Ince lauds Fernandes work ethic and commitment

Jul 11, 2008 Sports

-Believes she can re-enter the Top 30 within two months

“Her dedication and commitment is second to none, I’m very pleased with her work ethic and she has been an inspiration to the junior players,” National Squash Coach Carl Ince told Kaieteur Sport recently.

Ince, who also coaches former World #27 Nicolette Fernandes, was speaking about her attempt to return to competition after a prolonged absence due to a knee injury. “I reckon that Nicolette will return stronger and more confident and she could re-enter the Top 30 very quickly.”

The respected Coach who has been like a father figure to Fernandes and someone who has taken it upon himself to gradually get her back to the top echelon of the sport said that most aspects of her game steadily returning, referring to her accuracy, lateral, backward and forward movements which are vital for success in the game.

“The explosive speed work and agility I was a little reluctant to let her execute at 100% on account of us being absolutely certain that the knee would hold up and I’m happy to report that it has performed well so far,” Ince informed.

Ince said that most of the things that they had planned to accomplish before her return to active competition have been achieved and his prediction of a speedy return to the top bracket of the professional ranks is not far fetched and out of reach.

“What Nicolette needed most was actual tournament play so that the tension and anxiety phases could be studied more carefully.”

He added that the results those phases could not be known by casual training, but in a tournament scenario.
“From what I’ve seen so far, she is on track with what I had expected where she showed no signs of apprehension and played as normal as ever,” Ince pointed out.

“As she continues to participate in more tournaments and the level of play gets higher it will provide me with additional information to assess her progress.”

He disclosed that even though most of the ladies did not provide her with the kind of opposition that she needs, the permission she received to play amongst the men did offer her much needed high quality competition.

Ince revealed that he works out with Nicolette for two hours every day and expects that to increase as she attains full fitness.