer since the Tokyo Olympics forty years previously.

He followed this up with an excellent silver medal in the European Championships in 2006; Britain’s first fencing medal in any international event since 1965. Although Kruse dissapointingly missed out on an automatic qualifying place for the Beijing Olympics, he still managed to compete as a wildcard entry, reaching the round of 16.

The 2009 season was arguably his most consistent, as he won gold at the Copenhagen World Cup and silver at the 2009 European Fencing Championships. He almost retained his World Cup medal in 2011, but lost by a single point against Italian Andrea Baldini.

Kruse’s recent form has been good, defeating world champion Andrea Cassara en route to a bronze medal at the Japan Wakayama Grand Prix in April, before claiming another bronze at the European Championships last month.

Now Kruse is part of a nine-strong Team GB squad, along with fellow foil fencers James Davis and Husayn Rosowsky. His main rival will probably be Germany’s Peter Joppich, who has finished within the top six in the previous two Olympics and has four foil world titles to his name.

Tennis' one-trick pony

There is no doubt that when Andy Roddick hangs up his racquet at the end of his career, he will be remembered as one of the greatest American tennis players to play the game. Back in 2003, we saw a young, dynamic, 21-year old trounce the rest of the field in the US Open, securing his one, and only, Grand Slam and claiming the world number 1 spot. His status as America’s new tennis hope in the post-Pete Sampras era was born. His triumph, along with Roger Federer’s maiden Wimbledon title earlier in the year, undoubtedly sparked a renewed global interest in the sport. He has carried the American flag in men’s tennis almost single-handedly since, while his sharp and witty character has won many fans around the world. And with that serve, so emphatically exhibited in 2003, we fully expected Roddick to go on and dominate men’s tennis for another decade.

Looking back from 2012, we realise our forecast was wrong. No more Grand Slams have followed Roddick’s 2003 success, although he has come mightily close at Wimbledon on three occasions, only to be denied on each occasion by Roger Federer. Now ranked 27 in the world, third in the US behind Mardy Fish and John Isner and on the verge of turning 30, it appears as though Roddick’s ability to compete at the highest level is over.

Roddick beats Juan Carlos Ferrero to win the 2003 US Open

Roddick’s serve has been described by some commentators as the greatest in history, but it has not been enough for him to achieve consistent Grand Slam glory. Let’s look at some statistics. Clearly, Roddick’s serve performance has been remarkably consistent over the years as the table shows. His first serve percentage in 2003 was distinctly average, yet he was able to crush his opponents. As we can see, however, although Roddick’s first serve percentage has steadily improved over the years, the percentage of points won on his first serve and service games won have not followed this trend; they have if anything regressed.

	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007	2008	2009	2010	2011
First serve %	61	63	66	67	65	68	70	69	65
First serve points won %	81	81	82	79	80	80	79	79	77
Service games won %	91	91	93	90	91	91	91	91	87

Source: ATPWorldTour.com

However, if we dig deeper the reasons behind this serving paradox become much clearer. The tennis players which Roddick is facing today are vastly different to what they were back in 2003. Taking the top ten players from June 16th 2003, the average height measured up at exactly six feet and the average weight 175 pounds. Today’s top ten have an average height three inches taller at 6’3 and a weight of 194 pounds. Roddick, who is 6 feet 2 and 195 pounds, was bigger and stronger than most players in 2003, but is now probably just below the norm today. Perhaps if Roddick was playing instead of fellow American Pete Sampras in the 1990s he would have won just as many Grand Slams, but today’s incredibly competitive field has limited his chances.

The statistics essentially prove today’s top players are fitter than ever before, which has meant many can match Roddick’s serving ferocity. The need to deal with these serves has in turn led to an emphasis on the returning game; just look at how good the likes of Murray, Nadal and Djokovic are at returning the huge serves of Karlovic, Isner and Roddick himself. The diagram below shows Roddick’s serve placement against Federer in the 2005 Wimbledon final. What is most fascinating is that although many of Roddick’s serves are placed close to the corners, he hit only seven aces to Federer’s 11. In most cases, Federer was able to execute most returns with a simple backhand block.

Roddick's serve in the 2005 Wimbledon final did not hurt Federer

Then, once the serve is returned, today’s fitter, stronger players excel in the longer rallies. This is where Roddick has historically struggled; his touch at the net and his ability to hit backhand winners, for example, often lets him down. His inability to mix up his game contrasts with the array of shots the best players possess in their armoury to keep their opponents guessing. For example, Federer can deploy a range of drop shots, slices, squash shots, you name it, which is why he is still going strong into his 30s. In addition, although Federer’s serve averages at 115-120mph (around 20mph slower than Roddick’s) his ability to hit different spots with equal success makes him highly unpredictable to face. You could also argue Rafael Nadal has adapted his game hugely from his comfort zone on clay in order to win Wimbledon twice.

By contrast, Roddick’s style has barely evolved in his career; he is still hoping his powerful, and increasingly predictable, serve can blow away increasingly more formidable opponents. It is true that Coach Larry Stefanki has improved Roddick’s tactics, fitness and overall performance, but even this hasn’t been enough to win another Grand Slam and stay in the top ten. Roddick’s only remaining chance of Grand Slam success is going to be at Wimbledon, because the surface does not tend to favour tall players with the ball staying low. He surprised everyone back in 2009 by reaching the final and pushing Federer all the way, but I can’t see any Ivanisevic-style heroics happening; far more players are adapting to grass in the top ten nowadays, particularly Nadal and, as we saw last year, Djokovic.

Was this year's Wimbledon Roddick's last?

This last point links to another evolution in modern tennis – the slowing pace of many surfaces. This is particularly the case with grass, the fastest surface in tennis, as Roddick’s serve used to be able to stay very low and fast after hitting the ground. Today, though, the ball reacts differently to courts such as Wimbledon as it bounces up higher. This is crucial when we analyse Roddick’s serve as players have approximately a tenth of a second longer to react and play a decent return than they did 20 years ago. Even the hard courts have become noticeably slower recently, especially at the US Open, which was probably among the fastest courts in the world a few years ago. In short, players such as Roddick are getting fewer free points on their serve, which is why we are seeing more gruelling rallies which today’s bigger, stronger players excel in.

It seems to me that Roddick and his coaches have been so transfixed by his powerful serve that other aspects of his game are being ignored, with significant consequences. The courts have slowed, and the players Roddick faces today are physically superior to a decade ago, but Roddick has proved too often he has no Plan B. Of course, Andy has suffered from a number of injuries over the last few years which have limited his ability to play over 20 tournaments a year. However, I would argue blaming Roddick’s decline on injury is very short-sighted; the inherent problems stem from his consistently narrow game plan in every tournament and on every surface he plays. The Andy Roddick case has demonstrated to the tennis world that you cannot afford to be a one-trick pony any more. Variety, adaptability and all round physical strength are now highly valued attributes which are top of the priority list for a place in the top ten and, ultimately, Grand Slam success.

From the first issue of Into The Sunset magazine.

Hexham Courant newscast

Here's my Hexham Courant newscast from Wednesday, as heavy rain failed to deter several key events going ahead in Tynedale. Also, the burden of VAT on air ambulance services was debated in the House of Commons. You can read the full transcript of this debate on Guy Opperman's blog here: http://guyopperman.blogspot.co.uk/.

Olympic Dreams: Rajiv Ouseph

Name: Rajiv Ouseph

Date of birth: 30/8/1986, age 25

Career highlight: Won the 2010 US Open Men’s Singles

Did you know? Originally wanting to pursue a career in journalism, Rajiv studied Media and Communications at Loughborough University.

Brought up in Hounslow, the London Olympics will be a very special occasion for Team GB’s men’s singles representative, Rajiv Ouseph. As he says:

“The Olympics is a once in a lifetime experience and I’m honoured to be representing Team GB in my home city of London. Having grown up here, it’s even more exciting to be competing in front of a home crowd and knowing you have great support on the door step.”

His badminton potential was emphatically showcased from an early age as Ouseph won the 2005 European Junior Championships, as well as every English national title between the ages of 13 and 19.

And with a series of impressive results over the past couple of years which has seen him become British number 1 and world number 19, there is a new level of expectation on Ouseph’s shoulders, something he has not experienced before.

He won the English National Singles in 2008, 2009, 2010 and 2011, the first to win four in a row since Darren Hall in 1991. He attained his highest ranking of 18 after winning the 2010 US Open, before claiming bronze in the European Championships and silver in the Commonwealth Games the same year.

The format for the singles at the Olympics will be a group stage followed by knock-out, while the favourite to win overall is the Chinese Lin Dan, regarded by many as the greatest badminton player in history. He won gold in Beijing and is also the reigning world champion, so will take some beating.

To read all the other profiles in the Olympic Dreams series, visit York Vision's London 2012 page.

Rotten luck for Derwent

Whatever college you belong to and whatever sporting allegiances you may hold, it was very hard not to feel sorry for David Kirk today.

Slumped on the grass outside the JLD, Kirk cut a dejected figure as his Derwent side crashed out of the College Cup on penalties to Vanbrugh 1sts in arguably the tournament’s most fascinating match to date.


As captain faced captain in the shootout, it was the Vanbrugh skipper, James Wilson, who decisively saved his counterpart’s penalty to book a date with either James 1sts or Halifax 1sts next week.


In truth, the shootout was effectively over before Kirk stepped up as Dan Atherton and Alex D’Albertanson produced weak efforts, while John Gill and James Wilson himself scored with conviction.

David Kirk's side were desperately unlucky against Vanbrugh

Derwent’s pre-match penalty practice worked no magic, while the intense atmosphere conjured up by the hundreds gathered around the penalty stage seemed to work in Vanbrugh’s favour.


Kirk will also rue the decision made by referee Dan Horsfall to rule out Ollie Harrison’s header for an alleged push on Chris Wignall. The verdict seemed incredibly harsh, and if Derwent had indeed scored then, I think they would have knocked in a couple more before full time.


It takes a brave man to lead a college of Derwent’s size and sporting prestige, and Kirk can be proud of his efforts in coming so close to emulating predecessor Joe Boughtflower in reaching the College Cup Final. He is relatively new to the role, and I’m sure he will be rewarded for his efforts next year.


It is impossible to deny that Derwent were the better team across the whole 60 minutes. Kirk probably should have scored with a simple header from six yards just after half-time, before Wilson produced a save of the highest quality to deny Atherton.


Although Derwent took a deserved lead with seven minutes remaining, they really should have been out of sight by that stage.


And they succumbed to one of the JLD’s most potent weapons – the long ball. It was the type of goal you would rarely see scored on grass because the ball would not bounce so high off the turf.


As it was, Phil Taylor gambled in poacher fashion to reach the ball a split second ahead of Treasure and nod in a sensational equaliser. Had Taylor been a tenth of a second slower, Derwent would be celebrating a place in the Final.


Maybe Joe Boughtflower was right in his interview with me a couple of weeks ago, when he said some of Derwent’s new players don’t understand how to play on the astro turf.


Firstly, though, I think it was simply a lack of concentration in what were hot and humid conditions which sap players’ physical and mental energy supplies. The absence of Tom Brandreth was shown up in brutal fashion, as our Sportsman of the Year surely would have dealt with the situation.


Secondly, the match demonstrated the significance of the finest margins in sport, and their cumulative effects. What if Kirk’s nudge had gone unnoticed; what if Phil Taylor had failed to reach that bouncing ball; what if D’Albertanson sent his penalty a foot wider than he did? It is these key moments which decide matches, and today was Vanbrugh’s turn to be lucky.

Cup launch reaches finale

College siblings Halifax 1sts and Halifax 2nds will engage in a rare but dramatic battle tomorrow afternoon as the first year of the College Hockey Cup reaches its climax. With the silverware already in the Halifax trophy cabinet, the two sets of players will be fighting it out for brownie points in tomorrow’s final on the JLD in what promises to be an exciting end to an enthralling tournament. Although several matches have resulted in rather predictable outcomes, there is little doubt that the competition has been a brilliant success in its first year in terms of its smooth organisation, decent crowds and some hugely entertaining contests.

Halifax 2nds battled past Derwent 1sts today to reach the final

With the emphasis on college sport being stronger than ever before, the tournament has fitted in seamlessly with the overall target of more participation in university sport. As Vision revealed last month, although university participation in sport is in good shape relative to others around the UK, there is still room for improvement. So the fact the College Hockey Cup discourages top class university players from taking part, and encourages beginners or amateurs to do so instead, is a step in the right direction. In terms of attendance, the event can only get better and could maybe one day rival the football College Cup in popularity. Full marks must also go to Helen Marston, who has been the principal organiser of the event, ensuring that the whole process went without any hitches.

The group stages saw a flurry of goals in almost every match, in particular the 5-5 draw between Alcuin 1sts and Derwent 1sts, and an 11-2 win for Goodricke 1sts over Langwith 2nds. The following week, the incredible scoreline of Halifax 2nds 15-4 Derwent 2nds continued the trend. However, it was Goodricke who had the misfortune of losing by the biggest margin in the tournament, as they were annihilated 22-1 by Derwent 1sts in their final group match. With Halifax being the only of the big two colleges to successfully navigate both teams through the group stages, James will be slightly disappointed their second string could only finish fourth in Group 2 despite the college possessing one of the largest and strongest hockey squads.

In tomorrow’s final, Halifax 1sts will know their opponents inside out from the hours of training they have spent playing together, and their extra quality should prevail. For the 2nds, YUSU Academic Officer Graeme Osborn has played admirably week in, week out, and his team will be relying on his leadership and finishing more than ever. Nevertheless, Halifax 1sts in my opinion are still heavy favourites and already have one hand on the cup. Assuming a cup exists, of course.


You can read all reports of the College Hockey Cup matches on the York Vision hockey page.

College Cup group stages reach climax

With 48 matches already played, we are now about to enter the final round of group fixtures in College Cup 2012. A couple of groups are very finely poised and there has been some excellent football, numerous upsets and a fair amount of controversy. Here I examine each group and predict how the teams will fare come the end of the week. If you think differently, comment below with your predictions!

Group 1

Nobody expected the results we had on Friday, which has thrown Group 1 wide open. Derwent 1sts, who had not even conceded a goal in their previous three matches, went down 3-1 against a rejuvenated Wentworth1sts, while in-form Halifax 3rds were outclassed 2-0 by Goodricke 2nds. Derwent were a little complacent in their match, and were caught out by long balls, which is very unusual for them. Captain David Kirk will have given his team a beating afterwards, which is why I fear for Halifax 3rds in their final group match. Halifax have had a great tournament so far, but must realistically beat Derwent as Goodricke, just two points behind, face underdogs Langwith 2nds.

Goodricke 2nds are favourites to finish second in Group 1

Importantly, Goodricke have some excellent cross-over players from their first team, notably Joe Mann who always seems to pop up with something spectacular when his team needs it. Their win on Friday was priceless and they should qualify for the Cup. As for James and Langwith, going out in such a tough group is nothing to be ashamed of. However, their latest match did show up the problems of timing in this year’s College Cup, as a delayed start meant they had to call a premature end to the match.

Cup: Derwent 1sts and Goodricke 2nds

Plate: Halifax 3rds and Wentworth 1sts

Knocked out: Langwith 2nds and James 3rds

Best match: Derwent 1sts 1-3 Wentworth 1sts (01.06.12)

Group 2

Meanwhile, the two Cup qualification spots look somewhat more predictable in Group 2. James 1sts, despite suffering a two-point deduction for not supplying a referee for the Derwent-Wentworth match in Group 1, are already through on 10 points thanks to their 6-0 rout against Goodricke 3rds. Striker Tom Clarke is deadly to say the least and allegedly drank four pints before his stunning hat-trick against Halifax. His performance deserved more than a “wowzers”, that’s for sure. Alcuin secured arguably the most important result of the group so far with a narrow 1-0 win over Vanbrugh 2nds, meaning they have a three-point cushion over their rivals in second place. They now require only a draw in their final match against Wentworth 2nds.

James 1sts have a formidable strikeforce

Vanbrugh will be kicking themselves over their earlier defeat to Halifax 4ths; they should have wrapped the three points up and qualified for the Cup. As for Halifax, they have been competitive in all their games, and I suspect they will grab a Plate position as they face Goodricke 3rds next. Many of their players could oust their colleagues in the thirds if they keep up their performances next year.

Cup: James 1sts and Alcuin 1sts

Plate: Vanbrugh 2nds and Halifax 4ths

Knocked out: Wentworth 2nds and Goodricke 3rds

Best match: James 1sts 4-1 Halifax 4ths (25.05.12)

Group 3

If you thought Group 1 was tight, Group 3 is deliciously set for a huge showdown. Goodricke 1sts’ dramatic late winner against the dogged Vanbrugh 3rds has meant both teams, along with Halifax 1sts, are jostling on nine points at the top. James 2nds, however, could steal a place in the Cup despite being three points behind this clutch of teams. They must beat Goodricke and hope Halifax beat Vanbrugh to finish second.  It must be said the referee in the Vanbrugh-Goodricke match was unwise to play over the prescribed 60 minutes. However, Goodricke’s celebrations just show how far this Vanbrugh team have come, whether they end up qualifying for the Cup or not.

Captain Jack Beadle will be badly missed for Halifax 1sts

Derwent 2nds have been the disappointment in the group; I thought they would be pushing for Cup qualification. Their points deduction seemed to rock their confidence, but their defeats have only been by the odd goal. As for Halifax, they don’t appear to be the force we saw last year, but they just need a draw against Vanbrugh to qualify. And as they saying goes, as long as they’re in it, they can win it.  Expect plenty of drama next Thursday.

Cup: Halifax 1sts and Goodricke 1sts

Plate: Vanbrugh 3rds and James 2nds

Knocked out: Derwent 2nds and Alcuin 3rds

Best match: Halifax 1sts 0-1 James 2nds (10.05.12)

Group 4

Vanbrugh 1sts have strolled through the challenges of Group 4 in style, having scored 19 and conceded none. The stand out players have been Phil Taylor, John Gill and Rory Sharkey; they create that illusion they have loads of time on the ball. It also helps that their final match is against their toughest opposition in the group in Halifax 2nds, so there won’t be any pressure on them.

James Wilson is the only 'keeper yet to concede a goal

As for Halifax, they will be on a high after their 7-0 win over Derwent 3rds and must secure a draw to qualify for the Cup, with Langwith 1sts just two points behind. Derwent 3rds have already secured their Plate position and have nothing to play for, but following their embarrassing defeat I think Langwith will capitalise and propel themselves into the top two. Their 5-1 win over Wentworth has set them on their way to a successful end to the group stages. Alcuin 2nds and Wentworth 3rds were always going to be up against it, and so it has proved.

Cup: Vanbrugh 1sts and Langwith 1sts

Plate: Halifax 2nds and Derwent 3rds

Knocked out: Alcuin 2nds and Wentworth 3rds

Best match: Halifax 2nds 3-2 Alcuin 2nds (14.05.12)