News

06/08/12

Miomir Kecmanovic, 14th Smrikva Bowl 2009 quarterfinalist, is at "La Bottega" again... and last week also Mark Boltuzic made as a visit too...

Miomir Kecmanovic is one of the most prominent European players in his age group and every summer he likes to spend some time with Miro in Smirkve :)...

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

... there was another Smrikva Bowl player from the 1999 generation last week for a day visit in Smrikve… he is friend of Max and Karlo thus the morning and afternoon was spent in a nice doubles atmosphere…

Mark Boltuzic always ready to have fun made the day for the boys…

... over the last days I’ve been reading a gift book received from a friend about a wise man living over 2500 years ago… and considering the Smrikva Bowl community reading the updates I am pleased to share a paragraph from the book…

...the wise man I mentioned above noted the following:

“Uphold the faith, love learning, defend the good Way with your life. Enter not a country that is unstable; dwell not in a country that is in turmoil. Shine in a world that follows the Way; hide when the world loses the Way.

In a country where the Way prevails, it is shameful to remain poor and obscure; in a country which has lost the Way, it is shameful to become rich and honoured”

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.

01/08/12

Little ZOE… “Sport has the power to change the world, the power to inspire and the power to unite people in a way little else can – it is an instrument of peace.” - Nelson Mandela – Madiba… INVICTUS…

… years ago I found the above saying perfectly describing the founding idea of the Smrikva Bowl… and probably during the last week I may have learned more about its origin…

I am pleased to share part of this story with Smrikve community…

… it is the story of the sport… healing… of rugby… it is the the story of Zoe from South Africa… the story of Nelson Mandela… the story of inspiring…

Just a week ago a good friend of mine made me a visit with his family… it is an old friend from the Investment Banking world… currently based in Vienna… and every summer he sail with his both to Dalmatia and it is a custom to meet each other for at least an afternoon …

He drop me a note when he was supposed to sail in Pula’s harbour with his boat and we spent a nice evening and had dinner in Smrikve… his wife and daughters are always lovely chat companion for me…

… at 10:30 pm I was taking them with car towards their boat… and in the car I had the music I’ve selected for this year Smrikva Bowl…

… I prsented them Kitaro – Matsuri… than I put them Circle of Life version performed in swahilii language on Broadway… and I started to describe them a girl named Zoe… from South Africa…

… while listening the music The Lion Sleeps Tonight at this year Smirkva Bowl Zoe’s mother walked close to me and told me with smile on her face that every morning Zoe wake up with Lions… and I thought that every morning I wake up with cocks very early and with my imagination I tried to imagine Zoe waking up with Lions :)… and since I’ve seen Zoe for the first time she remind me a bit of Nala… when Nala was still little playing with Simba in Lion King cartoon ;)…

… and while telling this story to Marco’s kids I told him also that Zoe’s father was an important rugby player in South Africa…

… and Marco asked me if he played during the 1990’s and I said yes… I told him that I’ve heard he was part of the great South African team and I told him that I received a book from Zoe … than he told me something I’ve been missing… and he said… „Mio there was a film made on that team that wrote an important page of the South Africa recent history… the name of the film is INVICTUS… it is an increadible and inspiring film… related to Nelson Mandela and is related to rugby… you should see that movie“…

I was not sure if Zoe’s family story was related with the above film… and the first thing that I did when I came home… I went to the Smrikva Bowl library and took one of the two books Zoe donated to Smrikve… and I saw on the cover black and white faces… and I thought it might be the story Marco told me…

… and on Wikipedia watching the list of the actors I saw Zoe’s father name…

…and I watched the movie…

It is a particular movie… about inspiring… about how hard it is to be the example…

I would like to continue this article with a bit different story that relates in my mind to the above…

… few years ago I decided to create “iUPii” to share my findings summarized in a book on possible maintainance of peace… The findings were related with the word war… but could be used with the word minority… the same as with any kind of discrimination… and it is a gift to Smrikve friends spread around the World.

The first Chapter of the book I wrote thinking on kids playing Smrikva Bowl thus I tried to write it in the manner that almost every person could understand it…

I was born in the country that over the last decades has gone through the experience of war… and I remember that I was asking my self why we have wars today… I thought that every person would agree that war is a painful experience? I was asking my self that question at the beginning of 1990’s… this was 20 years ago… today we are in the 21st century and there are still many wars all around the World.

At the time I was thinking that it was impossible that such an experience will happen in the heart of Europe… I was much younger than today and at the time I did not know much about history and European complexity.

…In end of my thinking I came to a simple conclusion that 1990 were only the years that we count from Jesus’ birthday but actually the oldest man on the Earth at the time was about 100 years old, the same as today.

The oldest living memory we had it was and is about 100 years. Every person is born without knowing anything about the life on the Earth and every time each person starts from the beginning to build his own knowledge. Each person gain its own experience in the circle of life.

The circle of life is made of intergenerational responsibility and I found out that in end it is very easy that a new generation repeat the experiences of the previous generations. The circle of life rule was responsible for the fact that every generation repeated similar errors and this has happened almost all the time through the man kind history.

What can we learn from the past?

Every country and every conflict has its own background problems and every diplomat or person that is involved in trying to help to solve conflicts need a deep understanding of the local situation that brought people into a conflict situation.

From the history you can learn but you will not find the answers to the future problems. Every generation needs to solve them on their own. The history could help you to see how other people solved problems of their times and this knowledge could be of help to each of us.

There are very few people that learn thanks to their intuition and most of the people on the Earth learn through mistakes, own experiences, and long hours spent listening to the parents, friends, relatives, reading books and learning by doing. Nothing comes easy and nothing comes without huge efforts.

Every human artwork is product of immense dedication of talented individuals and the society. Every human success require efforts…

The same is with peace or civil society… it is like a nice garden… and if you are not present every day in the garden it will not be that nice in the long run… some plants will get eliminated… the same is within the civil society or anything created by human…

Smrikva Bowl… is an experience… founded on sport, children, culture and music…

Smrikva Bowl is a small but real experience…

In 1996 I founded Smrikva Bowl that has grown in one of the most important under 10 tennis tournaments in the World. Over the years top players from 57 countries and all continents gathered.

Smrikva Bowl experience made me think that Children and Sport could be considered cosmopolitan pillars, later on I added Music as a pillar. While writing that book on war and peace… and learning more about Monet I decided to add Culture as another important pillar.

… and you have to bear in mind that each of the above pillars can be seen in the opposites. You can view at sport like Nelson

Mandela when he said: ”Sport has the power to change the world, the power to inspire and the power to unite people in a way little else can – it is an instrument of peace”. .. or as a Balkan Nationalist leader who once said: “Sport is the continuation of war”.

Children as future…

When I wrote that book on war and peace I had in my mind the young players I gather during the Smrikva Bowl, especially in the first chapter. Children are the future and I decided that I would gave them one day my book as a gift thus they can understand more in depth the rationale behind the experience they lived…

There are different ways to look at the sport. There are different ways to look at the music, to the culture and also to the children.

The vision of the sport preferred for the Smrikva Bowl that can be extended to: culture music and children is the one above mentioned by Nelson Mandela – Madiba’s: “Sport (or Children, or Music, or Culture) has the power to change the world, the power to inspire and the power to unite people in a way little else can – it is an instrument of peace”

I like also this variation: “Culture has the power to change the world, the power to inspire and the power to unite people in a way little else can – it is an instrument of civilisation”

Shimon Peres, another Nobel Prize for Peace, was a guest speaker to one of Ambrosetti’s Young Leader Group meetings. It is tradition that every guest speaker dedicate few words to the Group and he wrote down the following: “The future is always in a minority. Yet the history of the future is more important than the history of the past. It is for the old to remember the past. It is for the young to build the world of tomorrow.

Do it! You can build a world without wars. You can build a new humanity.”

In 1995… the Rugby players were a minority… and Madiba’s idea was an example of trying to heal the social wounds…

There were many people in the man kind history that traced with their examples inspirational paths for the others… but as I wrote above the nice and big garden can not be mantained by a single person it requires the energy of lot of people for almost infinitive time…

I use to repeat to Smrikva Bowl Ambassadors when we plant the century Old Olive Tree the story that everything around us lives in a delicate equilibrium and with intelligence we should try to understand it and respect it. It is true that every generation face new challenges but there are many examples in the past how the old generations managed and solved particular problems and thus the knowledge, the human curiosity, and will to learn are important.

Culture, sport, children and music are some of the pillars for the unity in a diversity… an old Eutopia dream… It is mostly a matter of civilisation…

This Eutopia might become a reality when the mankind unite in common future challenges. There will be several opportunities in the future…

Thank you Zoe… the inspiring girl who wakes up with Lions every morning in her native Africa… for helping me to say the above once again in a bit different manner ;)…

29/07/12

Maxim Landa from Denmark visited Smrikve today...

Maxim Landa is a young talented boy, under 16 National Champion of Denmark, just starting to play ITF tournaments…

He spent some hours on Smrikve courts today and it was a pleasure to meet him and his family… :)

25/07/12

Funny night - lounge doubles at Smirkve... Srki, Vale, Mark and Di :)...

Yesterday Srki left Smrikve and the night before he was teaching with Mark two girls tennis… Vale and Di...

For Vale and Di that was their first week of tennis in their life and the lesson they had with Mark and Srki was an amazing success… they are both extrarodinary player and they made the lesson unforgettable for the girls and for me…

... there is a say when you try to explain with words something people understand around 7% of the communication…

... when you try to do something on your own you get almost 50% of it…

...and if you try to teach someone something you think knowing you get almost 90% of it thus I hope for both girls and boys that was an experience to remember :)...

I forgot to say thanks to Nina who was collecting balls and Ivan, Mark’s brother, who was the umpire :)...

21/07/12

The summer story of the talents visiting Smrikve and "La Bottega" continues... :)

Few days ago Matic Podlipnik and Jovana Vukovic JOKA left Smrikve to prepare for the trip to Turkey where both of them are participating in the European Championship under 12… :)

... but few days before Matic’s departure Mark Mesaric came with the family just for few days relax…

I saw Mark for the last time in November and I was surprised how big he became in these months :)... his tennis has not change… perfect tecnique and calm in the game…

...below is the moment when he and Matic are worming up for the doubles with Karlo and Max... :)

... and his choice was the same as Matic’s one… AUSTRALIAN OPEN... ;)

... and in my last article I promissed to present few other promissing kids staying at Smrikve these days… and the first one I am pleased to recall is Jasa Cvek... a great 9 years old boy from Slovenia that is growing in the same Club where two very good under 14 kids I get to know growing too… Blazka and Luka... great school!...

... and here is Jasa with Leki, David and Ivan...

... among others, there are also three girls growing in Germany… Karla, Chiara and Anna... that are spending their vacation in Southern Istria… Karla is the youngest… only 8 years old… but very promissing kid…

... and in end I am pleased to recall Yulia from Moscow… this week she had nice international matches with several players… :)

... and each week the talent story of “La Bottega” with new visits continues… ;)

18/07/12

Also Matic Podlipnik reached "La Bottega" with his family after winning the Slovenian NIKE Junior title... :)

Over the last few days Matic Podlipnik, a Smrikva Bowl player and long term Smrikve friend, played the NIKE Junior Tour in Slovenia and qualified for the World finals…

... and yesterday he crowned himslef the winner in both single and doubles… and soon after the finals he reached Smrikve for few “tennising and relaxing” days… :)...

... Last night was his first nigth at LOUNGE… and he choose to stay in the AUSTRALIAN OPEN :)... and while looking at the logo and knowing Matic’s serve… Australian logo reminds me his serve ;)...

... o yes on the picture below you can spot a side window of Matic’s room… and the view from the room and a huge terrace is extraordinary… on one side towards the courts, and the other side towards the pool and the old olive trees…

... soon after his arrival I had to join JOKA on the court and Matic made me a surprise before :)... he won two trophies yesterday and he asked me if one of the trophy can stay in the house… thus his gift will stay in the room where he slept for the first time… :)

... not to forget… I have to say thanks to Matic also for inspiring me for the game that SMRIKVA BOWL players played this year… the IGRA game ;)...

... and after the night at AUSTRALIAN OPEN… the great morning started with tennis… in lovely morning atmosphere… more fun... more smile...

... and here is the morning team… Karlo, Matic, Miro, Max and JOKA...

... and after tennis… swimming… :)

... these days there are many little growing tennis talents in Smrikve too from various countries and in the following days I may present some of them too :)...

16/07/12

JOKA continues her relaxing and "tennising" with her family at Smrikva and few days ago also Srdjan Jakovljevic - SRKI came with his family and coach Petar Hrncic... :)

Nice and relaxing tennis summer activity at La Bottega di Smrikve continues… :)

… although Joka’s brother Vule is not only relaxing but also taking care of his new home in Smrikve :)… everything needs to be in order ;)…

… o yes… when the lights turn on in the evening and you enter the pool it is necessary to smell the fresh cut grass…

… not only Miro’s high level workout and funny morning doubles are on schedule… but also some footwork excercises in family with Rasko… these exercises reminds me the one Anastasia Mikheeva liked to do with her father in Smrikve last year…

… and the evening with Rovinj’s sunset and Sergio’s pizza is a must for friends’ stay in Smrikve that last a week… :)… a picture at the lighthouse place at the sunset just to stop a moment for a second…

… and also this year it is pleasure to have another talented tennis player Srki – Srdjan Jakovljevic… always the early and smiling bird… since last year I learned that Srki follows the say: “why the early bird gets the worm” ;)…

… not only him but also his coach Petar Hrncic and his tennis friends that joined him and their families on vacation are following the above ;)…

… and here we are again… the morning group training… Max, Ari, Silvia and Joka… and for the kids that played this year Smrikva Bowl I can say that this morning they played “IGRA” too :))

… :)

12/07/12

Jovana Vukovic - JOKA visiting La Bottega... for some days... relaxing and "tennising"... :)

In a week time I hope to close the basic activities related with the 17th annual… and the 18th annual SMRIKVA BOWL preparations have already started… but also the full summer activity of La Bottega di Smrikve is continuing… :)

These days, 15th Smrikva Bowl 2010 winner and 2009 runner up, Jovana Vukovic – JOKA, is in Smrikve for her tennis vacation at La Bottega… ;)…

Joka continues to work on her talent development and just a week ago was crowned the under 12 National Champion…

Yesterday night we spent watching matches at ATP tournament in UMAG… it was a long year since we saw each other the last time… thus a moment to share a lot of news :)…

… we stayed there till very late night… although the morning training was sceduled as usual for 8:00 AM… following the Common Sense saying “why the early bird gets the worm” :)…

… and here we are… a lot of nice morning tennis… ;)

10/07/12

Top Smrikva Bowl and "Little Mo"/Smrikva Bowl players on ATP, WTA, ITF, USTA and European under 14 and 16 ranking lists (update July 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 11th of July 2012 the ranking summary of the very TOP former Smrikva Bowl boys and girls is the following:

• 1 player TOP 50 WTA (Petra Martic – 2001 winner)
• 1 player TOP 200 ATP (Javier Marti – 2002 winner)
• 6 boys and 8 girls… in total 14 players are in TOP 100 ITF
• 2boys and 3 girls are in TOP 10 ETA under 16
• 4 girls are in TOP 10 ETA under 14

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 #194 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 #1020 on ATP ranking list.
Dino Marcan, 6th Smrikva Bowl 2001 runner up, from Croatia, is ranked #289 on ATP ranking list.

GIRLS
Petra MARTIC, 6th Smrikva Bowl 2001 winner, from Croatia, is ranked #48 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 #406 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 #176 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 #418 on WTA ranking list.
Ajla TOMLJANOVIC, 7th Smrikva Bowl 2002 runner up, from Croatia, is ranked #230 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 #497 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 #650 on ATP ranking list. Junior US OPEN 2011 semifinalist.
Ciprian PORUMB, ranked 3rd on 8th Smrikva Bowl 2003, from Romenia, was ranked #1620 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 #486 on WTA list.
Ajla TOMLJANOVIC, ranked 3rd on 8th Smrikva Bowl 2003, from Croatia, is ranked #230 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 ranked #748 on ITF ranking list.
Miki JANKOVIC, 9th Smrikva Bowl 2004 runner up, from Serbia, is ranked #906 on ATP ranking list.
Filip VEGER, 9th Smrikva Bowl 2004 semifinalist, from Croatia, is ranked #114 on ITF ranking list and is ranked #904 on ATP ranking list.
Danil ZELENKOV, 9th Smrikva Bowl 2004 player, from FYR Macedonia, is ranked #153 on ITF ranking list and is ranked #1415 on ATP ranking list.

GIRLS
Saska GAVRILOVSKA, 9th Smrikva Bowl 2004 winner, from Serbia, is ranked #613 on WTA ranking list

“Little Mo” TEAM
Mitchel POLNET, played 3rd “Little Mo”/Smrikva Bowl, from the USA, is ranked #811 on ITF ranking list, and is ranked #1620 on ATP ranking list.

Blair SHANKLE, played 3rd “Little Mo”/Smrikva Bowl, from the USA, is ranked #108 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 #30 on ITF ranking list (TOP 100 ITF) and is ranked #1244 on ATP list.
Laslo DJERE, 10th Smrikva Bowl 2005 runner up, from Serbia, is ranked #63 on ITF ranking list (TOP 100 ITF).
Gianluigi QUINZI, ranked 3rd on 10th Smrikva Bowl 2005, from Italy, is ranked #4 on ITF ranking list (TOP 10 ITF) and is ranked #1011 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 #24 on ITF ranking list (TOP 100 ITF) and is ranked #1355 on ATP list.
Luka ILIC, , 10th Smrikva Bowl 2005 player, from Serbia, is ranked #111 on ITF ranking list.
Franko MIOCIC, 10th Smrikva Bowl 2005 player, from Croatia, is ranked #79 on ITF ranking list.

GIRLS
Saska GAVRILOVSKA, 10th Smrikva Bowl 2005 winner, from Serbia, is ranked #613 on WTA ranking list.
Olga IANCHUK, 10th Smrikva Bowl 2005 runner up, from Ukraine, is ranked #495 on WTA list.
Irina Maria BARA, 10th Smrikva Bowl 2005 player, from Romania, is ranked #65 on ITF ranking list.
Donna VEKIC, 10th Smrikva Bowl 2005 player, from Croatia, is ranked #232 on WTA list.
Iva MEKOVEC, 10th Smrikva Bowl 2005 player, from Croatia, is ranked #725 on WTA list.
Camilla ROSATELLO, 10th Smrikva Bowl 2005 player, from Italy, is ranked #56 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 #4 on ITF ranking list (TOP 10 ITF) and is ranked #1022 on ATP list.

GIRLS
Eleanor DEAN, 11th Smrikva Bowl 2006 winner, from Great Britain, is ranked #76 on ITF ranking list (TOP 100 ITF).
Ilka CSOREGI, 11th Smrikva Bowl 2006 semifinalists, from Romania, is ranked #25 on ITF ranking list (TOP 100 ITF)
Belinda BENCIC, 11th Smrikva Bowl 2006, from Switzerland, is ranked #13 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 #38 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 #158in Europe in under 16 cathegory.
Bogdan BORZA, 12th Smrikva Bowl 2007 runner up, from Romania, is ranked #14 in Europe in under 16 cathegory.
Gonzalo MORELL, ranked 3rd on 12th Smrikva Bowl 2007, from Spain, is ranked #256 in Europe in under 16 cathegory.
Sergiu BUCUR, ranked 4th on 12th Smrikva Bowl 2007, from Romania, is ranked #195 in Europe in under 16 cathegory.

GIRLS
Ana KONJUH, 12th Smrikva Bowl 2007 runner up, from Croatia, is ranked #3 in Europe in under 16 cathegory (TOP 10 TE U16) and is ranked #11 on ITF ranking list.
Nina POTOCNIK, ranked 3rd on 12th Smrikva Bowl 2007, from Slovenia, is ranked #72 in Europe in under 16 cathegory and is ranked #194 on ITF ranking list.
Ivana JOROVIC, 12th Smrikva Bowl 2007 player, from Serbia, is ranked #12 in Europe in under 16 cathegory, and is ranked #91 on ITF ranking list (TOP 100).

“Little Mo” TEAM
Eduardo NAVA, played 6th “Little Mo”/Smrikva Bowl, from the USA, is ranked #787 on ITF ranking list.
Tommy PAUL, played 6th “Little Mo”/Smrikva Bowl, from the USA, is ranked #805 on ITF ranking list.

Ndindi NDUNDA, played 6th “Little Mo”/Smrikva Bowl, from the USA, is ranked #981 on ITF ranking list.
Domonique Garley, played 6th “Little Mo”/Smrikva Bowl, from the USA, is ranked #2017 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 #198 in Europe in under 14 cathegory.
Mihnea TURCU, 13th Smrikva Bowl 2008 runner up, from Romania, is ranked #497 in Europe in under 14 european ranking list.
Grega KOKALJ, ranked 3rd on 13th Smrikva Bowl 2008, from Slovenia, is ranked #143 in Europe in under 14 cathegory.
Andrea Guerrieri, ranked 3rd on 13th Smrikva Bowl 2008, from Italy, is ranked #283 in Europe in under 14 cathegory.

GIRLS
Katarina JOKIC, 13th Smrikva Bowl 2008 winner, from Bosnia and Herzegovina, is ranked #30 in Europe in under 14 cathegory.
Maia LUMSDEN, 13th Smrikva Bowl 2008 runner up, from Scotland, is ranked #1 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 #563 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 #25 in Europe in under 14 cathegory.
Gabriella PATRICIA TAYLOR, 13th Smrikva Bowl 2008 player, from UK, is ranked #8in Europe in under 14 cathegory (TOP 10 TE U14).
Marija CURNIC, 13th Smrikva Bowl 2008 player, from UK, is ranked #13 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 too young for the 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 #160 in under 14 european ranking.
Samuele RAMAZZOTTI, 14th Smrikva Bowl 2009 runner up, from Italy, is ranked #34 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 #436 in under 14 european ranking.
Miomir KECMANOVIC, 14th Smrikva Bowl 2009 quarterfinalist, from Serbia, is ranked #16 in under 14 european ranking.
Alexei POPYRIN, 14th Smrikva Bowl 2009 Consolation Draw
winner, from Australia, is ranked #116 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 #49 in under 14 european ranking.
Arianna CAPOGROSSO, ranked 3rd on 14th Smrikva Bowl 2009, from Italy, is ranked #131 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.

10/07/12

Selected photos of the 17th Smrikva Bowl 2012 edition are available in the photo gallery...

Click here and visit selected pictures of the 17^th Smrikva Bowl 2012 edition :)

04/07/12

Smrikva Bowl players on Junior Wimbledon 2012... Gianluigi Quinzi reached the semifinals... Donna Vekic, Ana Konjuh and Nikola Milojevic reached the quarterfinals... in doubles finals were: Donati, Konjuh and Bencic

Last Saturday the Smrikva Bowl finals were played and Himari Sato won the girls draw…

...I would like to start the Junior Wimbledon story of today with Himari, Koshiba, Kaoru and Toru... the Japanese 2012 Smrikva Bowl team :)

... the finals were played on Saturday but Himari and Koshiba stayed with their coaches for few days more in Smrikve thus we took the opportunity to visit Pula and Rovinj…

... I learned during last week that Himari means Sunflower... but I also learned few more words that made Koshiba, Himari and Kaoru smile a lot ;))...

... on departure from Smrikve to Venice… a Japanese coach smiled and made a wish… and with that wish for Smrikva kids I would like to start todays’ Wimbledon results report :)...

There were several Smrikva Bowl players that I noted competing in the Main Draw of this year Junior Wimbledon 2012… actually the exact number is 10… :)...

... 10 out of 128 were at the beginning… and in the quarterfinals there were 4 out of 16… in the semifinals there was 1 out of 8 :)

In the following you can read more detailed results related to former Smrikva Bowl players on this year Junior Wimbledon 2012 played in London this week:

Boys:

Gianluigi Quinzi (ITA) – 11th Smrikva Bowl 2006 winner
1st round: Gianluigi Quinzi – Hassan Ndayishimiye (BDI) 6:3,6:1
2nd round: Gianluigi Quinzi – Christian Garin (CHI) 6:1, 6:7, 8:6
3rd round: Gianluigi Quinzi – Julien Cagnina (BEL) 6:1, 3:1 ret.
Quarterfinals: Gianluigi Quinzi – Nick Kyrgios (AUS) 6:3, 6:1
Semifinals: Gianluigi Quinzi – Luke Saville (AUS) 3:6, 4:6

Nikola Milojevic (SRB) – 10th Smrikva Bowl 2005 consolation draw winner
1st round: Nikola Milojevic – Gabriel Friedrich (BRA) 5:7, 6:4, 6:4
2nd round: Nikola Milojevic – Matteo Donati (ITA) 7:5, 6:4
3rd round: N. Milojevic – Thai-Son Kwiatkowski (USA) 4:6,6:3,6:2
Quarterfinals: Nikola Milojevic – Luke Saville (AUS) 5:7, 4:5 ret.

Matteo Donati (ITA) – 10th Smrikva Bowl 2005 winner
1st round: Matteo Donati – Mikael Torpegaard (DEN) 6:4, 4:6, 6:2
2nd round: M.Donati – Nikola Milojevic (SRB) 5:7, 4:6

Borna Coric (CRO) – 10th Smrikva Bowl 2005 player
1st round: Borna Coric – Juan Ignacio Galarza (ARG) 6:3, 6:1
2nd round: Borna Coric – Mitchell Krueger (USA) 3:6, 6:7

Girls:

Donna Vekic (CRO) – Smrikva Bowl player
1st round: Donna Vekic – Christina Makarova (USA) 6:2, 6:3
2nd round: Donna Vekic – Ioana Loredana Rosca (ROU) 6:4, 6:2
3rd round: Donna Vekic – Indy De Vroome (NED) 6:3, 5:7, 6:2
Quarterfinals: Donna Vekic – Francoise Abanda (CAN) 3:6,4:6

Ana Konjuh (CRO) – 12th Smrikva Bowl 2007 runner up
1st round: Ana Konjuh – Erin Routliffe (CAN) 6:4, 6:3
2nd round: Ana Konjuh – Oleksandra Korashvili (UKR) 7:5, 6:2
3rd round: Ana Konjuh – Montserrat Gonzalez (PAR) 6:4, 6:4
Quarterfinals: Ana Konjuh – Anett Kontaveit (EST) 0:6, 4:6

Belinda Bencic(SUI) – 11th Smrikva Bowl 2006 player
1st round: Belinda Bencic – Emily Fanning (NZL) 6:1, 6:3
2nd round: Belinda Bencic – Indy De Vroome (NED) 6:7,6:4,5:7

Christina Makarova (USA) – “Little Mo”/Smrikva Bowl player
1st round: Christina Makarova – Donna Vekic (CRO) 2:6, 3:6

Ilka Csoregi(ROU) – 11th Smrikva Bowl 2006 semifinalists
1st round: Ilka Csoregi – Sachia Vickery (USA) 3:6, 2:6

Iva Mekovec(CRO) – 10th Smrikva Bowl 2005 player
1st round: Iva Mekovec – Barbora Krejcikova (CZE) 5:7, 2:6

01/07/12

Some pictures of the 17th Smrikva Bowl 2012 actors :)... taken during the Sixth and Final day of their Smrikva Bowl... the AWARDING day... and the cake and swimming pool day :)

The Finals and Awarding cerimony day of the 17th annual started with the Staff gathering…

Smrikva Bowl finals are played since 1996 with linesman and ball boys… and at 8:30 AM everything was ready for the final act of this year 17 Smrikva Bowl 2012 Opera… :)

This year ball boys were Smrikva Bowl players’ and their brothers and sisters… Sara, Sean, Andrijana, Anja, Julie, Maja, Anja, Alexa and two Tess’ brothers… and they did outstanding assistance to the finalists… arigato! ;)

At 9:00 AM the central court was ready for the Girls Main Draws finalist Luise Meyer Auf der Heide from Germany and Himari Sato from Japan…

… few minutes before steping into the court the picture with flowers was made… and Luise had Sara on her side, while Himari had Maja… :)

… the official umpire Damir is giving the final instructions to Himari and Luise… and the game was ready to start…

… here below is Himari in action…

… although Himari writes with left hand she learned to play tennis with right hand… ;)…

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

… Luisa serving…

… and today for very little… Himari’s calm helped her to make just few points more than Luise… it was very nice and hard finals match…

Himari was happy… but also her coach Kaolu and Himari’s biggest friend that I know Koshiba were very happy for her victory :)…

… and Luisa after being so close to the victory… ten minutes after the finals… she returned her smile on her face!…

… she showed great tennis ability in her game… but was hard to overcome stressfull situations that every match creates and especially the finals… these are little things that made the difference today… but it is also an opportunity to learn from… ;)

… after girls finals… the boys were ready…

… Sebastian Gima from Romania and Goran Zivotic from Serbia… assisted with Anja and Alexa…

… the picture was taken just few seconds before they steped into the central court…

… Sebastian left hand forehand… perfect timing… and great feel for the ball… is great promisse for the future…

…but today Goran’s calm and excellent game on his side helped him to obtain the victory…

The awarding cerimony started right after the finals :)…

… and few players had to leave thus after recalling…

Aley Ehab Shokeir from Egypt who was already on his trip back home who reached the semifinals of the Consolation Draw…

Lovro Suevich from Croatia who also reached the semifinals of the Consolation Draw and was already playing another tournament in northern Croatia…

Viktor Jovic from Serbia, living in UAE, who was on his road to Spain… who reached the semifinals of the Main Draw…

… and Zoe Kruger from Republic of South Africa who was on her trip back home… and she reached the semifinals of the Main Draw…

… the awarding cerimony started with the winners of the game “IGRA” :)… thus first trophies were taken by Drazen Petrovic and Fedor Popovic… from Bosnia and Herzegovina…

… the first girls Consolation Draw trophy for the semifinals was given to Francesca Curmi from Malta…

… the second Consolation Draw trophy for the semifinals too was given to Andrijana Dragic from Bosnia and Herzegovina…

… the runner up trophy of the Consolation Draw was obtained by Tess Demin from the Netherlands…

… and the winners trophy for the girls Consolation Draw was given to Mille Elsborg from Denmark…

… the remaining trophies for the boys Consolation Draw was given to the runner up and the winner…

… the runner up of this year edition was Samuele Pieri from Italy…

… while the winner was Uros Jovic from Serbia…

… than the trophies of the girls Main Draw were given…

… the semifinals trophy of the girls Main Draw was gained by Pia Lovric from Slovenia…

… while the runner up trophy of the girls Main Draw was obtained by Luisa Meyer Auf der Heide from Germany… Luis also had a cap signed and donated by Ana Ivanovic :)

… while the winners trophy for the girls Main Draw was taken by Himari Sato from Japan…

… Himari as winner also get as prize: the bicycle :)… one week training award at Mouratoglou Tennis Academy in Paris… possibility to get international Wilson contract… Ana Ivanovic signed skirt :)… and Main Draw wild card for the next year Porto San Giorgio edition… an important European under 12 tournament played in Italy…

… than the trophies of the boys Main Draw were given…

… the semifinals trophy of the boys Main Draw was won by Ajdin Muharemovic from Bosnia and Herzegovina…

… and the runner ups trophy was taken by Sebastian Gima from Romania…

… while the winners tropy was taken by Goran Zivotic from Serbia…

… Goran the same as Himari also get prizes: the bicycle :)… one week training award at Mouratoglou Tennis Academy in Paris… possibility to get international Wilson contract… Ana Ivanovic signed skirt :)… and Main Draw wild card for the next year Porto San Giorgio edition… an important European under 12 tournament played in Italy…

… than the signing of the US OPEN Wilson ball… the first one I bought in New York in 1998 and was signed by all the winner since 1999 till 2009 while this one was donated by Justin Lee and with this year it holds 3 generations signature :)…

…Himari signing… in Kangi :)

… Goran signing :)…

… the winners picture :))… Himari and Goran… Japan and Serbia :)…

…for Goran yesterday was another learning experience… my father dedicated many years to teach generations of pilots how to fly supersonic planes… and yesterday in less than 30 seconds Goran was riding his bike :)…

… and here is Himari :)

… and after the beautiful and tasty cake…

…it was the awarding jump into the swimming pool for the players :))

… it was a great week… great tennis…

and THANK YOU ALL… FOR MAKING from the 17th ANNUAL… ANOTHER GOOD YEAR… :)

30/06/12

17th Smrikva Bowl 2012 Draws and Sixth Day finals results... the winners of the 17th Annual are... Himari Sato from Japan and Goran Životić from Serbia...

17^th Smrikva Bowl 2012 Draws and Results

30/06/12

Some pictures of the 17th Smrikva Bowl 2012 actors :)... taken during the Fifth day of their Smrikva Bowl... the day when "IGRA" game winner were known... :))... and the day when the finalists of this year edition were known... the BRIONI day :)

Also the semifinals day started as usual with very early warm up of the players… following the old Common Sense saying “why the early bird gets the worm..” :)...

Zoe Kruger and Himari Sato were in the semifinals playing with Luisa Meyer and Pia Lovrič*... and at the end of the day… Himari and Luisa qualified for the finals…

... while in the boyd draw… Goran Životić was better today than Ajdin Muharemović....

... and Sebastian Gima was better than Viktor Jović today…

thus in the finals we will have Goran and Sebastian... while in the girls finals there will be Himari and Luisa...

... some players had flights scheduled… thus the first Consolation Draws trophy for the semifinals went to Egypt with Aley Ehab Shokeir... the first trophy to reach Egypt!... congratulations Aley and to his coach Bessa and the family too! :)

... the second Consolation Draws trophy for the semifinals went to Lovro Suevich... brother of Karlo... the same day Lovro had the inscription for a tournament in northern part of Croatia…

... on the other side also the Main Draw kids are moving to new destinations or going home… thus Viktor Jović... the Main Draw semifinalist… is going to Spain for two weeks and need to wash all the cloths quickly and go on… :)...

... and Zoe has to fly to Dubai and than to South Africa… thus also she had to take her Main Draw semifinals trophy :)....

... and yesterday was the day dedicated to BRIONI Excursion :)... the animals… the boat… the train… :))... nice day for kids…

... o yes… nice view… on a nice nice day… Totemone ACI... Hi :))

Brioni… the place worth visiting… and returning :)...

... for the old olive tree… :) hit by a tunder decades ago… big like a dinossaur… who left their footprints on the island… ;)

... for the Safari animals too :)...

... nice shadows in a hot summer time :))....

... Tito’s cadilac :)... boys like it ;)...

... an interesting note of Miroslav Krleža at the entrance of Tito’s and Paul Kupelweiser museum… but before going to the second floor for kids it was the natural museum the most beautiful part…

... can see pictures with some faces… flags… world map :)....

... in the evening before the IGRA winner was determined… the ball bays made a simulation for tomorrow :))...

... and IGRA trophies were ready to know who is going to bring them home…

... and Dražen Petrović and Fedor Popović...

... were little bit better today than Sebastian Gima and Peter Alam...

Dražen and Fedor... IGRA... :))

... and the supporters were there ;)...

... it was another long and nice day… and it is hard to know what will remain as feeling in the seeds of today… but I hope they will learn growing that…

...Anyone who imagines that all fruits ripen at the same time as
the strawberries knows nothing about grapes…. ;)

29/06/12

17th Smrikva Bowl 2012 Draws and Fifth Day results... the finalists of the 17th Annual are known...

17^th Smrikva Bowl 2012 Draws and Fourth Day Results

29/06/12

Some pictures of the 17th Smrikva Bowl 2012 actors :)... taken during the fourth day of their Smrikva Bowl... the day when "IGRA" game continued... :))... and the day when the semifinalists were known...

The quarterfinals day started as usual with very early warm up of the players… following the old Common Sense saying “why the early bird gets the worm..” :)…

… and let’s see through the pictures the major actors of the day…

… the first picture shows Sarina Reinertsen from Norway in action…

… and she played with Luisa Meyer Auf der Heide from Germany… Luisa won today’s match and was the first morning semifinalist of the day…

… on the court number two… Matilde Paoletti from Italy was playing with Zoe Kruger from the Republic of South Africa…

… and Zoe was the second semifinalist of the day in the Main Draw…

… just to take a little break :)… a little bit of lavander and Sean Kamyshev among it… enjoying the game… and relaxing among the sweet smell of the lavander flowers ;)…

… on the court # 1 the second quarterfinals match was played between Himari Sato from Japan…

… and Charlotte Owensby from the United States…

… this time Himari won… and qualified as the third semifinalist of the day…

The last girls quarterfinals match was played between Helene Pellicano from Malta and Pia Lovrič from Slovenia…

… and Pia was the fourth semifinalist of the day…

… o yes… this is Pia again… :))….

… and the picture below with Himari and Zoe was taken just after the match… they are also “IGRA” partners :))…

… and here are Himari and Ke… how to describe the picture… maybe just with the saying… “the art of teaching”… comes from inside… where the inspiration lives… ;)

… on the court #2 Goran Životić from Serbia played the first boys quarterfinals with Michael Eala from Philippines…

… and this time Michael Eala did not pass into the semifinals… … maybe Alexa will continue to follow her brothers’ footprints… who knows :)…

… the second boys quarterfinals was played on the court #1 between Ajdin Muharemović from Bosnia and Herzegovina…

and Borna Devald from Croatia…

… in end Ajdin was better today… and he became the second semifinalist of the day…

… on the court #2 a very hard match was played between Viktor Jović, who is living and training in UAE, and… Lorenzo Mussetti from Italy…

… today Viktor won… and qualified into the semifinals of the 17th Smrikva Bowl 2012 edition…

… the last boys quarterfinals of the Main Draw was played on the court #1 between Sebastian Gima, from Romania… and…

Mikolaj Lorens from Poland who lives and train in Spain… yesterday Mikolaj suffered an injury but did not want to give up… ;)…

… and today Sebastian Gima qualified into the semifinals…

… just a little breath before the “IGRA” starts… Max and Ari… Smrikva Bowl Staff Members :)…

… and after the morning matches… after launch… at 3:00 PM… it was agin time for the “IGRA” game… and here are just few actors of the second part of the day.. :)…

Jovana Tričković played with Sara Paunović…

… with Julie Belgraver and Demin Tess…

… the cheering of the public… music… made the matches particular :))…

… and now…

… just relax… with flowers… and butterflies ;)…

… sunset on Zoe’s face… and little little… very little racket :)…

…“IGRA”… again… till late afternoon :)…

… some of the actors :))… Zoe… Himari… Angel and Luciano… long game was that… girls won… ;)…

… and at the end of the day… it was time to enjoy few balls with Ke… thus have fun… fun not only for kids ;)… and after tennis… a funny Japaneese lesson :)…

… after another long day it is time to sleep :))… it is not African lion… but Smrikve lion ;))…

… today the semifinals will start at 8:00 AM and after the Brioni Island excursion the “IGRA” will continue :)…

28/06/12

17th Smrikva Bowl 2012 Draws and Fourth Day results... the semifinalists of the 17th Annual are known...

17^th Smrikva Bowl 2012 Draws and Fourth Day Results

28/06/12

Some pictures of the 17th Smrikva Bowl 2012 actors :)... taken during the third day of their Smrikva Bowl... the day when they learned "IGRA" game... :))... and the quarterfinalists were known...

... there is a say… coming from Africa… and it say: “Every morning in Africa a gazelle wakes up and knows that it will have to outrun the fastest lion or it will be killed… And, every morning in Africa a lion wakes up and knows that it will have to outrun the slowest gazelle or it will starve to death…

... Thus, in Africa, it doesn’t matter if you are the lion or the gazelle. When that sun comes up, you had better be running.” ;)

Why I started the report of the third day with the above African say…?

It is because of Zoe… the inspiring girl who wakes up with Lions every morning in her native Africa :)...

...let’s start the day Zoe… Smrikve camera eye of the third day :))....

... o yes… the bicycles… the traditional gifts are still there nearby the draws board…

... and the third day was the day when we get to know the 17th Smrikva Bowl 2012 quarterfinalists… and here are the names:
... Sarina Reinertsen from Norway…. Luisa Meyer Auf der Heide from Germany… Zoe M. Kruger from South Africa… Matilde Paoletti from Italy… Himari Sato from Japan… Charlotte Owensby from the United States of America… Helen Pellicano from Malta… Pia Lovrič from Slovenia… Borna Devald from Croatia… Ajdin Muharemović from Bosnia and Herzegovina… Michael Francis II M. Eala from Philippines… Goran Životić from Serbia… Sebastian Gima from Romenia… Mikolaj Lorens from Poland living in Spain… Viktor Jović from Serbia living in Dubai and Lorenzo Mussetti from Italy…

... while writing the above I noted that the 17th Smrikva Bowl 2012 quarterfinalists are from: ... EUROPE… AFRICA… ASIA… OCEANIA… AND THE AMERICAS…

...hm… interesting… probably the word SMRIKVA BOWL AMBASSADORS explain part of the above… ;)

... it was a nice tennis but also funny day… with high quality matches…

... the day of “IGRA” game promissed to the kids on the signing day… :)

Let’s see some moments of the day throughout some of the actors of the 17th annual… starting with Emina and Avelyna... two girls training in Mostar… Bosnia and Russia… in the balance on the swing :)...

... while Staša and Iva... the flowers of tomorrow… are deeply occupied with Staša’s i-phone… :))

... Andrijana and Anja both succeeded to change their Wilson emoticon damper today… and they both elected those with smiles… it could be a good sign… choosing to be positive it does not cost a penny one wise man once said… ;))...

... and the sunny head you see in the middle of this picture… is Ziva... another great talent in development from Slovenia… and all around her is her support and friend team :)...

... and here are many Smrikva Bowl actors of this year edition :)... I am sure some of you may already recognize Julie... :))...

...two other boys with big smiles are Viktor and Lorenzo :))... there are also Tess... Alexa... Luciano... ;)...

... o yessssss :))... JULIE and TESS... :)...

... to avoid having only the actors… let’s see in a picture how the action looks like too… and here is Pia hitting her forehand… and her backhand remind me Blair Shankle’s backhand I saw in 2004 in Smrikve :)... baseball backhand… increadible power comes out when she does that :))...

... and to do great strokes you need balance… good balance… both with the body and mind… and on the picture below you may spot part of the source of Pia’s mind power… her mother and family :))...

... “deep look”... could be the name of below picture… picture of a sister of one of the actors of this year edition… coming from far far away… from an island…

... and today I had a pleasure to share a story with this young lady about personality... it was the story of an island and the sea... how big and deep going into the sea an island can be… :))

... a wise writer once noted how… “Love does not consist in gazing at each other, but in looking outward together in the same direction….” :))... father and son…

... below is a picture of the game before the game… because the real game… we named “IGRA” started at 7:45 PM… :))....

... one hand backhand art made by Veronica :)... the backhand that remind last year Stefan’s one… :)... I enjoyed it!...

... and here is Sebastian with his left hand forehand in action… that helped him to reach the quarterfinals… :)

... another artist of this year edition is Lorenzo... a boy from Italy who won Lemon Bowl… and is moving on the court with his racket as a ballet dancer… seems Rudolf Nureyev with the racket… impressive… :)

... and here we are… close to the end of the day… when during the SMRIKVA BOWL FORUM… the game “IGRA” started… and you can see that four players are on the court… and kids’ lough made me think this was the GAME of the DAY... the real one :))...

at 10:00 PM it was time to turn off the ligths of the show…. time for kids to take shower and go to bed… get some rest to be prepared for the quarterfinals matches starting today at 9:00 AM

...today after the single matches the game “IGRA” will continue :))....

27/06/12

17th Smrikva Bowl 2012 Draws and Third Day results... the quarterfinalists of the 17th Annual are known...

17^th Smrikva Bowl 2012 Draws and Third Day Results

27/06/12

Some pictures of the 17th Smrikva Bowl 2012 actors :)... taken during the second day of their Smrikva Bowl... the day when they became AMBASSADORS...

Yesterday a bit after 7:00 PM the Smrikva Bowl became Smrikva Bowl Ambassadors... and I would be pleased to walk you via pictures also today through the second day of the 17th annual…

... and let’s start the day with Julie’s serve... tennis game starts with the serve and let’s start the overview of the day with the following picture :)...

... Patrick Brady... is going to be our word in Thailand… and for his presence on this year Smrikva Bowl I should recall Borna Coric who was playing an ITF Tournament in Thailand… :)

... the ZAGI girls... Katarina, Melanie and Lora taken while enjoying the shadows of Smrikve before their matches… these girls are all lucky with their coach who loves tennis the way they do…

... the Tennis Club Spartak Moscow girl Maria Timofeeva with her father Gleb… the Larisa’s method story can be read in the eyes of this little great girl :)...

... every year from Romania, since Ciprian Porumb Junior played in 2003, we are honoured with great talents and this year it is Sebastian Gima who is showing on the courts what he learned… his talent development is guided by his father… who played tennis with Ciprian Porumb Senior :)...

...Staša and her mother, a good tennis player, after another victory… it is time for the smile… ;)

... Marija from Sweeden also can not hide her emotions after passing into third round…

The first thing I saw after the victory is when she received the hug of her father and than this is the smile I catched after… :))...

... Miro serving the players with new balls… it is the year of many changes on the Smrikva Bowl… and we are taking notes on the things for the generations to come… :)

... on this picture you can see part of the Smrikva Bowl history and future… Sandra played the 1st Smrikva Bowl finals and graduated in the US thanks to tennis and the boy you see on the picture is the seed of a flower of tomorrow…

... her uncle Deni played two Smrikva Bowl finals… :)...

Camilla Bedolo... is following the footprints of her brother Mattia... under the guide of the father Umberto :)...

.. but Camilla is Camilla and she conquered hearts of many people in the public…

... thanks to Khaled Farouk... year after year Egypt send the most talented kids and this year Nadia and Aley are honoring us with their presence… :)...

Fans is the member of the great Dutch team… and the mother of Julie as I learned and Eleonor Dean are back to the important presence of the talents from the Netherlands this year :)...

... here is a boy exploring the lavander but trying to respect the bees working on the flowers… :)

... Sigi... is the talent developer from Dubai who started to send Alexei Popyrin... and after that Karim Najia... and this is his second time in Smrikve with Victor Jovic... another great talent in development process :)...

... there is a story about the stars I just finished to share with Julie before this nice and hungry smile :)...

... Lav means Lion or Simba... and here it is… Lav Dašić :)

... with his friend Konstantin and his big smile… :)

... and another talent developer who is organising Kup Nada, first in Cacak and today in Belgrade, is Ivan... after Ivana Jorovic a lot of his kids has gone through Smrikva Bowl experience…

... Steve... was few years ago in Smrikve with Nicolas Kuhn and this year it is Danielle... :)

... here is Alexa Marđonović in action… he was supported in his candiadacy already year ago by Miomir Kecmanović and this year once again by Miki Janković... and the only think I can say is that he is following the footprints of the two already top World players in their age groups… :)

... the day of yesterday was dedicated to the Ambassador’s nomination cerimony… and due to long schedule and matches… we did it under the Cedar tree… the tree that was planted in 1996… the year of Smrikva Bowl foundation…

It was a nice moment… :)

... and I would have loved to have had the whole day to spend with the kids under that tree :))...

... each Ambassador after receiving the certificate and a little gift left his signature on the picture dedicated to this year edition… and here is Sarina signing :)...

... Yulia from Moscow and Alexa from Manila… attended the cerimony… and maybe Alexa will come back and play one day Smrikva Bowl… I do hope so :)... his brother Michael today was nominated Ambassador

... the Sunflower Himari and Koshiba are ready to sign too… :)

... it is the moment of Jovana Trickovic nomination… and this is her smile :))

... Zoe... is the continuation of the Smrikva word in South Africa… :)

... when we reached the old olive tree… it was already the late evening of the very long day… :)

... and here is the smile of Vuk, Iva, Senka i Anja... :)

... and here among Lora and Melanie there are the Smrikva Bowl seeds of tomorrow… :))

... part of the ZAGI team… with their positive coach! :)... under their olive tree in Smrikve :))

... and with the sun already went to sleep here is the end of the day with Himari, Koshiba, Ke and Toru :)