Hey Guys,

Just an update after the Dutch Open.. Bronze! A medal definitely helps, but we've got 2 more comps and training camps to go. Ruth also go a bronze with 2 fights in the heavyweight division. And we also have to wait to see how the group in China goes (Tina and Carmen). I felt pretty good at the end of the day, but watching my fights back, I made a few tactical mistakes early on and had massive 3rd rounds. My first fight was against an inexperienced fighter so the fight stopped in the 2nd round with the 7 point difference rule (8-1). Second fight against a tall girl from Germany. It took me a while to get my distancing right. I was kicking 1 for 1 with her but she was getting the points.. and i left myself open a couple of times. 1st round 2-1 to her.. 2nd round she was 4-1 up at one stage, but i levelled it 4-4 by the end of the second. Third round i changed my tactics and scored 4 unanswered points (and got 1 point off), so I won the fight 7-4. I had one fight rest before going on with my semi. I fought a girl from Norway who won the World Cup a couple of years ago and who's qualified for the Olympics. Took me a while to settle in. 2-1 to her 1st round. 2nd round i changed my tactics but I was off-balance while i was attacking and got caught off guard a couple of times.. 5-1 to her.. eeeekk!! (I forgot I was that far down). Then in the 3rd round I let go and came back strong but not strong enough. The final score was 5(-1)-4.. So like I said, a medal is good, but we've got 9 more weeks to go and I've got things to work on.

Our boys both lost their 1st fight. Ryan lost in golden point (4th round) against a young guy from the UK. He stood there in the last round, wasn't really himself. The UK guy went on to get silver. Terrence lost to the 'A' player from Denmark in the last 5 seconds of the fight.. He fought really well though. And Kat (my other competitor), lost to the current world champ from Mexico.. 7-0 in the second round.. She was just too strong. Adam got silver.. Only saw his first fight, but he had 4 fights, losing to Yousef Karami from Iran in the final.

At the moment we're in Papendal - the Netherland Olympic Centre. It's pretty cool here.. The rooms are pretty good for dorm-style accommodation. The quality of food here is heaps better than the AIS (just not a big selection). We start training with the Netherlands national team today. Next week we meet up with the rest of our group and compete in the German Open. The German Open should be a bigger comp. Then we've got a training camp with a couple National Teams.. French and Mexico are confirmed at this stage. Then Korea for 4-5 weeks. Then to Spain for the Spanish Open. (Dad and Ian, I'll send you through an itinerary).

Anyway.. time to get ready for training.. Keep in touch..

Aimes..