How did it all start? 

It started in January 2007 when I injured my hand again playing a league match. Two months before I met some people from a company called Stolwijk & Eichhorn during a WISPA tournament in Hoofddorp.

After some talks we thought it would be nice to organize a big tournament in Holland, to promote Squash in our country.

Not long after we got the magazine SquashLife on board, because we all had the same idea…so we joined forces together. We started a new company called Next Events, and we decided to do the Dutch Open. 

How did you get so many sponsors? 

Knowing a lot of people and lots of talking of course! We put across our common ambition to have a big event and showed our enthusiasm and passion for the game. So most people said yes and decided to support us. 

Did you get help from the federation or the City Council? 

Yes. The top sport department of the city of Amsterdam supported us both financially and promotionally. We had some support from the federation as well, but it could have been much more.

We proved that we are capable of doing this now, so hopefully we would get more support from them to make an even bigger event next year. 

You seem to have assembled a good team... 

I think so. We got lots of people involved that were capable of helping us. We are really happy with the way things went, we even got help from the players like Margriet and Orla. We all saw how many people were here today; we saw so many smiling faces and a great final match with a great crowd responding so well to all our efforts... It’s a great feeling!. 

Did your contacts with the players help? 

Well probably...I know many of them. They are very respectful to each other, and also to me because I have been a decent player as well and I travel along with Natalie. So a lot of them know me. The girls would have come anyway because it's a Gold WISPA event.

But we also had the men's event at a very high level; more than we could have expected. The last player playing in the main draw was still in the top 50...and to get David as well was all we could have asked for; it was great to have both world champions here. And because Amsterdam is also in central Europe it was easy for player to get here. 

All the "EXTRAS" make it a great week, but hard work... 

I'd seen most of them around like the dancers and the same band. But I didn't know the juggler. Well, we were going to have great Squash so why not combine it with entertainment...

All the side events, kids area, fitness tests...We wanted to have people involved, not just have them come to watch the matches...so we decided to have all those side events and it worked out very well... 

The best bit...  

To see everyone happy! The players, the crowds and the sponsors, they all seemed to be happy. Not complaining about anything.

The best thing is when you look back and see that it's been a good event, with everyone having fun. And though it is a professional tournament, it had a good social feeling to it, there was a nice atmosphere.

If you do things too professionally, sometimes you might lose that friendliness of the atmosphere, like chatting with spectators. It's always necessary to keep the "human" way of approach, not only to the sponsors and the players, but also to the ordinary people. The people who come up those stairs, buy tickets and support the event, they need to feel that friendliness as well. 

And the worst bit... 

Working 17 hours a day; not sleeping much; not seeing much Squash. But compared to all the joy you get they're just minor things... 

Plans for next year... 

We'll do it again and perhaps a bit bigger. We should sit down together soon to see if we can have a full glass court; if we could raise the prize money. I think most of the sponsors are happy to continue their support for the next year as well. But it also depends on L.J.

If he is in the top ten, we should make it a bigger event for him, because it is good to have a Dutch player winning his matches and making it to the final. That attracts media attention and spectators. To make it a real success, you have to have a Dutch player reaching the later stages.  

Squash seems to be booming in Holland... 

Well yeah, there are many people (almost half a million) playing the sport in our country. I think squash is a great sport, not only the fun part of it but because of the nature of the game as well. All the physical elements are involved, you move a lot, sweat a lot and you can get tired so easily in a couple of minutes.

Anyone playing at any level can have so much fun. Unlike tennis it’s a sport where you don’t need to spend much time practicing with a coach or instructor to be able to play a rally.

And with people not having much time of their own nowadays, it's quite easy and enjoyable to play a sport in 45 minutes, to get tired and then to go home. I think that’s the reason, along with the great facilities (almost 2.000 courts) that we have around the country, which explains why so many people play our sport in the Netherlands.

And with top players like Vanessa and LJ, we will try to make squash even more booming over here. 

Anything you wish to add... 

We are just very happy to have had SquashSite here on location to cover the event with incredibly quick updates. I know so many people visit this website, so it was good for our tournament and for our sponsors to have you guys here. Thanks for that!