Mini golf prepares Donna for Classic
AUSTRALIA’S leading female squash player Donna Lobban has taken an unusual approach to her defence of the annual Monte Carlo Classic this week.
While the 31-year-old has been focussed on her strict off-season training regime under Squash Australia coaches at their new base on the Gold Coast, her best work this preparation has strangely come on the mini-golf greens.
It was a rare chance to spend time with her brothers, Laurie and Troy, that has put Lobban in the perfect mindframe to attack another sixmonth stretch on tour.
It also came after a getting a rare week in her sleepy hometown of Yamba, on the NSW North Coast.
“That was a fun day, we just mucked around and it was like we were kids again,” she said.
“To have a day like that with the brothers, that will keep me going for another six months on the road. It’s those moments that you cherish.”
Lobban, who is ranked 17th in the world, rarely gets a chance to catch up with family after basing herself on the other side of the world for more than a decade.
In fact, her three week training block on the courts at Carrara, is the first time she has returned home since winning her first Commonwealth Games gold medal on the same courts back in April.
“(Living overseas) is by far the hardest part of what I do, but if I want to be serious about what I am doing, I have to be based overseas. You just have to suck it up,” she said.
The visit also gave Lobban the first chance to properly reflect on that gold medal moment, with her wedding to fellow squash professional Greg Lobban the week after the Games not really giving her a chance to stop and soak up the glory.
She won the gold alongside cousin and fellow Yamba athlete Cameron Pilley in a brutal showdown with Indian pair Dipika Pallikal Karthik and Saurav Ghosal.
“When I think about it now, it’s just amazing and a bit emotional,” Lobban said. “I still can’t believe it.”
Lobban is seeded third for this week’s Monte Carlo Squash Classic in Monaco.
I HAVE TO BE BASED OVERSEAS. YOU JUST HAVE TO SUCK IT UP. SQUASH STAR DONNA LOBBAN