Here we go!
October 23, 2015
The CBSA cloth is ready, the new cueball has arrived, visa is ok, flights and hotel booked… The 2015 Women’s World 9-Ball Championship is closing in!
I will spend my last week doing drills on the table and play a lot. The cloth behaves different from my normal cloth and so do the balls. Also the change in color needs a little getting used to:)
But I am so happy to have this opportunity to practice with the cloth and balls before I come to China. There are so many elements that affect your game while you are there, so elimination of variables is very important.
I will arrive in Guilin three days before the tournament starts so the jet-lag will be fixed by then. I will spend those days practicing if possible and just enjoy the scenery. Guilin is a very beautiful place and there are plenty of things to see.
If I have access to wordpress and facebook you will get updates from me, if not you will find all information alison-chang.com. My good friend Alison always gets the information out somehow, thank you Alison:)
Thanks for reading!
Ine:)
Women’s World 9-ball Championships 2014 with players list
September 29, 2014
Departure is closing in, this time we play in Guilin China, from 15th -18th of october. This is the first year in Guilin and we are all looking forward to explore what is said to be one of the most beautiful landscapes in China. My visa is ok, the flights are booked and good, the hotel booked, the Cyclop balls on the practice table, all in all I am getting ready to go:)
Alison Chang has been kind enough to send me the players list, she will post it on her blog later. (She is having some technical problems today). Team Europe is looking good:) Also I have read up on the chinese website, www.nineball.com.cn, and see we are playing with 1 on the spot, three point rule and 45 sec shot-clock. Good to know:)
Here is the players list:
Players list by Alison Chang
China, her we come!
Ine:)
Amway eSpring Cup Pressconference
February 26, 2014
I have already said this, but I say it again. Amway Cup is a big deal over here! We have never had so many tv cameras present, I counted around 20. Apparently the two guys announcing us at the press conference are very famous here in Taiwan….
My group. From left: Pan Xiaoting, Rubilen Amit, Lin Hsiao-Chi, myself, Wu Jing
The players, the officials and the sponsors
After the press conference we went to Mr Tu’s poolhall to get some shots in. We do not have any practice time in the venue before tomorrow. I start my first of three matches tomorrow at 1210 local time. playing against Rubilen.
We play winners break race to 7, Wish me luck!
Ine:)
At the press conference
- Signing posters and magazines
Yesterday, after bein spray painted with make up and having fake eye lashes. I also feel like I have got a wig, not my hair… Photo shoots are hard work!
Here is Lyndall undergoing the spraypainting:)
From yesterday, Dinner at Din Tai Fung with Lyndall Hulley and Alison Chang:)
Getting back to normal after China:)
August 31, 2013
Sorry to repeat myself;) From the left: Kim Ga-Young, Alisom Fisher, Line Kjørsvik, Pan Xiaoting, Fu Xiaofang, Liu Sasha, Ine Helvik, Shu Han Chang , Cha Yu Ram
I have been home for almost three weeks now, and finally I had the time to sit down and and finish the trip. I have been very busy after coming home, opening the poolhall after the summer break and also catching up with other work, Now, I am getting back in to my normal rhythm and have some spare time to follow up my blog:)
After the tournament Lyndall Hulley, Taylor Meyer, Alison Chang and myself went to Beijing for 1,5 days. We had a great time and found time to visit the Temple of heaven, Forbidden City, The Great Wall (Mutianyu), Beihai Park Jingshan park and Ghost street.We figured out that we walked for 10 hours in one day! We started the day on the wall, then went to the Forbidden Ciy, Beihai park, Jinshan park and fiinished on Ghost street with chili dinner. We started the day at 7 am, but still…. close to 35 degrees.. I almost forgot the Dadong restaurant and their famous Peking Duck! That is a must when you are in Beijing:)
I have a bunch of photos, some by me and some by Alison Chang. I will post them all, fisrt the photos from Shenyang taken during the torunament, then our oturist trip to Beijing. Enjoy:)
Shenyang:
Opening ceremony, serious stuff:)
The draw as it was presented to the players. Different system from what I am used to:)
Every day they put up this list for the practice tables. First come first serve. The Qualifiers and the main event shared the same 4 tables, it was kind of busy at times…
The Tv table ( this is were the big banner was displayed, on the outside) This is the semi with Alison Fisher on the right playing Han Yu.
The main venue. The tables were placed in the hall, on a big cross. 7 tables one way and 8 the other way. Low ceiling, soooo warm, sweat dripping. We still love it…
DumplingS!! Suzette Booyens, Myself, Ina Kaplan, Lyndall Hulley, Taylor Meyer and Jasmin Ouschan and Alison Chang.
The dumpling restaurant. Fresh food is fresh food…
The dumpling restaurant.
The dumpling restaurant. I am not sure what this is, but is is fresh….
The dumpling restaurant. With frogs. I do not understand why they just sit there. They are alive and free, JUMP ALREADY!!!
My last day in Shenyang, have you ever seen grapes that big???
FROM BEIJING:
Our bacpacker hostel, Downtown Backpackers
We had a room with skylight… Quite different from the 50 sqm suite in Shenyang.. But clean and cheap:)
The reception:)
Temple of Heaven. Lyndall Hulley, Myself and Taylor Meyer on the meridian. Alison Chang behind the camera:)
Dadong restaurant. A MUST in Beijing:)
Dadong restaurant. Waiting for the duck:)
Dadong Restaurant. Finally the duck arrived, with a chef..
The Great Wall
The Great Wall. This is the cart we took up to the wall
Taylor Meyer and I in the cart on our way up
The Great Wall. Alison Chang and I.. and Taylor Meyer in the corner:)
FUN!! The toboggan we went on to get down from the wall. We had to go back up and take it down for a second time. Yeay
More FUN! This is how we got back up to take the toboggan back down. Adrenalin kick! Lyndall Hulley and Taylor Meyer in the cart behind us:)
T
Tiananmen square. Taylor Meyer. myself, Alison Chang and Lyndall Hulley. In 35 degrees.. Not easy being a Norwegian on this country..
Forbidden City. We are walking under the umbrellas. The sun was unbearable so we had to do something
Forbidden City, Impressive stuff
Forbidden city, inside on of the houses
Forbidden City..
Standing in the Forbidden City, looking at our next stop Jingshan park
Jingshan park, on our way to the top. How many steps can you climb in one day….
Finally on the top of Jingshan park! Now you realize the size of the Forbidden City. Amazing
After wlaking down from Jongshan to Beihai park, we decided enough is enough. Renting a boat was the solution
We decided on the fast boat:)
Ghost street, were I ended my Beijing trip this time. Great food (hot!) and all the lanterns really look nice. Perfect way to end a long day:)
If you ever go to Beijing I can recommend visiting the places I went to. It is an amazing city and I am sure you can stay for a month and still not see it all. The DownTown backpackers were friendly, clean and cheap and a new experience for me. You get very accustomed to stay in 5 star hotels when you play tournaments, good to land on your feet before returning home. I would not stay here for a tournament, but as a tourist, no problem.
Until next time, take care:)
Ine:)
33rd in WC 9-ball
August 11, 2013
I was so close, but I rattled the 6 ball and scratched in the side on 6-6… That’s life. I played a 13 year old pool prodigy. 13 do not mean she is a novice though; she has been playing for many years already. And she knows how to hit the balls, that’s for sure.
I started friday playing against Severine Titaux ( FRA) and this was not a good match. Neither of us played well, but I got it in the end. That meant I had to play against the chinese darling Liu Sasha. She is no 2 in the world and recently won the China Open so her confidence was boosting. I played really well, but the conditions and audience got to me and I missed two important balls because of that. I lost 7-3 and that was it for friday. Saturday I was to play this 13 year old Jiang Teng from China and that was a good match. I was up 3-0 and 4-2, but she closed the gap and we went hill-hill before she closed it with ball in hand and 4 balls left on the table.
The conditions here make you play different shots than what you would normally do. It is so warm and so humid that the balls are really sticky and does not react like they are supposed to. Also the audience are not behaving very nice when you play against chinese players. They move in your shot, takes heaps of pictures while you are down aiming and they are only about 2 meters away. You have got constant distraction and your draw shot does not work or if you have to hit the rail and that means a new variable. When you first start to doubt your shots you get even more unsecure because nothing works like is supposed to. This is really hard and you really need to work with yourself to pull through. Us europeans are just not used to this and the results show it. We only had 4 western players left in the last 32, the rest of us, including Jasmin Ouschan, were out.
We had Karen Corr, Alison Fisher, Kelly Fisher and Ana Mazhirina left in the last 32. By the QF we were down to only Alison Fisher and we are all going to be there when she plays tonight to show our support. Our last standing hopeJ
Still no pictures, I am not able to upload any. I will post them when I get back home to Norway.
All the remaining matches are on livestream: http://news.my147.com/2013/08/48249.html
Tuesday Lyndall Hulley, Taylor Meyer, Alison Chang and I are going to Beijing to be tourists for a couple of days. I am looking forward to that, we are going to the wall again, which is always nice. I hope my cold is gone before Wednesday, I would not walk the wall with a bad cold. It is hard enough alreadyJ
I think this will be my last post from China, it is not easy to log onto my blog from here. WordPress is blocked, so I need to use a vpn tunnel and that does not always work.
Thanks for readingJ
Take care
IneJ
PS, I got in the money, $ 750 to help pay for the trip. Everything helps:)
Ine Helvik 