News

15/11/12

Daria SOLOVYEVA - Dasha and Mischa LANZ are the winners, , Andrin SANER runner up, while Kristina NOVAK, Betina TOKAC, reached the semifinals at TE Europe under 12 tournament played in Antalya, Turkey

Daria SOLOVYEVA – Dasha, La Bottega di Smrikve 2011-2012 friend from Russia won the finals…

Kristina NOVAK, 15th Smrikva Bowl 2010 semifinalist from Slovenia reached the semifinals…

Dasha and Kristina are playing successfuly doubles in Turkey… and they won the finals too :)... playing against Joane Zuger, Smrikva Bowl player from Switzerland, and Melissa Rosa Muradoglu from Turkey.

Betina TOKAC, 16th Smrikva Bowl 2011 semifinalist from Turkey reached the semifinals…

...and Andre SANER, 15th Smrikva Bowl 2010 player and Mischa LANZ, 15th Smrikva Bowl 2010 quarterfinalist from Switzerland were in the finals too at TE Europe under 12 tournament played this week in Antalya, in Turkey, and Mischa Lanz was the winner… They are also won the doubles finals :))

Let’s see in details the results of the best players starting with GIRLS:

Daria SOLOVYEVA (Rus) – La Bottega di Smrikve 2011-2012
1st round: Daria SOLOVYEVA – Eda BAGDATLI (Tur) 6:0, 6:0
2nd round: Daria SOLOVYEVA – Axana MAREEN (Bel) 6:2, 6:1
3rd round: D. SOLOVYEVA -Simona BORISOVA (Bul) 6:3,7:5
Quarterfinals: Daria SOLOVYEVA -S.S.CADAR 6:3,3:6,6:1
Semifinals: Daria SOLOVYEVA – Kristina NOVAK (Slo) 6:4, 6:1
Finals: Daria SOLOVYEVA – Gergana TOPALOVA (Bul) 6:1, 6:1

Kristina NOVAK (Slo) – 15th Smrikva Bowl 2010 semifinalist
1st round: Kristina NOVAK – Selin OVUNC (Tur) 6:2, 6:1
2nd round: Kristina NOVAK – Mila MEJIC (Srb) 6:3, 6:2
3rd round: Kristina NOVAK – Polina KRUPCHENKO (Rus) 6:3, 6:3
Quarterfinals: Kristina NOVAK – Zeynep ERMAN (Tur) 6:4, 6:0
Semifinals: Kristina NOVAK – Daria SOLOVYEVA (Rus) 4:6, 1:6

Betina TOKAC (Tur) – 16th Smrikva Bowl 2011 semifinalist
1st round: Betina TOKAC – Irina BABKOVA (Rus) 6:7,6:4, 6:2
2nd round: Betina TOKAC – Marija SEMENISTAJA (Lat) 6:0, 6:0
3rd round: Betina TOKAC – Andra Ilinca BABATA (Rou) 6:2, 6:1
Quarterfinals: Betina TOKAC – Yasmina KHATAMOVA (Rus) 6:4,6:2
Semifinals: Betina TOKAC – Gergana TOPALOVA (Bul) 6:1, 6:4

Other Smrikva Bowl players and La Bottega friends in the girls Main Draw are: Mila MEJIC (2nd round), Joanne ZUGER (2nd round), Yasemin Ada BORU (1st round)...

BOYS:

Mischa LANZ (Sui) – 15th Smrikva Bowl 2010 quarterfinalist
1st round: Mischa LANZ – Erik GREVELIUS (Swe) 6:0, 6:0
2nd round: Mischa LANZ – Ahmet ASTARCI (Tur) 6:2, 6:1
3rd round: Mischa LANZ – Tibo COLSON (Bel) 7:5, 6:2
Quarterfinals: Mischa LANZ – Jesper A.JORGENSEN (Den) 6:1,6:1
Semifinals: Mischa LANZ – Tobias PUERRER (Aus) 6:0,6:2
Finals: Mischa LANZ – Andrin SANER (Sui) 6:0, 6:2

Andrin SANER (Sui) – 15th Smrikva Bowl 2010 player
1st round: Andrin SANER – Ulas Boran ULUSOY (Tur) 6:0, 6:1
2nd round: Andrin SANER – Doru Junior BORSAN (Rou) 6:2, 6:0
3rd round: Andrin SANER – Alperen SANATER (Tur) 6:1, 6:0
Quarterfinals: Andrin SANER – S. DANILOV (Rus) 4:6,7:6,6:2
Semifinals: Andrin SANER – Kuzey CEKIRGE (Tur) 7:6, 6:2
Finals: Andrin SANER – Mischa LANZ (Sui) 0:6, 2:6

Other Smrikva Bowl players in the boys Main Draw are: Berke Eser COSKUN (2nd round), Arslan KELLOU (2nd round), Eric VANSHELBOIM (1st round), Herman HOEYERAAL (1st round)

Please visit www.smrikve.com to learn more about Smrikve, Istria from Smrikve, Smrikva Bowl, one of the most important under 10 tennis tournaments in the World, and Villa Smrikve, for your accommodation with swimming pool in Stinjan (Pula – Pola) if you decide to spent your holiday in Istria, Croatia.

15/11/12

The Smrikve c Code story... is a story about virtue created by training and wish to learn...

Smrikve c Code was created a few years ago as a new section among the Smrikva Bowl Tournament sections…

The birth of this article was inspired by the Smrikva Bowl kids’ ability to use rackets and the Star Wars knights to use their lightsabers…

It is a kid’s story about virtue created by long hours spent in training and wish to learn… day after day… year after year… decade after decade…

Smrikve, October 2010

The Star Wars “Return of the Jedi” is the first film I remember seeing with my dad at the cinema… it was 1983 and I was 10… the cinema was named “Istra”… I was the same age as the Smrikva Bowl players we host every year in Smrikve :)…

In the introduction of this article I would just underline that I like the way Jedi use the lightsabers and I like the way Smrikva Bowl kids use their rackets :)... Smrikve c Code is a story about virtue created by training and wish to learn…

My dad was pilot and for me watching The Star Wars with him at the cinema was a particular experience … I had many questions and he, as usual, with smile and pleasure answered to each of my questions…

Dad used to take me with him on the airport when I was little… and I remember him entering the cockpit of the plane with pilot helmet watching towards me and giving me the sign that he was ready to fly… than he turned on the engine of the plane and watched towards me again with smile in his eyes…

I stayed about 100 meters from the airplane with his colleagues and watched him taking his plane towards runway…

From the place where I stayed only part of the runway was visible because of the wood and he took the plane in the area that was invisible to me to prepare for the takeoff… I was able to hear the force of the engine… and when the sound of the force started to increase I knew that my dad will be visible soon… his colleagues were telling me “be ready soon your dad will come”… and when he started to be visible on the back of the plane there was the fire… almost half length of the airplane had the fire extension formed by his engine and I just noticed his helmet in the cockpit and followed by my kids eyes his airplane reaching the sky…

The Jedi are characters in the Star Wars universe bound to a code of morality and justice and are trained in the use of the light side of the force. They learn to use the Force, and weapons, known as lightsabers, which emits a controlled energy flow in the shape of a sword, to serve and protect their Republic and the galaxy from conflicts or government instability…

Since long time ago I started to note the ability of Smrikva Bowl kids using the racket and thinking at the same time on Jedi’s ability to use the lightsaber :)…

Some of my students use Wilson’s ying & young damper… known as Tao sign… they like the symbol but are still too young to have an idea about it ;)… I will try to use this symbol to help me explain how little the difference could be in forming a balance in anything we do… every action has a reaction in our World… in the first classes of physics we learn Newton’s third law…

Tao is an abstract concept found in Taoism, Confucianism, and more generally in ancient Chinese philosophy and East Asian cultures.

While the word itself translates as “way”, “path”, or “route”… it is often used philosophically to signify the fundamental nature of the World we are used to living on Earth… it is often referred to as “the nameless”, because neither it nor its principles can ever be adequately expressed in words.

While the Tao cannot be expressed, Taoism holds that it can be known, and its principles can be followed. Much of Taoist writing focuses on the value of following the Tao – called Te (virtue) – and of the ultimate uselessness of trying to understand or control Tao outright. This is often expressed through yin and yang arguments, where every action creates a counter-action as a natural, unavoidable movement within manifestations of the Tao.

I used the above short explenation to introduce the Codes used in the Star Wars universe…

As in the Tao symbol there were knights trained to use the dark side of the force and the light side… this is the way how mankind functioned since the human written memory goes back…

For new ideas people have to go beyond… out of the known patterns by using their imagination… the kids are many times Master in this…

“Truly wonderful the mind of a child is.”... :)

DARK SIDE (The Sith Code)

• Peace is a lie. There is only passion.
• Through passion, I gain strength.
• Through strength, I gain power.
• Through power, I gain victory.
• Through victory, my chains are broken.
• The Force shall free me.

LIGHT SIDE (The Jedi Code)

• There is no emotion, there is peace.
• There is no ignorance, there is knowledge.
• There is no passion, there is serenity.
• There is no death, there is the Force.

The Jedi Code was rewritten by Grand Master Luke Skywalker upon reestablishing the Jedi Order:

• Jedi are the guardians of peace in the galaxy.
• Jedi use their powers to defend and to protect.
• Jedi respect all life, in any form.
• Jedi serve others rather than ruling over them, for the good of the galaxy.
• Jedi seek to improve themselves through knowledge and training.

Smrikve c code is the code…

...and… just one more thing…

... “La guerra no le hace a uno grandioso.”... ;)

I am pleased to close this article with Dire Straits and their Brothers in Arms song… starting with the sound of the thunder… The concert was made in 1988 to honour Nelson Mandela…

BROTHERS IN ARMS

These mist covered mountains
Are a home now for me
But my home is the lowlands
And always will be
Some day you’ll return to
Your valleys and your farms
And you’ll no longer burn
To be brothers in arms

Through these fields of destruction
Baptism of fire
I’ve whittnessed your suffering
As the battles raged higher
And though they did hurt me so bad
In the fear and alarm
You did not desert me
My brothers in arms

There’s so many different worlds
So many different suns
And we have just one world
But we live in different ones

Now the sun’s gone to hell
And the moon’s riding high
Let me bid you farewell
Every man has to die
But it’s written in the starlight
And every line on your palm
We’re fools to make war
On our brothers in arms

Miodrag Bozovic

12/11/12

Top Smrikva Bowl and "Little Mo"/Smrikva Bowl players on ATP, WTA, ITF, USTA and European under 14 and 16 ranking lists (update November 2012)

Former top Smrikva Bowl players that reached certain results on the professional ranking list are mentioned below and the top Smrikva Bowl players that are still competing…

As of 13th of August 2012 the ranking summary of the very TOP former Smrikva Bowl boys and girls is the following:

• 1 player TOP 100 WTA (Petra Martic – 2001 winner)

• 1 player TOP 200 ATP (Javier Marti – 2002 winner)

• 6 boys and 9 girls… in total 15 players are in TOP 100 ITF – (Gianluigi QUINZI #3, Nikola MILOJEVIC #7, Borna CORIC #19, Matteo DONATI #23, Laslo DJERE #30, Franko MIOCIC #52; Belinda BENCIC #11, Ana KONJUH #14, Christina MAKAROVA #20, Ilka CSOREGI #32, Camilla ROSATELLO #39, Eleanor DEAN #64, Irina Maria BARA #66, Giulia PAIRONE #86, Ivana JOROVIC #88)

• 1boy and 3 girls are in TOP 10 ETA under 16 – (Gianluigi QUINZI #1, Donna Vekic #7, Belinda BENCIC #9, Ana KONJUH #10)

• 3 girls are in TOP 10 ETA under 14 – (Olga FRIDMAN #1, Maia LUMSDEN #4, Viktoria KUZMOVA #5)

IN 1996 SMRIKVA BOWL GATHERED TOP PLAYERS FROM ISTRIA AND KVARNER (1st Smrikva Bowl)... IN 1997 TOP PLAYERS FROM CROATIA gathered on the 2nd Smrikva Bowl... IN 1998 3rd SMRIKVA BOWL STARTED TO GATHER FIRST FOREIGN PLAYERS...

BOYS
Vilim Visak, 1st Smrikva Bowl 1996 winner, from Croatia. Vilim’s best ranking was #612 in March 2006.

GIRLS
Ivana Lisjak, 2nd Smrikva Bowl 1997 winner, from Croatia. Ivana’s best ranking was #95 on WTA list in June 2006.

Astrid Besser, 4th Smrikva Bowl 1999 winner, from Italy. Atrid’s best ranking was #356 on WTA list in March 2009.

Tereza MRDEZA, 5th Smrikva Bowl 2000 winner, from Croatia, is currently ranked #193 on WTA list.

2001 – 6th Smrikva Bowl was the last year with dominance of the top national players…

BOYS
Marin Draganja, 6th Smrikva Bowl 2001 winner, from Croatia, is ranked #601 on ATP ranking list.
Dino Marcan, 6th Smrikva Bowl 2001 runner up, from Croatia, is ranked #406 on ATP ranking list.

GIRLS
Petra MARTIC, 6th Smrikva Bowl 2001 winner, from Croatia, is ranked #59 on WTA list (TOP 100 WTA). Petra’s best raning is #42 on WTA list as of June 2012.
Indire Akiki, 6th Smrikva Bowl 2001 runner up, from Croatia, is ranked #537 on WTA list.

IN 2002 SMRIKVA BOWL STARTED TO BE A EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIP

2002 – 7th Smrikva Bowl and 1st”Little Mo”/Smrikva Bowl

BOYS
Javier MARTI, 7th Smrikva Bowl 2002 winner, from Spain, is currently ranked #184 on ATP list.
Giacomo Miccini, 7th Smrikva Bowl 2002 runner up, from Italy, was ranked #1054 on ATP list in May 2009.

GIRLS
Martina Caregaro, 7th Smrikva Bowl 2002 winner, from Italy, is ranked #734 on WTA ranking list; her best ranking was #370 on WTA list in October 2010.
Ajla TOMLJANOVIC, 7th Smrikva Bowl 2002 runner up, from Croatia, is ranked #500 on WTA list; best ranking was #145 on WTA list in November 2011.
Ema BURGIC, ranked 3rd on 7th Smrikva Bowl 2002, from Bosnia and Herzegovina, best ranking was #505 on WTA list in July 2010.

2003 – 8th Smrikva Bowl and 2nd”Little Mo”/Smrikva Bowl

BOYS
Dominic THIEM, 8th Smrikva Bowl 2003 winner, from Austria, is ranked #396 on ATP ranking list. Junior ROLAND GARROS 2011 finalist, Eddie Herr International and Junior Orange Bowl under 18 winner.
George MORGAN, 8th Smrikva Bowl 2003 runner up, from Great Britain, is ranked #864 on ATP ranking list. Junior US OPEN 2011 semifinalist.
Ciprian PORUMB, ranked 3rd on 8th Smrikva Bowl 2003, from Romenia, is ranked #1671 on ATP ranking list.

GIRLS
Jennifer Ren, 8th Smrikva Bowl 2003 winner, from Great Britain, not currently ranked on WTA list.
Silvia NJIRIC, 8th Smrikva Bowl 2003 runner up, from Croatia, is ranked #577 on WTA list.
Ajla TOMLJANOVIC, ranked 3rd on 8th Smrikva Bowl 2003, from Croatia, is ranked #500 on WTA list; best ranking was #145 on WTA list in November 2011.

“Little Mo” TEAM
Emmett EGGER, played 2nd “Little Mo”/Smrikva Bowl, from the USA, is not ranked yet on ATP list.

2004 – 9th Smrikva Bowl and 3rd”Little Mo”/Smrikva Bowl

BOYS
Ivan Levar, 9th Smrikva Bowl 2004 winner, from Croatia, is not ranked on ATP ranking list.
Miki JANKOVIC, 9th Smrikva Bowl 2004 runner up, from Serbia, is ranked #805 on ATP ranking list.
Filip VEGER, 9th Smrikva Bowl 2004 semifinalist, from Croatia, is ranked #840 on ATP ranking list.
Danil ZELENKOV, 9th Smrikva Bowl 2004 player, from FYR Macedonia, is ranked #1671 on ATP ranking list.

GIRLS
Saska GAVRILOVSKA, 9th Smrikva Bowl 2004 winner, from Serbia, is ranked #770 on WTA ranking list

“Little Mo” TEAM
Mitchel POLNET, played 3rd “Little Mo”/Smrikva Bowl, from the USA, not ranked on ATP ranking list.

Blair SHANKLE, played 3rd “Little Mo”/Smrikva Bowl, from the USA, is ranked #124 on ITF ranking list, and is ranked #935 on WTA ranking list

IN 2005 SMRIKVA BOWL GATHERED TOP PLAYERS FROM 3 CONTINENTS

2005 – 10th Smrikva Bowl and 4th “Little Mo”/Smrikva Bowl

BOYS
Matteo DONATI, 10th Smrikva Bowl 2005 winner, from Italy, is ranked #28 on ITF ranking list (TOP 100 ITF) and is ranked #1120 on ATP list.
Laslo DJERE, 10th Smrikva Bowl 2005 runner up, from Serbia, is ranked #30 on ITF ranking list (TOP 100 ITF) and is ranked 912 on ATP list.
Gianluigi QUINZI, ranked 3rd on 10th Smrikva Bowl 2005, from Italy, is ranked #3 on ITF ranking list (TOP 10 ITF) and is ranked #672 on ATP list.
Nikola MILOJEVIC, 10th Smrikva Bowl 2005 Consolation tournament winner, from Serbia, is ranked #7 on ITF ranking list (TOP 10 ITF).
Borna CORIC, 10th Smrikva Bowl 2005 player, from Croatia, is ranked #19 on ITF ranking list (TOP 100 ITF) and is ranked #1314 on ATP list.
Luka ILIC, , 10th Smrikva Bowl 2005 player, from Serbia, is ranked #109 on ITF ranking list and is ranked #1439 on ATP ranking list.
Franko MIOCIC, 10th Smrikva Bowl 2005 player, from Croatia, is ranked #52 on ITF ranking list.

GIRLS
Saska GAVRILOVSKA, 10th Smrikva Bowl 2005 winner, from Serbia, is ranked #770 on WTA ranking list.
Olga IANCHUK, 10th Smrikva Bowl 2005 runner up, from Ukraine, is ranked #458 on WTA list.
Irina Maria BARA, 10th Smrikva Bowl 2005 player, from Romania, is ranked #66 on ITF ranking list and is ranked #927 on WTA ranking list.
Donna VEKIC, 10th Smrikva Bowl 2005 player, from Croatia, is ranked #109 on WTA list.
Iva MEKOVEC, 10th Smrikva Bowl 2005 player, from Croatia, is ranked #625 on WTA list.
Camilla ROSATELLO, 10th Smrikva Bowl 2005 player, from Italy, is ranked #39 on ITF ranking list (TOP 100 ITF).

“Little Mo” TEAM
Jeffrey Schorsch, played 4th “Little Mo”/Smrikva Bowl, from the USA, is not ranked on ITF ranking list.
Jose Gracia, played 4th “Little Mo”/Smrikva Bowl, from the USA, is not ranked on ITF ranking list.
Yale Goldberg, played 4th “Little Mo”/Smrikva Bowl, from the USA, is not ranked on ITF ranking list.

Dorothy Tang, played 4th “Little Mo”/Smrikva Bowl, from the USA, is not ranked on ITF ranking list.

2006 – 11th Smrikva Bowl and 5th”Little Mo”/Smrikva Bowl

BOYS
Gianluigi QUINZI, 11th Smrikva Bowl 2006 winner, from Italy, is ranked #3 on ITF ranking list (TOP 10 ITF) and is ranked #672 on ATP list.
Andre BIRO, 11th Smrikva Bowl 2006 semifinalist, from Hungary, is ranked #118 on ITF ranking list.

GIRLS
Eleanor DEAN, 11th Smrikva Bowl 2006 winner, from Great Britain, is ranked #64 on ITF ranking list (TOP 100 ITF).
Ilka CSOREGI, 11th Smrikva Bowl 2006 semifinalists, from Romania, is ranked #32 on ITF ranking list (TOP 100 ITF)
Dea HERDZELAS, 11th Smrikva Bowl 2006 quarterfinalists, from Bosnia and Herzegovina, is ranked #105 on ITF ranking list.
Belinda BENCIC, 11th Smrikva Bowl 2006, from Switzerland, is ranked #11 on ITF ranking list (TOP 10 ITF)
Giulia PAIRONE, 11th Smrikva Bowl 2006, from Italy, is ranked #86 on ITF ranking list (TOP 100 ITF)

“Little Mo” TEAM
Daniel Maese, played 5th “Little Mo”/Smrikva Bowl, from the USA, is not ranked on ITF ranking list.
Aries Wong, played 5th “Little Mo”/Smrikva Bowl, from the USA, is still not ranked on ITF ranking list.

Christina MAKAROVA, played 5th “Little Mo”/Smrikva Bowl, from the USA, is ranked #20 on ITF ranking list (TOP 100 ITF), and is ranked #895 on WTA ranking list
Gabriella Umoquit, played 5th “Little Mo”/Smrikva Bowl, from the USA, is not ranked #955 on ITF ranking list.

2007 – 12th Smrikva Bowl and 6th”Little Mo”/Smrikva Bowl

BOYS
Sacha MERZETTI, 12th Smrikva Bowl 2007 winner, from Italy, is ranked #223 in Europe in under 16 cathegory.
Bogdan BORZA, 12th Smrikva Bowl 2007 runner up, from Romania, is ranked #151 in Europe in under 16 cathegory and is ranked #760 on ITF ranking list.
Gonzalo MORELL, ranked 3rd on 12th Smrikva Bowl 2007, from Spain, is ranked #209 in Europe in under 16 cathegory.
Sergiu BUCUR, ranked 4th on 12th Smrikva Bowl 2007, from Romania, is ranked #430in Europe in under 16 cathegory.

GIRLS
Ana KONJUH, 12th Smrikva Bowl 2007 runner up, from Croatia, is ranked #10 in Europe in under 16 cathegory (TOP 10 TE U16) and is ranked #14 on ITF ranking list.
Nina POTOCNIK, ranked 3rd on 12th Smrikva Bowl 2007, from Slovenia, is ranked #51 in Europe in under 16 cathegory and is ranked #127 on ITF ranking list.
Ivana JOROVIC, 12th Smrikva Bowl 2007 player, from Serbia, is ranked #58 in Europe in under 16 cathegory, and is ranked #88 on ITF ranking list (TOP 100) and 768 on WTA list.

“Little Mo” TEAM
Eduardo NAVA, played 6th “Little Mo”/Smrikva Bowl, from the USA, is ranked #716 on ITF ranking list.
Tommy PAUL, played 6th “Little Mo”/Smrikva Bowl, from the USA, is ranked #351 on ITF ranking list.

Ndindi NDUNDA, played 6th “Little Mo”/Smrikva Bowl, from the USA, is ranked #617 on ITF ranking list.
Domonique Garley, played 6th “Little Mo”/Smrikva Bowl, from the USA, is not ranked on ITF ranking list.

IN 2008 SMRIKVA BOWL GATHERED TOP PLAYERS FROM 5 CONTINENTS AND TURNED INTO A WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP

2008 – 13th Smrikva Bowl and 7th”Little Mo”/Smrikva Bowl

BOYS
Luka PANIC, 13th Smrikva Bowl 2008 winner, from Switzerland, is ranked #175 in Europe in under 14 cathegory.
Mihnea TURCU, 13th Smrikva Bowl 2008 runner up, from Romania, is ranked #442 in Europe in under 14 european ranking list.
Grega KOKALJ, ranked 3rd on 13th Smrikva Bowl 2008, from Slovenia, is ranked #128 in Europe in under 14 cathegory.
Andrea Guerrieri, ranked 3rd on 13th Smrikva Bowl 2008, from Italy, is ranked #218 in Europe in under 14 cathegory.

GIRLS
Katarina JOKIC, 13th Smrikva Bowl 2008 winner, from Bosnia and Herzegovina, is ranked #152 in Europe in under 14 cathegory.
Maia LUMSDEN, 13th Smrikva Bowl 2008 runner up, from Scotland, is ranked #4 in Europe in under 14 cathegory (TOP 10 TE U14).
Viktoria KUZMOVA, ranked 3rd on 13th Smrikva Bowl 2008, from Slovakia, is ranked #5 in Europe in under 14 cathegory (TOP 10 TE U14).
Estela Perez-Somarriba, ranked 3rd on 13th Smrikva Bowl 2008, from Spain, is ranked #525 on under 14 european ranking list.
Olga FRIDMAN, 13th Smrikva Bowl 2008 player, from Ukraine, is ranked #1 in Europe in under 14 cathegory (TOP 10 TE U14).
Nikolina JOVIC, 13th Smrikva Bowl 2008 player, from Bosnia and Herzegovina, is ranked #40 in Europe in under 14 cathegory.
Gabriella Patricia TAYLOR, 13th Smrikva Bowl 2008 player, from UK, is ranked #11 in Europe in under 14 cathegory (TOP 10 TE U14).
Marija CURNIC, 13th Smrikva Bowl 2008 player, from Croatia, is ranked #18 in Europe in under 14 cathegory.

“Little Mo” TEAM
Justin LEE, played 7th “Little Mo”/Smrikva Bowl, from the USA, is too young for the ITF ranking list.
William BLUMBERG, played 7th “Little Mo”/Smrikva Bowl, from the USA, is ranked *#311 on ITF ranking list*.

Ingrid NEEL, played 7th “Little Mo”/Smrikva Bowl, from the USA, is too young for the ITF ranking list.
Paulina Ferrari, played 7th “Little Mo”/Smrikva Bowl, from the USA, is too young for the ITF ranking list.

IN 2009 SMRIKVA BOWL HAD 6 NEW COUNTRIES AND 1 NEW CONTINENT THUS REACHED THE TOTAL OF 40 COUNTRIES AND 6 CONTINENTS THAT PARTICIPATED IN THE TOURNAMENT SINCE ITS FOUNDATION

2009 – 14th Smrikva Bowl and 8th”Little Mo”/Smrikva Bowl

BOYS
Alvaro REGALADO PEDROL, 14th Smrikva Bowl 2009 winner, from Spain, is ranked #178 in under 14 european ranking.
Samuele RAMAZZOTTI, 14th Smrikva Bowl 2009 runner up, from Italy, is ranked #37 in under 14 european ranking.
Karlo SUEVICH, ranked 3rd on 14th Smrikva Bowl 2009, from Slovenia, is too young for under 14 european ranking.
Alejandro DAVIDOVICH, ranked 3rd on 14th Smrikva Bowl 2009, from Spain, is ranked #358 in under 14 european ranking.
Miomir KECMANOVIC, 14th Smrikva Bowl 2009 quarterfinalist, from Serbia, is ranked #19 in under 14 european ranking.
Alexei POPYRIN, 14th Smrikva Bowl 2009 Consolation Draw
winner, from Australia, is ranked #62 in under 14 european ranking.

GIRLS
Katie SWAN, 14th Smrikva Bowl 2009 winner, from United Kingdom, is ranked #101 in under 14 european ranking.
Jovana VUKOVIC – JOKA, 14th Smrikva Bowl 2009 runner up, from Serbia, is too young for under 14 european ranking.
Inci OGUT, ranked 3rd on 14th Smrikva Bowl 2009, from Turkey, is ranked #75 in under 14 european ranking.
Arianna CAPOGROSSO, ranked 3rd on 14th Smrikva Bowl 2009, from Italy, is ranked #215 in under 14 european ranking.

“Little Mo” TEAM
Noah SCHACHTER, played 8th “Little Mo”/Smrikva Bowl, from the USA, is too young for the ITF ranking list.
Alex GEE, played 8th “Little Mo”/Smrikva Bowl, from the USA, is too young for the ITF ranking list.

Michaela GORDON, played 8th “Little Mo”/Smrikva Bowl, from the USA, is too young for the ITF ranking list.
Ashley LAHEY, played 8th “Little Mo”/Smrikva Bowl, from the USA, is too young for the ITF ranking list.

IN 2010 SMRIKVA BOWL HAD 9 NEW COUNTRIES AND REACHED THE TOTAL OF 49 COUNTRIES THAT PARTICIPATED IN THE TOURNAMENT SINCE ITS FOUNDATION

2010 – 15th Smrikva Bowl and 9th”Little Mo”/Smrikva Bowl

BOYS
Nicola KUHN, 15th Smrikva Bowl 2010 winner, from Spain, is too young for under 14 european ranking.
Karlo SUEVICH, 15th Smrikva Bowl 2010 runner up, from Croatia, is too young for under 14 european ranking.
Yshai OLIEL, ranked 3rd on 15th Smrikva Bowl 2010, from Israel, is too young for under 14 european ranking.
Andrei Taica Radu, ranked 3rd on 15th Smrikva Bowl 2010, from Romania, is too young for under 14 european ranking.

GIRLS
Jovana VUKOVIC, 15th Smrikva Bowl 2010 winner, from Serbia, is too young for under 14 european ranking.
Paula ARIAS MANJON, 15th Smrikva Bowl 2010 runner up, from Spain, is too young for under 14 european ranking.
Neli SUNJIC, ranked 3rd on 15th Smrikva Bowl 2010, from Croatia, is too young for under 14 european ranking.
Kristina NOVAK, ranked 3rd on 15th Smrikva Bowl 2010, from Italy, is too young for under 14 european ranking.

“Little Mo” TEAM
Max Motlagh, played 9th “Little Mo”/Smrikva Bowl, from the USA, is too young for the ITF ranking list.

Claire LIU, played 9th “Little Mo”/Smrikva Bowl, from the USA, is too young for the ITF ranking list.
Alexa Butera, played 8th “Little Mo”/Smrikva Bowl, from the USA, is too young for the ITF ranking list.

IN 2011 SMRIKVA BOWL HAD 4 NEW COUNTRIES AND REACHED THE TOTAL OF 53 COUNTRIES THAT PARTICIPATED IN THE TOURNAMENT SINCE ITS FOUNDATION

2011 – 16th Smrikva Bowl

BOYS
Duje AJDUKOVIC, 16th Smrikva Bowl 2011 winner, from Croatia, is too young for under 14 european ranking.
Mihailo POPOVIC, 16th Smrikva Bowl 2011 runner up, from Serbia, is too young for under 14 european ranking.
Alejandro SERRANO OSOBA, ranked 3rd on 16th Smrikva Bowl 2011, from Spain, is too young for under 14 european ranking.
Stipan Madzar, ranked 3rd on 16th Smrikva Bowl 2011, from Croatia, is too young for under 14 european ranking.

GIRLS
Olga DANILOVIC, 16th Smrikva Bowl 2011 winner, from Serbia, is too young for under 14 european ranking.
Ksenija TMUSIC, 16th Smrikva Bowl 2011 runner up, from Serbia, is too young for under 14 european ranking.
Emilija KOJCIC, ranked 3rd on 16th Smrikva Bowl 2011, from Serbia, is too young for under 14 european ranking.
Betina TOKAC, ranked 3rd on 16th Smrikva Bowl 2011, from Turkey, is too young for under 14 european ranking.

IN 2012 SMRIKVA BOWL HAD 4 NEW COUNTRIES AND REACHED THE TOTAL OF 57 COUNTRIES THAT PARTICIPATED IN THE TOURNAMENT SINCE ITS FOUNDATION... and for the first time in the quarterfinals there were still five continents represented: AFRICA, ASIA, AMERICA, OCENIA and EUROPE

2012 – 17th Smrikva Bowl

BOYS
Goran ZIVOTIC, 17th Smrikva Bowl 2012 winner, from Serbia, is too young for under 14 european ranking.
Sebastian GIMA, 17th Smrikva Bowl 2012 runner up, from Romania, is too young for under 14 european ranking.
Viktor JOVIC, ranked 3rd on 17th Smrikva Bowl 2012, Serbian origin living in UAE, is too young for under 14 european ranking.
Ajdin MUHAREMOVIC, ranked 3rd on 17th Smrikva Bowl 2012, from Bosnia and Herzegovina, is too young for under 14 european ranking.

GIRLS
Himari SATO, 17th Smrikva Bowl 2012 winner, from Japan, is too young for ITF ranking.
Luisa MEYER AUF DER HEIDE, 17th Smrikva Bowl 2012 runner up, from Germany, is too young for under 14 european ranking.
Pia LOVRIC, ranked 3rd on 17th Smrikva Bowl 2012, from Slovenia, is too young for under 14 european ranking.
Zoe KRUGER, ranked 3rd on 17th Smrikva Bowl 2012, from Republic of South Africa, is too young for ITF ranking.

09/11/12

Miomir Kecmanovic, 14th Smrikva Bowl 2009 quarterfinalist, is the winner of the KREMLIN CUP - TE Europe under 14 tournament played in Moscow - CAT 1

Miomir Kecmanovic, 14th Smrikva Bowl 2009 quarterfinalist, born in 1999, from Serbia, is one of the most prominent European players in his age group, currently ranked #19 in Europe in under 14 age group, and every summer for years he’s been spending his tennis vacation time with Miro in Smirkve…

... he grew up quite a lot since last year and his game continues to improve… always in balance and always ready to hit fast… although only 13 his serve can reach over 170 km/h… and the balls goes where he wish…

This week Miso he won KREMLIN CUP cathegory 1 level TE Tournament under 14 held in Moscow in Russia… and his road towards the victory was the following:

1st round: Miomir Kecmanovic – bye
2nd round: Miomir Kecmanovic – Dimitriy VORONIN (Rus) 6:1,6:4
3rd round: Miomir Kecmanovic – Nikita MISHIN (Rus) 4:6, 7:5, 6:4
Quarterfinals: Miomir Kecmanovic – Ergi KIRKIN (Tur) 6:0, 6:4
Semifinals: Miomir Kecmanovic – Dmitry SHATALIN (Rus) 7:6, 6:3
Finals: Miomir Kecmanovic – Nikolay KOLOBAEV (Rus) 6:2, 7:5

Bravo Miso!

p.s. On the picture below… Miso is on the right side to Miro, while on the left side is Karlo Suevich, another tennis talent from Croatia, after their morning training this summer in Smrikve…

08/11/12

Donna Vekic, 8th, 9th and 10th Smrikva Bowl 2005 player, born in 1996, reached the quarterfinals of 125.000 USD ITF worth tournament played in India - Royal Indian Open 2012...

Donna Vekic, 8th, 9th and 10th Smrikva Bowl 2005 player, from Croatia, born in 1996, currently ranked #118 on WTA list reached the quarterfinals of the Royal Indian Open 2012…

Donna is currently by far the best young player in the TOP 500…

On the picture below you can Donna Vekic while planting the old olive tree during the Smrikva Bowl Ambassadors nomination cerimony in 2005 :)...

Few months ago Donna Vekic by virtue of reaching 2012 Tashkent final, was youngest player to reach a WTA final in six years (at age 16 – youngest since Paszek won Portoroz title in September 2006 at age 15).

At the end of 2011 she was ranked #392 WTA and today she is #118 WTA… as I wrote BY FAR the BEST IN HER AGE GROUP IN THE WORLD ON WTA RANKING LIST...

Her road towards the quarterfinals at Royal Indian Open 2012 was the following:

1st round: D.Vekic – Varatchaya WONGTEANCHAI (Tha) 6:0, 6:1
2nd round: D.Vekic – Oksana KALASHNIKOVA (Geo) 6:2,4:6,6:0
Quarterfinals: D.Vekic – Tamarine TANASUGARN (Tha) 2:6, 4:6

...while the ranking of the players is the following:

Varatchaya WONGTEANCHAI (Tha) – # 311 WTA list
Oksana KALASHNIKOVA (Geo) – # 542 WTA list
Tamarine TANASUGARN (Tha) – # 154 WTA list

Every day the WTA website track more and more Donna’s performance :)...

Bravo Donna!

06/11/12

The story of tennis, art and culture continues also via SMRIKVE LOUNGE... :)

On 8th of August 2011 we started to create a new legendary place in Smrikve named SMRIKVE LOUNGE…

On the picture below you can see the SMRIKVE LOUNGE render exposed in November 2011 on Istrian Architects Association Exhibition...

It was envisaged as a place where the culture and tennis will find the way to merge…

These days the SMRIKVE LOUNGE is exposed on Istrian Architects Association Exhibition 2012 as completed construction ;)

The word “culture” is most commonly used in three basic senses:

1) Excellence of taste in the fine arts and humanities, also known as high culture…

2) An integrated pattern of human knowledge, belief, and behavior that depends upon the capacity for symbolic thought and social learning…

3) The set of shared attitudes, values, goals, and practices that characterizes an institution, organization, or group…

SMRIKVE LOUNGE was envisaged as a place where some of the Smrikva Bowl seeds spread in 57 countries will return :)… to relax, for battery re-charge and to prepare for new challanges…

In the twentieth century, “culture” emerged as a concept central to anthropology, encompassing all human phenomena that are not purely results of human genetics.

Since 1996 Smrikva Bowl main court has hosted talents from all the continents… and SMRIKVE LOUNGE is expected to be the place attracting Smrikva talents and TOP ATP and WTA players… in reality grown Smrikva kids :) and off course La Bottega di Smrikve friends…

It is still a dream… but every month Smrikva kids are getting more and more close to that dream… becoming the Legends of tomorrow…

In the following two weeks the new website will be on line and presented…

If you visit the SMRIKVE LOUNGE website I hope the current sound of the music and larger pictures will give you an idea of the place…

05/11/12

Matic Podlipnik, 15th Smrikva Bowl 2010 player, with his tennis friends Jan Vehovec and Mark Mesarič, and Andjela Skrobonja, 16th Smrikva Bowl 2011 player, completed their holiday workshop at La Bottega di Smrikve and returned home...

La Bottega di Smrikve is a natural development of the story started in 1996 when the Smrikva Bowl tennis talents story began…

Matic Podlipnik, 15th Smrikva Bowl 2010 player, with his tennis friends Jan Vehovec and Mark Mesarič were again in Smirkve at La Bottega during the last week…

It is already a tradition for them to visit Smrikve few times a year… and always we build our gathering around particular subject of interest…

This time another talented Smrikva Bowl player Andjela Skrobonja, 16th Smrikva Bowl 2011 player, joined them…

… and yesterday they completed their holiday visit at our Bottega di Smrikve and returned home… :)

Half time of their learning stay was spent in this room :)… with Bailey’s footwork…

YODA wise comments… ;)

… and quite a lot of time with Jim Loehr Mental Training ideas and with Alistar Higham explanation of the hidden force in tennis… the Momentum…

… a lot of music, a lot of tennis and a lot of classroom ;)…

… but not only…

… the IGRA game… was always there to relax, have fun and calm down after the training… and here below Andjela and Jan celebrated the victory ;)…

On Saturday afternoon… after long hours dedicated to tennis training… just couple of hours before dinner… we visited Yshai Oliel’s preferred ice-cream shop in Fazana…

… Italian ice-cream… :))… and from Valbandon till Fazana and back we walked, run…

… and smiled :)…

… we did not take only ice-cream but also a piece of cake… a little mistake that almost compromised the dinner… but 3 kilometres walk and run nearby the seaside helped…

… combined with the energy consumed during the day that Smrikva kids ate all the fish and all the creps :)

… best wishes tennis talents till your next time in Smrikve…

… to end this article I am pleased to share the music that was with us most of the time during these days…

… the music was helping to visualise elements… visual dreams… and helping to get the feeling of the hidden forse Momentum as explained by Alistar Higham… ;)

26/10/12

New sections on Smrikva Bowl website: 1996 – 2011: in SMRIKVA BOWL PHOTO GALLERY

Dear Smrikve friends,

Over the last few weeks I dedicated some time to select, scan and create the historical photo galleries to learn more about Smrikve, that were missing on the Smrikva Bowl website… from 1996 till 2006...

In 1996 there were no digital cameras thus several galleries were missing ;)...

It was 28th of June 1996 when the first Smrikva Cup started… and recently, I noted that a rising former Smrikva Bowl player, Donna Vekic (#108 WTA del 1996)... was born that day… thus if you wish to get an idea of Smrikva Bowl age in terms of human age just „google“ her name… and in the new Photo Galleries you can compare her smile when she was a kid :)...

Over 1250 tennis talents left traces in Smrikve since 1996... from 57 countries and all the continents... and the new photo galleries restore a bit of memories :)... the next year Smrikva will be 18. :)!

Regards,

Mio

P.S. just for those who are planning to visit Smrikve for holidays, the 18th annual, or for „La Bottega“ just drop me an e-mail… and one more thing… very soon the new SMRIKVE LOUNGE website will be put on line… very particular…

25/10/12

Iva Nisavic, 17 Smrikva Bowl 2012 player, won her 40th match of the year (in Montenegro) without loosing a set...

Iva Nisavic, 17 Smrikva Bowl 2012 player, from Montenegro, won last week the National Master under 10 and totaled her 40th victory in her country without loosing a set this year, thus confirmed her #1 ranking in the country…

During the last week held National Master in the semifinals she defated Sofija Radjenovic (4:1, 4:1), while in the finals Nadja Mrkic (4:1, 4:1).

21/10/12

Donna Vekic, 8th, 9th and 10th Smrikva Bowl player, born in 1996, 108 WTA ranking, on womenstennisblog.com and HTS (Croatian Tennis Association) monthly magazine cover...

Donna Vekic, 8th, 9th and 10th Smrikva Bowl 2005 player, from Croatia, born in 1996, reached her best ranking last week #108 on WTA list...

Month ago Donna Vekic by virtue of reaching 2012 Tashkent final, was youngest player to reach a WTA final in six years!

The above result allowed Donna to take the cover of the Croatian Tennis Association monthly magazine for the October 2012 :)

On 18th of October, Marija Zivlak, the editor of the prestigious blog that covers top 20 WTA players, www.womenstennisblog.com, dedicated an article to Donna Vekic, as promissing prospect, that I am pleased to share with Smrikve community…

About Donna Vekic – young tennis prospect from Croatia

Practically since starting Women’s Tennis Blog I’ve been in touch with Miodrag Bozovic from Croatia, organizer of Smrikva Bowl, a tournament for children under 10. While it’s not possible to predict future tennis stars from children at such a young age, as a lot depends on their determination and later circumstances in life, some of Miodrag’s contestants are making a name for themselves in the big tennis world and one of them is Donna Vekic, a 16-year-0ld from Osijek, currently based in London, who reached the 2012 Tashkent Open final in September in her first main draw appearance and is currently ranked No.108 (no girl born in 1996 or 1995 is ranked higher than her, while there’s only one born in 1994).

At the Tashkent Open, Donna came through qualifying in her third try on the WTA Tour and in the main draw she beat three Top 100 players in three days (Magdalena Rybarikova, Lara Arruabarrena-Vecino and Bojana Jovanovski), all three of whom had won titles in 2012, eventually becoming the youngest player to reach a WTA final since Tamira Paszek six years ago and finishing as the runner-up to Irina-Camelia Begu.

Following the tournament, Vekic rose from No.183 to No.121 on the WTA rankings, while now she’s progressed further, after a $100,000 ITF event in Suzhou where she reached the semifinal in which she lost to top seed and eventual champion Hsieh Su-Wei. Vekic’s success after Tashkent was also manifested in her contract with Nike and her first photoshoot.

The Smrikva Bowl founder remembers Donna as a cheerful and sweet child with radiant smile and a Ledo ice-cream T-shirt, always accompanied by her family, father Igor, mother Brankica and younger brother Bruno. Donna played the Smrikva Bowl three times, in 2003, 2004 and 2005 (the tournament’s eighth, ninth and tenth enditions) and is remembered as one of the youngest Smrikva Bowl entrants.

Donna was born to a sporting family. Before starting playing tennis at the age of six, Donna trained gymnastics for a few years. This summer she stopped playing juniors, after losing the junior quarterfinals in Wimbledon, and shifted her focus on the pros. Donna considers forehand and serve her best shots, but also backhand. Mental strength is also one of her assets.

The young Croat, coached by David Felgate, is the youngest player in the Top 500, and one of only three players in the Top 500 born in 1996. Currently, she’s the second-ranked WTA player from her country, after Petra Martic. Remember this face!

These days TEB BNP Paribas WTA tournament will be played in Istanbul and last night I received a picture from Emre Eren Onal, 16th Smrikva Bowl 2010 player, from Turkey, with Belarusian Viktoria Azarenka, currently #1 WTA player.

Victoria Azarenka is 7 years older than Donna Vekic… and currently she is #1 in the World…

I decided to share the above picture in todays article with wish that one day Smrikva kids around the World will be sharing their pictures with Donna too when she starts doing her signing sessions!

18/10/12

An autumn day at "La Bottega di Smrikve"... with Max, Chiara, Toni, Ari, Lukas, Chiara, Paolina, Ivan, Leki and Andrey :)

Knowing why the early bird gets the worm… Max is the first to step on the court in the morning… 7:30 AM… this year he started high school thus early in the morning is his training session…

... in some Regions in Germany it is holiday time thus Chiara made us a visit… she was here this summer and this is her second time at Smrikve… :)

Toni... Antonio... 8 years old talent under construction :)... travels from Rovinj almost daily to Smrikve…

... yesterday it was his grandmother turn to pick him up and bring to the training… Rovinj is almost 30 kilometres away from Smrikve… and right after him Ari had her lesson thus Toni warmed up Ari who is 8 years older ;)...

...the afternoon youngster yesterday group was made of Lukas... the white dot you see in the corner is his dog Ziki :)...

...Chiara, Paolina and Ivan...

... also Leki and Andrey are the two young talents under construction… and yesterday they played almost an hour long match :)...

... and before cleaning the courts the must is SHAKING HANDS till the next battle! :)

15/10/12

Donna Vekic, 8th, 9th and 10th Smrikva Bowl 2005 player, born in 1996, reached the semifinals of 100.000 USD ITF worth tournament played in China - Suzhou 2012... and reach 108 WTA ranking list position...

Donna Vekic, 8th, 9th and 10th Smrikva Bowl 2005 player, from Croatia, born in 1996, currently ranked #108 on WTA list...

Yesterday she reached the semifinals of 100.000 USD worth tournament played in China – Suzhou 2012.

Month ago Donna Vekic by virtue of reaching 2012 Tashkent final, was youngest player to reach a WTA final in six years (at age 16 – youngest since Paszek won Portoroz title in September 2006 at age 15).

At the end of 2011 she was ranked #392 WTA and today she is #108 WTA… BY FAR the BEST IN HER AGE GROUP IN THE WORLD ON WTA RANKING LIST...

Her road towards the semifinals of USD 100.000 Suzhou 2012 played in China tournament in details is the following:

1st round: Donna Vekic – Yue Yue HU (Chn) 6:3, 6:4
2nd round: Donna Vekic – Michaela HONKOVA (Svk) 3:6,6:4,6:2
Quarterfinals: Donna Vekic – Caroline GARCIA (Fra) 2:6,6:2,6:2
Semifinals: Donna Vekic – Su-Wei HSIEH (Tpe) 6:7, 1:6

...while the ranking of the players played is the following:

Yue Yue HU (Chn) – # 290 WTA list
Michaela HONKOVA (Svk) – # 299 WTA list
Caroline GARCIA (Fra) – # 152 WTA list
Su-Wei HSIEH (Tpe) – # 25 WTA list

Bravo Donna!

14/10/12

Today we started to collect olives that will end up in bottles with Smrikva Bowl olive oil that will be given to the 18th Smrikva Bowl 2013 Ambassadors - Istrian olive oil is considered one of the best in the World

Yesterday we started to collect olives… and today we continued…

The 2013 Smrikva Bowl olive oil production :)… In Smrikve is considered 2013 production because the next year every new Smrikva Bowl Ambassador will receive a bottle of it.

In Smrikve we produce Istrian olive oil that has over 2000 years old tradition in olive oil making and was considered among the best one in the Roman Empire and today is still considered among the best one in the World.

During the Smrikva Bowl we use to give to every Smrikva Bowl Ambasador a bottle of oil as a memory to their Smrikva Bowl.

We started the collection process that will end with transforming the olives into oil for the 18th Smrikva Bowl 2013 players and Ambassadors… the new Stars of tomorrow…

One day we will be able to produce special and limited collections of the Smrikva Bowl olive oil from the Smrikva Bowl centuries old olive trees planted by some of the future tennis Champions… the long road full of sweat and tears… and in end smile :)

A SHORT INTRODUCTION OF THE LONG STORY OF THE ISTRIAN OLIVE OIL…

The tradition of the olive oil production started to develop in Istria during the time of the Emperor Augustus. Thanks to the olive oil Pula was for few centuries one of the richest towns in the Roman Empire and this is one of the main reasons why Pula got its magnificent Arena.

Arena was completed at the same time as the famous Colosseum in Rome. It is one of the six largest Roman amphitheatres in the World and is today the Roman amphitheatre with best preserved external mantel in the World.

It is important to say that at the time olive oil was not used only as the salad dressing as we use it today but it was used also for lighting thus it was important as todays are important the sources of energy we use. It was the gold of its period. This explain the status and importance Pula had during the Roman Empire time.

Istrian olive oil was considered among the best in the Empire but also the amphorae production was very important. In the village located nearby Pula named Fazana one of the most prestigous amphorae production facilities were located owned by a Roman Consul.

SMRIKVA BOWL AMBASSADORS OLIVE TREES…

In 2005, for the 10th Smrikva Bowl anniversary, we started the tradition of planting an old Olive tree. The Olive tree selected needs to be older than the oldest man living on the earth today.

The people that planted Smrikva Bowl Olive trees for the first time are no longer among us and the message this Olive tree transmits to the Ambassadors is that intergenerational responsibility alone will allow future generations to enjoy the beauty of life, the sunsets and the seasons of the earth.

The Lion King cartoon is an artwork and many life messages one can find in it and most of them are in line with the Smrikva Bowl.

They are in line with the message of the Ambassadors’ Olive Tree; they are in line with the values of friendship and love; they are in line with empathy. Love, friendship and empathy are all Cosmopolitan values per excellence, as far as people and humanity are concerned thus in line with Smrikva Bowl mission.

WHAT REMAINED IN ISTRIA FROM THE ROMAN OLIVE OIL TRADITION…

The olive tree can live for millenniums and thanks to this long life of the olive tree we do know one of the sorts that was cultivated during the Roman Empire time.

Today in Istria there are other sorts of olive trees but the olive oil is outstanding thanks to the geographic position of Istria.

It is hard to understand how Romans without sophisticated analysis instruments that we do have today were able to determine in which part of the Empire they were able to get the best food, olive oil and wine. Istria was considered the area of the best olive oil and wine.

Romans had deep knowledge of olive oil making and we do know that they had five different olive oils quality ranking:

1. Oleum ex albis ulivis: first quality olive oil made by green and white olives

(THIS IS WHAT WE DO AND EXPECT FROM THE SMRIKVA BOWL OLIVE OIL)

2. Viride: olive oil made by the olives that started to become black

3. Maturum: olive oil made by mature olives

4. Caducum: olive oil made by olives collected from the ground

5. Cibarium: olive oil made by rotten olives

Most of the old knowledge returned to Istria in the last decades thanks to the many Istrian families that dedicated with passion in rediscovering this old agricultural art.

THE OLDEST ISTRIAN OLIVE TREE…

On Brioni island there is an olive tree from the beginning of the 4th century that is one of the oldest olive trees in Europe. For its years could be also a symbol of wise.

To give you an idea of his age just imagine that this olive tree was planted during the time of Emperor Costantine the Great.

In general, wise and talented people usually create things after hard personal experiences. Men mostly learn trough experiences and that knowledge usually have value for future generations.

It would be nice to think that the oldest Istrian olive tree from Brioni could lend a part of its wise to each visitor :)

Marcus Valerius Martialis, native from Cordoba, who lived in the 1st century AD, during the Roman Empire times, celebrated Istrian olive oil with the following verses: “Uncto Corduba Laetior Venafro Histra Nec Minus Absolute Testa”. The translation in English would be: “Cordoba, you being more fertile than the olive oil region of Venafro and so perfect as the oil (amphora) from Istria”.

To learn more about ISTRIAN OLIVE OIL and the Region where Smrikva Bowl is played please visit:

…CULTURAL E-BOOK “Istria from Smrikve” aims to provide Smrikva Bowl players and their families with useful information about the places that should be visited in the Istria region. Here you will find information about: architecture, history, people, music, museums, major cultural events, cuisine, top restaurants and the best olive oil and wine producers.

14/10/12

Ivana JOROVIC, 12th Smrikva Bowl 2007 quarterfinalist, won the ITF USD 10.000 worth tournament played in Egypt - Sharm El Shiekh

Ivana JOROVIC, 12th Smrikva Bowl 2007 quarterfinalist, from Serbia, ranked 754 on WTA list won last week the USD 10.000 ITF worth tournament played in Egypt at Sharm El Shiekh 2012 – Jolie ville golf F4 Women’s.

Ivana’s road towards the victory was the following:

1st round: Ivana Jorovic – Aimee GIPSON (Gbr) 6:1, 6:2
2nd round: Ivana Jorovic – Claudia COPPOLA (Ita) 6:2, 3:6, 6:4
Quarterfinals: Ivana Jorovic – Tina SCHIECHTL (Aut) 6:2, 3:1 ret.
Semifinals: Ivana Jorovic-Sherazad BENAMAR (Fra) 4:6,6:2,5:2ret
Finals: Ivana Jorovic – Jasmin STEINHERR (Ger) 6:4, 6:2

The ranking of the players that Ivana Jorovic played in Egypt is the following:

Aimee GIPSON (Gbr) – #1162 WTA
Claudia COPPOLA (Ita) – NR
Tina SCHIECHTL (Aut) – #361 WTA
Sherazad BENAMAR (Fra) – #582 WTA
Jasmin STEINHERR (Ger) – #586 WTA

12/10/12

Petra Martic, 6th Smrikva Bowl 2001 winner and #64th player on WTA list, played the quarterfinals against Victoria Azarenka at Generali Ladies Linz 2012 in Austria

Petra Martic, 6th Smrikva Bowl 2001 winner, is the best ranked former Smrikva Bowl player on WTA ranking list… currently she holds #64th place on WTA list…

In the quarterfinals in Austria she played with the current world #1 WTA player Victoria Azarenka, while in the first round she defeated the current #26 WTA Sorana Cirstea from Romania.

Her road towards the quarterfinals of the Main Draw of Generali Ladies Linz 2012 was the following:

1st round: Petra Martic – Sorana Cirstea (Rou) 6:4, 6:3
2nd round: Petra Martic-Patricia Mayr-Achleitner (Aut) 6:2,3:6,6:0
Quarterfinals: Petra Martic – Victoria Azarenka (Blr) 2:6, 2:6

The ranking of the players that Petra played is the following:

Sorana Cirstea (Rou) – #26 on WTA list
Patricia Mayr-Achleitner (Aut) – #159 on WTA list
Victoria Azarenka (Blr) – #1 on WTA list

08/10/12

Top Smrikva Bowl and "Little Mo"/Smrikva Bowl players on ATP, WTA, ITF, USTA and European under 14 and 16 ranking lists (update October 2012)

Former top Smrikva Bowl players that reached certain results on the professional ranking list are mentioned below and the top Smrikva Bowl players that are still competing…

As of 13th of August 2012 the ranking summary of the very TOP former Smrikva Bowl boys and girls is the following:

• 1 player TOP 100 WTA (Petra Martic – 2001 winner)

• 1 player TOP 200 ATP (Javier Marti – 2002 winner)

• 6 boys and 9 girls… in total 15 players are in TOP 100 ITF – (Gianluigi QUINZI #4, Nikola MILOJEVIC #10, Matteo DONATI #29, Laslo DJERE #30, Franko MIOCIC #43, Borna CORIC #50; Belinda BENCIC #10, Ana KONJUH #12, Christina MAKAROVA #22, Ilka CSOREGI #30, Camilla ROSATELLO #39, Eleanor DEAN #66, Irina Maria BARA #70, Giulia PAIRONE #89, Ivana JOROVIC #90)

• 1boy and 2 girls are in TOP 10 ETA under 16 – (Gianluigi QUINZI #1, Ana KONJUH #4, Belinda BENCIC #6)

• 3 girls are in TOP 10 ETA under 14 – (Olga FRIDMAN #2, Maia LUMSDEN #4, Viktoria KUZMOVA #6)

BOYS
Vilim Visak, 1st Smrikva Bowl 1996 winner, from Croatia. Vilim’s best ranking was #612 in March 2006.

GIRLS
Ivana Lisjak, 2nd Smrikva Bowl 1997 winner, from Croatia. Ivana’s best ranking was #95 on WTA list in June 2006.

Astrid Besser, 4th Smrikva Bowl 1999 winner, from Italy. Atrid’s best ranking was #356 on WTA list in March 2009.

Tereza MRDEZA, 5th Smrikva Bowl 2000 winner, from Croatia, is currently ranked #185 on WTA list.

2001 – 6th Smrikva Bowl was the last year with dominance of the top national players…

BOYS
Marin Draganja, 6th Smrikva Bowl 2001 winner, from Croatia, is ranked #633 on ATP ranking list.
Dino Marcan, 6th Smrikva Bowl 2001 runner up, from Croatia, is ranked #396 on ATP ranking list.

GIRLS
Petra MARTIC, 6th Smrikva Bowl 2001 winner, from Croatia, is ranked #64 on WTA list (TOP 100 WTA). Petra’s best raning is #42 on WTA list as of June 2012.
Indire Akiki, 6th Smrikva Bowl 2001 runner up, from Croatia, is ranked #501 on WTA list.

IN 2002 SMRIKVA BOWL STARTED TO BE A EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIP

2002 – 7th Smrikva Bowl and 1st”Little Mo”/Smrikva Bowl

BOYS
Javier MARTI, 7th Smrikva Bowl 2002 winner, from Spain, is currently ranked #194 on ATP list.
Giacomo Miccini, 7th Smrikva Bowl 2002 runner up, from Italy, was ranked #1054 on ATP list in May 2009.

GIRLS
Martina Caregaro, 7th Smrikva Bowl 2002 winner, from Italy, is ranked #577 on WTA ranking list.
Ajla TOMLJANOVIC, 7th Smrikva Bowl 2002 runner up, from Croatia, is ranked #356 on WTA list.
Ema BURGIC, ranked 3rd on 7th Smrikva Bowl 2002, from Bosnia and Herzegovina, best ranking was #505 on WTA list in July 2010.

2003 – 8th Smrikva Bowl and 2nd”Little Mo”/Smrikva Bowl

BOYS
Dominic THIEM, 8th Smrikva Bowl 2003 winner, from Austria, is ranked #445 on ATP ranking list. Junior ROLAND GARROS 2011 finalist, Eddie Herr International and Junior Orange Bowl under 18 winner.
George MORGAN, 8th Smrikva Bowl 2003 runner up, from Great Britain, is ranked #842 on ATP ranking list. Junior US OPEN 2011 semifinalist.
Ciprian PORUMB, ranked 3rd on 8th Smrikva Bowl 2003, from Romenia, is ranked #1671 on ATP ranking list.

GIRLS
Jennifer Ren, 8th Smrikva Bowl 2003 winner, from Great Britain, not currently ranked on WTA list.
Silvia NJIRIC, 8th Smrikva Bowl 2003 runner up, from Croatia, is ranked #500 on WTA list.
Ajla TOMLJANOVIC, ranked 3rd on 8th Smrikva Bowl 2003, from Croatia, is ranked #356 on WTA list.

“Little Mo” TEAM
Emmett EGGER, played 2nd “Little Mo”/Smrikva Bowl, from the USA, is not ranked yet on ATP list.

2004 – 9th Smrikva Bowl and 3rd”Little Mo”/Smrikva Bowl

BOYS
Ivan Levar, 9th Smrikva Bowl 2004 winner, from Croatia, is not ranked on ATP ranking list.
Miki JANKOVIC, 9th Smrikva Bowl 2004 runner up, from Serbia, is ranked #837 on ATP ranking list.
Filip VEGER, 9th Smrikva Bowl 2004 semifinalist, from Croatia, is ranked #859 on ATP ranking list.
Danil ZELENKOV, 9th Smrikva Bowl 2004 player, from FYR Macedonia, is ranked #1303 on ATP ranking list.

GIRLS
Saska GAVRILOVSKA, 9th Smrikva Bowl 2004 winner, from Serbia, is ranked #687 on WTA ranking list

“Little Mo” TEAM
Mitchel POLNET, played 3rd “Little Mo”/Smrikva Bowl, from the USA, is ranked #1671 on ATP ranking list.

Blair SHANKLE, played 3rd “Little Mo”/Smrikva Bowl, from the USA, is ranked #124 on ITF ranking list.

IN 2005 SMRIKVA BOWL GATHERED TOP PLAYERS FROM 3 CONTINENTS

2005 – 10th Smrikva Bowl and 4th “Little Mo”/Smrikva Bowl

BOYS
Matteo DONATI, 10th Smrikva Bowl 2005 winner, from Italy, is ranked #29 on ITF ranking list (TOP 100 ITF) and is ranked #1250 on ATP list.
Laslo DJERE, 10th Smrikva Bowl 2005 runner up, from Serbia, is ranked #30 on ITF ranking list (TOP 100 ITF) and is ranked 921 on ATP list.
Gianluigi QUINZI, ranked 3rd on 10th Smrikva Bowl 2005, from Italy, is ranked #4 on ITF ranking list (TOP 10 ITF) and is ranked #875 on ATP list.
Nikola MILOJEVIC, 10th Smrikva Bowl 2005 Consolation tournament winner, from Serbia, is ranked #10 on ITF ranking list (TOP 10 ITF).
Borna CORIC, 10th Smrikva Bowl 2005 player, from Croatia, is ranked #50 on ITF ranking list (TOP 100 ITF) and is ranked #1297 on ATP list.
Luka ILIC, , 10th Smrikva Bowl 2005 player, from Serbia, is ranked #104 on ITF ranking list and is ranked #1422 on ATP ranking list.
Franko MIOCIC, 10th Smrikva Bowl 2005 player, from Croatia, is ranked #43 on ITF ranking list.

GIRLS
Saska GAVRILOVSKA, 10th Smrikva Bowl 2005 winner, from Serbia, is ranked #687 on WTA ranking list.
Olga IANCHUK, 10th Smrikva Bowl 2005 runner up, from Ukraine, is ranked #455 on WTA list.
Irina Maria BARA, 10th Smrikva Bowl 2005 player, from Romania, is ranked #70 on ITF ranking list and is ranked #1023 on WTA ranking list.
Donna VEKIC, 10th Smrikva Bowl 2005 player, from Croatia, is ranked #121 on WTA list.
Iva MEKOVEC, 10th Smrikva Bowl 2005 player, from Croatia, is ranked #528 on WTA list.
Camilla ROSATELLO, 10th Smrikva Bowl 2005 player, from Italy, is ranked #39 on ITF ranking list (TOP 100 ITF).

Dorothy Tang, played 4th “Little Mo”/Smrikva Bowl, from the USA, is not ranked on ITF ranking list.

2006 – 11th Smrikva Bowl and 5th”Little Mo”/Smrikva Bowl

BOYS
Gianluigi QUINZI, 11th Smrikva Bowl 2006 winner, from Italy, is ranked #4 on ITF ranking list (TOP 10 ITF) and is ranked #875 on ATP list.
Andre BIRO, 11th Smrikva Bowl 2006 semifinalist, from Hungary, is ranked #117 on ITF ranking list.

GIRLS
Eleanor DEAN, 11th Smrikva Bowl 2006 winner, from Great Britain, is ranked #66 on ITF ranking list (TOP 100 ITF).
Ilka CSOREGI, 11th Smrikva Bowl 2006 semifinalists, from Romania, is ranked #30 on ITF ranking list (TOP 100 ITF)
Dea HERDZELAS, 11th Smrikva Bowl 2006 quarterfinalists, from Bosnia and Herzegovina, is ranked #102 on ITF ranking list.
Belinda BENCIC, 11th Smrikva Bowl 2006, from Switzerland, is ranked #10 on ITF ranking list (TOP 10 ITF)
Giulia PAIRONE, 11th Smrikva Bowl 2006, from Italy, is ranked #89 on ITF ranking list (TOP 100 ITF)

Christina MAKAROVA, played 5th “Little Mo”/Smrikva Bowl, from the USA, is ranked #22 on ITF ranking list (TOP 100 ITF).
Gabriella Umoquit, played 5th “Little Mo”/Smrikva Bowl, from the USA, is not ranked on ITF ranking list.

2007 – 12th Smrikva Bowl and 6th”Little Mo”/Smrikva Bowl

BOYS
Sacha MERZETTI, 12th Smrikva Bowl 2007 winner, from Italy, is ranked #216 in Europe in under 16 cathegory.
Bogdan BORZA, 12th Smrikva Bowl 2007 runner up, from Romania, is ranked #92 in Europe in under 16 cathegory and is ranked #730 on ITF ranking list.
Gonzalo MORELL, ranked 3rd on 12th Smrikva Bowl 2007, from Spain, is ranked #197 in Europe in under 16 cathegory.
Sergiu BUCUR, ranked 4th on 12th Smrikva Bowl 2007, from Romania, is ranked #426 in Europe in under 16 cathegory.

GIRLS
Ana KONJUH, 12th Smrikva Bowl 2007 runner up, from Croatia, is ranked #5 in Europe in under 16 cathegory (TOP 10 TE U16) and is ranked #12 on ITF ranking list.
Nina POTOCNIK, ranked 3rd on 12th Smrikva Bowl 2007, from Slovenia, is ranked #49 in Europe in under 16 cathegory and is ranked #125 on ITF ranking list.
Ivana JOROVIC, 12th Smrikva Bowl 2007 player, from Serbia, is ranked #56 in Europe in under 16 cathegory, and is ranked #90 on ITF ranking list (TOP 100) and 961 on WTA list.

“Little Mo” TEAM
Eduardo NAVA, played 6th “Little Mo”/Smrikva Bowl, from the USA, is ranked #842 on ITF ranking list.
Tommy PAUL, played 6th “Little Mo”/Smrikva Bowl, from the USA, is ranked #874 on ITF ranking list.

Ndindi NDUNDA, played 6th “Little Mo”/Smrikva Bowl, from the USA, is ranked #1019 on ITF ranking list.
Domonique Garley, played 6th “Little Mo”/Smrikva Bowl, from the USA, is not ranked on ITF ranking list.

IN 2008 SMRIKVA BOWL GATHERED TOP PLAYERS FROM 5 CONTINENTS AND TURNED INTO A WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP

2008 – 13th Smrikva Bowl and 7th”Little Mo”/Smrikva Bowl

BOYS
Luka PANIC, 13th Smrikva Bowl 2008 winner, from Switzerland, is ranked #212 in Europe in under 14 cathegory.
Mihnea TURCU, 13th Smrikva Bowl 2008 runner up, from Romania, is ranked #437 in Europe in under 14 european ranking list.
Grega KOKALJ, ranked 3rd on 13th Smrikva Bowl 2008, from Slovenia, is ranked #127 in Europe in under 14 cathegory.
Andrea Guerrieri, ranked 3rd on 13th Smrikva Bowl 2008, from Italy, is ranked #212 in Europe in under 14 cathegory.

GIRLS
Katarina JOKIC, 13th Smrikva Bowl 2008 winner, from Bosnia and Herzegovina, is ranked #103 in Europe in under 14 cathegory.
Maia LUMSDEN, 13th Smrikva Bowl 2008 runner up, from Scotland, is ranked #4 in Europe in under 14 cathegory (TOP 10 TE U14).
Viktoria KUZMOVA, ranked 3rd on 13th Smrikva Bowl 2008, from Slovakia, is ranked #5 in Europe in under 14 cathegory (TOP 10 TE U14).
Estela Perez-Somarriba, ranked 3rd on 13th Smrikva Bowl 2008, from Spain, is ranked #520 on under 14 european ranking list.
Olga FRIDMAN, 13th Smrikva Bowl 2008 player, from Ukraine, is ranked #2 in Europe in under 14 cathegory (TOP 10 TE U14).
Nikolina JOVIC, 13th Smrikva Bowl 2008 player, from Bosnia and Herzegovina, is ranked #43 in Europe in under 14 cathegory.
Gabriella Patricia TAYLOR, 13th Smrikva Bowl 2008 player, from UK, is ranked #11 in Europe in under 14 cathegory (TOP 10 TE U14).
Marija CURNIC, 13th Smrikva Bowl 2008 player, from Croatia, is ranked #18 in Europe in under 14 cathegory.

IN 2009 SMRIKVA BOWL HAD 6 NEW COUNTRIES AND 1 NEW CONTINENT THUS REACHED THE TOTAL OF 40 COUNTRIES AND 6 CONTINENTS THAT PARTICIPATED IN THE TOURNAMENT SINCE ITS FOUNDATION

2009 – 14th Smrikva Bowl and 8th”Little Mo”/Smrikva Bowl

BOYS
Alvaro REGALADO PEDROL, 14th Smrikva Bowl 2009 winner, from Spain, is ranked #176 in under 14 european ranking.
Samuele RAMAZZOTTI, 14th Smrikva Bowl 2009 runner up, from Italy, is ranked #49 in under 14 european ranking.
Karlo SUEVICH, ranked 3rd on 14th Smrikva Bowl 2009, from Slovenia, is too young for under 14 european ranking.
Alejandro DAVIDOVICH, ranked 3rd on 14th Smrikva Bowl 2009, from Spain, is ranked #358 in under 14 european ranking.
Miomir KECMANOVIC, 14th Smrikva Bowl 2009 quarterfinalist, from Serbia, is ranked #19 in under 14 european ranking.
Alexei POPYRIN, 14th Smrikva Bowl 2009 Consolation Draw
winner, from Australia, is ranked #60 in under 14 european ranking.

GIRLS
Katie SWAN, 14th Smrikva Bowl 2009 winner, from United Kingdom, is ranked #101 in under 14 european ranking.
Jovana VUKOVIC – JOKA, 14th Smrikva Bowl 2009 runner up, from Serbia, is too young for under 14 european ranking.
Inci OGUT, ranked 3rd on 14th Smrikva Bowl 2009, from Turkey, is ranked #76 in under 14 european ranking.
Arianna CAPOGROSSO, ranked 3rd on 14th Smrikva Bowl 2009, from Italy, is ranked #208 in under 14 european ranking.

IN 2010 SMRIKVA BOWL HAD 9 NEW COUNTRIES AND REACHED THE TOTAL OF 49 COUNTRIES THAT PARTICIPATED IN THE TOURNAMENT SINCE ITS FOUNDATION

2010 – 15th Smrikva Bowl and 9th”Little Mo”/Smrikva Bowl

“Little Mo” TEAM
Max Motlagh, played 9th “Little Mo”/Smrikva Bowl, from the USA, is too young for the ITF ranking list.

IN 2011 SMRIKVA BOWL HAD 4 NEW COUNTRIES AND REACHED THE TOTAL OF 53 COUNTRIES THAT PARTICIPATED IN THE TOURNAMENT SINCE ITS FOUNDATION

2011 – 16th Smrikva Bowl

2012 – 17th Smrikva Bowl

04/10/12

Max and Daria Solovyeva - Dasha enjoy the beauty of the sunny Istrian autumn weather at "La Bottega" di Smrikve...

Dasha from Moscow joined “La Bottega” for the second time this year…

It was a long summer for her with a lot of tournaments… and a lot of good results… since her last visit in May… she further grew up :)... and now is a big Dasha ;)...

... the weather is extraordinary… it was nice during whole September… and is still almost summer time…

... nice time for tennis… and Max, Ari, Silvia, Karlo and Dasha can fully enjoy it at “LA BOTTEGA” di Smrikve…

30/09/12

A good news for the Smrikva Bowl friends... Luca APPINO founded APPINO TENNIS ACADEMY (ATA) in Sanremo (ITALY) :)

Luca Appino is a long term Smrikva Bowl friend and Golden Honorary Member since this title was established. He was for many years Babolat Director Of Sports Marketing and contributed to built up Babolat from a string company to one of the largest racquet manufacturers in the World. He is also credited for signing contracts with players such as Rafael Nadal, Andy Roddick, Kim Clijsters, Carlos Moya, Dinara Safina, Nadia Petrova, Aravane Rezzai, etc.

The new challenge that Luca just announced is the evolution of the TENNIS TALENTS project and his current position at the SANREMO TENNIS CLUB: the creation of APPINO TENNIS ACADEMY (ATA).

Here is the message just received from Luca that I am pleased to share with Smrikve community… :)

Dear Friend,

We are happy to announce the opening of our new Appino Tennis Academy (ATA) www.appinotennis.com by Luca Appino.

As a player or as a parent you will certainly find a camp within our Path to Success program that will fit for sure your needs and fulfill your high expectation.

Especially the innovating School &Tennis programs built to secure your future as a Pro, or as a College Player taking full advantage of the American NCAA scholarship system.

We know that managing a good balance between school, professional trainings, and tournaments can be Mission-Impossible sometimes: we will take care of it !

Thank you for reading this email and hope to see you soon in our Academy in Sanremo (Italy).

Luca Appino
ATA Co-Founder and Director
www.appinotennis.com

21/09/12

18th Smrikva Bowl 2013 selection process starts today on Ambassadors Day... 21st of September...

With this e-mail the selection process of the talents for the 18th annual Smrikva Bowl 2013 starts. 18th Smrikva Bowl 2013 will be held in Pula-Istria, Croatia, from 24th till 29th of June 2013. Smrikva Bowl, as some of you may know, is the tournament which boasts the top 10 years old players world-wide… not an under 10, but a “s”-uper 10…;)

There is a detailed presentation about 18th Smrikva Bowl 2013 with the application form and other relevant information related with this year edition that is posted on the main page of the Smrikva Bowl website

17th Smrikva Bowl 2012 gathered top players from 33 countries and since the tournament foundation in 1996 over 1250 top players from 57 countries and all the continents have played the event… it was the first time this year that over 40% of participants accepted were ranked #1 in their countries… historically Smrikva gathered around 30% of participants being formally ranked #1.

In 2009 the cultural tourism guide Istria from Smrikve was published and this is my gift to the Smrikva Bowl Ambassadors and Smrikve friends with wish that a part of helping us in scouting talents around the World our little Ambassadors will also help us in spreading the word about Istria as cultural tourism destination worth visiting.

The same year, as part of the subscription fee, the Smrikva Bowl participants started to bring a book about the culture of the place they are coming from thus we started to create the Smrikva Bowl Library… this year we physically created the library that also become a classroom for the members of our tennis school “La Bottega” di Smrikve… our tennis school… the donated book till today form a library of over 380 books from 46 countries…

Smrikva Bowl mission is to develop and spread Cosmopolitan values. Children, sport, culture and music are part of the Cosmopolitan World. Last year the Cosmopolite website has been created and it is another gift to the friends of Smrikve and our Ambassadors. Cosmopolite is a website dedicated to a book describing the importance of civilisation for the talents development.

Today is 21st of September… and few years ago this date was selected to be dedicated to the Smrikva Bowl Ambassadors… thus became the Smrikva Bowl Ambassadors Day … it is a good day to start the research of the talents for the 2013 edition…

Many of you are our Smrikve Ambassadors and I would like to take this opportunity to inform you that the number of the accepted players will be close to our traditional number of 100 players and your help will be as usual very precious…

If you know a good tennis player born in 2003 that deserves to play Smrikva Bowl please let me know. If you would like to help in any way Smrikva Bowl you are welcome, and thank you in advance for spreading the word about Smrikve and Smrikva Bowl in your community.

... and just one more thing for the end… SMRIKVE LOUNGE ... you will hear the story of it in the following months…

Regards,

Miodrag Bozovic

P.S. 1

On Linked In – professionals networking website – Discover Istria from Smrikve group has been created where periodically the contents from the cultural tourism guide on Istria are published and if you wish to receive those articles I am pleased to invite you to join the group.

DISCOVER ISTRIA FROM SMRIKVE on LINED IN

If you have problems with the above link and would like to join please send me an e-mail and I will send you the invitation.

P.S. 2

Today we live in the internet era and creating a quality network is an opportunity for everyone… If you write personal pages, blog, have your own website or community,… and have some elements in common with the Smrikve story you can evaluate to share it with your readers …

WHAT SMRIKVE.COM CONTAINS TODAY? SPORT: SMRIKVA BOWL, La Bottega di SMRIKVE – TENNIS SCHOOL…. CULTURE: “ Istria from Smrikve” and COSMOPOLITE… WINE and OLIVE OIL … VILLA SMRIKVE, VILLA TASTE, SMRIKVE Lounge… place for your tennis, culture or simply sea holiday… these are only few connection elements that I can think off …

In end THANK YOU FOR YOUR SUPPORT… I am please to let you know that little by little our website visits YTD have passed 160.000 visits!

20/09/12

Just attended Annual PTR Tennis Forum Meeting 2012 at Vavassori Tennis Academy - Palazzolo in ITALY

I participated last week end to the Annual PTR Tennis Forum at Vavassori Tennis Academy in Palazzolo, nearby Brescia in Italy… which was, as per tradition, full of interesting speakers…

Let me give you just a brief overview of the above mentioned learning experience…

This year at the Annual PTR Tennis Forum held at Palazzolo there were two new guest speakers to me Lorenzo Beltrame... and Gennaro Volturo...

Lorenzo Beltrame lives in Florida and is director of the Human Performance Institute… in particular is Director of Tennis and Mental Training…

Let me just give you a brief overview of his past experiences and awards… thus you can better understand his topics which were focused on improving mental strength and learning best tactics applied on different situations on the court...

Lorenzo Beltrame has been involved in sport all his life, first as a top ranked junior tennis player, then as a professional player and ultimately as a coach. Throughout his coaching career, he has worked with dozens of ATP and WTA touring professionals including Jim Courier and Pete Sampras. He has traveled extensively coaching players in major professional events…

Lorenzo has served as Director of Tennis and Athletic Mental Training at the Human Performance Institute, formerly LGE Performance Systems, in Orlando, Florida since 1996. Prior to joining the Human Performance Institute, he was responsible for developing and running high performance programs at Club Ambrosiano, one of the most prestigious clubs in Milan, Italy, and at two of the leading academies in the U.S.

It was also nice to see that the assistant you see on the picture above assisting Lorenzo is Elisa Villa that was in the public among tennis teachers and many years ago was Lorenzo’s student and TC Ambrosiano :)...

Lorenzo has learned and applied Dr. Loehr’s mental training system to a variety of sports for nearly a decade… currently is responsible for the Mental Toughness Certification Program…

Lorenzo is also featured as guest instructor on various instructional DVD shows produced by the United States Professional Tennis Association… and is a registered coach of the WTA Tour, holds both the USPTA Master Professional and PTR Professional certifications, and is certified as Maestro by the Italian Tennis Federation… is also an ACE certified personal trainer, and a USTA specialist in competitive player development… and was awarded the Coach of the Year and “Doc” Counsilman Science Award by the United States Olympic Committee.

Those who have interest to learn more about Lorenzo Beltrame can simply google his name and find more on what he does on Human Performance Institute website.

Gennaro Volturo with Luigi Bertino spoke about serve and its biomechanics…

I followed several PTR courses run by Luigi Bertino and one of the most beautiful DVD’s on serve is the one he made together with Riccardo Piatti, Ivan Ljubicic and Danilo Pizzorno… currently he is also the PTR head for the education for ITALY…

Gennaro Volturo is on the other side Professor at the Italian Federation National School for the Tennis Coaches since 2003… and is dedicated to the reasearch of biomecanichs and technique…

The above is the product of new alliance formed in Italy where the PTR is combining intelectual forces with Italian Tennis Federation thus it was really nice and high quality analysis speach… nice learning experience…

The other imortant part of the forum was run by Francesco Foschi, Pepe Rigamonti and Luigi Casale...

It was very enthusiastic and entertaining lesson… dedicated to Cardio Tennis and was run by Francesco Foschi and assisted by Rigamonti and Casale...

I already wrote last year that I met for the first time with this new word Cardio Tennis and I did not have an idea what it was… I enjoyed it… and there is a little additional reason why I enjoyed it that much :)...

I will first insert the picture of how the kids danced with Francesco Foschi at the Forum… and after the picture I will insert part of the article I wrote in July after last year Smrikva Bowl on how Smrikva Bowl kids danced… I hope you will like the story… ;)

Last year winter I read a book named The Talent Code... greatness isn’t born. It’s grown… written by Daniel Coyle...

This book, and a tennis teacher described by Daniel in his book, inspired me to share with Smrikva Bowl kids participating this year Smrikva Bowl a dance with their rackets…

It was the closing of the Ambassadors nomination cerimony when we took the rackets and dancing all together with smile on our faces we spent nice moments together… the kids were extraordinary in their imitation skills that evening :)...

I am pleased to share with Smrikve community and especially with the 16th Smrikva Bowl 2011 players, parents and coaches that were present that day parts of the book that I also talked about on the Smrikva Bowl Forum the day after Ambassadors nomination…

Mr. David Coyle in that book was traveling around the world trying to understand if talents are born or are helped to develop… and also tennis was among the sports he looked at…

In particular David was impressed by results made in Tennis Club Spartak in Moscow… by Larisa Preobrachenskaya... Larisa passed away few years ago but I am pleased to share part of that book with the group because reading that paragraphs and learning about Larisa’s method… that was the inspiration to me to improvise the dance we did that day in Smrikve…

I would be pleased to quote parts of David’s book from the page 80 till the page 83… in my opinnion it is a book worth having in the library for those who like talented kids and for those who are dedicatint their life to develop talents in any field and also in tennis…

That part I am quoting from the book starts with the following:

ABSORB THE WHOLE THING.... This means spending time staring at or listening to the desired skill – the song, the move, the swing – as a singel coherent entity… it basically amounts to absorbing a picture of the skill until you can imagine yourself doing it…

...Some of the most fruitful imitation I saw took place at Spartak Tennis Club in Moscow, a freezing junkpile that has produced a volcano of talent: Anna Kournikova, Marat Safin, Anastasia Myskina, Elena Dementieva, Dinara Safina, Mikhail Youzhny, and Dmitry Tursunov. All in all, the club produced more top-twenty-ranked women than the United States did from 2005 to 2007, as well as half of the men’s team that won the 2006 Davis Cup, and it’s done all that with one indoor court. When I visited in December 2006, the club resembled a Mad Max movie… An abandoned eighteen-wheeler was parked out front. Walking up, I could see shapes moving behind clouded plastic windows, but I did’t hear that distintive thwacking of tennis racquets and balls. When I walked i, the reason become evident: they were swinging all right. But they weren’t using balls.

At Spartak it’s called imitatsiya – rellying in slow motion with an imaginary ball. All Spartak’s players do it, from the five-year-olds to the pros. Their coach, a twinkly, weathered seventy-seven-years-old woman named Larisa Preobrachenskaya, roamed the court like a garage mechanic tunint an oversize engine. She grasped arms and piloted small limbs slowly through the stroke. When they finally hit balls – one by one, in a line (there are no private lessons at Spartak), Preobrazhenskaya frequently stopped them in their tracks and had them go through the motion again slowly, then once more. And again. And perhaps one more time.

It looked like a ballet class: a choreography of slow, simple, precise motions with an emphasis on tekhnika – technique. Preobrachenskaya enforced this approach with an iron decree: none of her students was permitted to play in a tournament for the first three years of their study… “If you begin playing without technique, it is big mistake. Big, big mistake!”

I was inspired by the above imitacija to add the music and try to see how it looks like… and it looked great and I was very pleased to learn that Cardio Tennis already existed with similar idea and concept… :)

During the meeting also Herbert Schnaubelt and Luciano Botti as top Officials of PTR gave indications of new programms that are on their way for the year to come…

PTR is always to me a growing experiences and such an experience was also this year Annual Forum :)

... and just one more thing… having explained the above… I would just say that Dasha from Moscow is again in Smrikve… at La Bottega… and I think the following picture is particular to stamp a nice smile at the end of today’s article… tomorrow the selection of the 18th Smrikva Bowl 2013 edition will start…