Leaving the international stage: Interview with Carl-Johan Ryner
28 Nov 2011 at 19:37 | Published by: Hans | Views: 15132 | News search
Carl-Johan Ryner celebrating the Swedish Team Gold (Photo by Patric Fransson 2011)
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Interview with Carl-Johan Ryner (CJR), Sweden and Uppsala BGK
This interview was done the 28th of November 2011. Interviewer is Hans Bergström (HB).
HB: First of all congratulations to a great Stockholm Championship of 2011 resulting in the team gold medals? How do you rank this Championship experience compared with your previous merits?
CJR: Thanks. The team competition was totally awesome. It was definitely the greatest team days ever in the national team for me.
HB: What were your goals before the Championship?
CJR: To win three gold medals. A success rate of 33% is not really satisfying, but at least it was the most important goal that was achieved.
HB: How did the preparations and training rounds go in Stockholm? Were the Swedish team and you as sharp there as you where in the competition?
CJR: Both the rounds and preparations went fine, but we didn’t achieve the results we did in the competition. I always believed we all would step up our game when the competition started, but I didn’t think that everyone would be so much better.
HB: Can you describe the final lap in the men’s team final?
CJR: Having been in final team rounds before, I told my self to enjoy the round and really try to feel the audience. It was like a long victory lap. The only thing that could have made it better would have been if only the six best teams could have played together, now it was very few Swedes still playing.
HB: When did you understand that is was going to be gold for the men’s team.
CJR: On the first eternite round the second day. We had lost 10 or so shots on the first three players, but before I went out the lead were back to over 20. Then I knew we wouldn’t lose the advantage.
HB: Can you tell us about the celebrations in the men’s team after the gold was secured?
CJR: A nice dinner and then back to the hotel to try and focus for the individual play.
HB: Are you satisfied with your results individually in the stroke play (5th)?
CJR: No, not at all. I’m especially disappointed in the way I played during the individual finals. I had the chance to get the gold, but played at a level that is not acceptable in a competition like this.
HB: And on Saturday morning you lost the first game in the match play finals against Omar Maggi. Can you tell us about this match?
CJR: I knew it would be tough as Omar is really good on concrete, and he only missed one lane. A couple of shots were a bit lucky, but that’s concrete. I was two down going in to the eternite and knew I should be able to get that back. But I missed the salto when I had the chance to win the hole, lost the bridge and then Omar made a putt from the 2nd pin on the illusion but I couldn’t win that one either. We both missed the straight lane, before I got my first win on the flat loop. He had a lucky ace, or calculated wrong-ace rather, on the double hill and then I knew it was over as I had to win all three remaining holes. Even though he played good concrete, I should’ve beaten him with normal play on the eternite.
HB: Now tree months later which memories are the strongest from Stockholm?
CJR: Sadly the failures in the both individual parts.
HB: What is your opinion about the way the Stockholm championships were played with 2 days team, one day stroke play and one day match play?
CJR: There should be only one individual champion. Team play two days and match play two days over 24 holes, but with the best 50% skipping the first round.
HB: A month later it was time for another team victory when your team Uppsala won the European Cup. Can you tell us about this competition and how important this was for Uppsala?
CJR: It was an amazing competition. Even though I struggled really badly on the first half I was picked up by my teammates and we could get the victory in a tight competition. It was very important to show that we could beat Hardenberg on concrete after the collapse in Portugal 2006 and the horrible play in Lichtenstein 2009. Now we can put those two competitions behind us and go on forward knowing that we can beat them.
HB: Is it fair to say that Uppsala now can finally claim to be the best men club team in the world?
CJR: At the moment, yes.
HB: What are the chances for Uppsala to be as successful as in 2011 also next year?
CJR: The chances are good as we are all good players. No one is leaving the team and even though we don’t play that much apart from the league, we still know how to prepare to achieve the best possible results.
HB: If you could recruit any player in the world, as long as it’s not a Swede, to play for your club Uppsala, who would you pick?
CJR: We like Swedes in our team. But to answer your question it would be very interesting to have Walter in the team and to understand how he thinks when he chooses the balls and lines. I’m not sure if we would be a better team as the chemistry needs to work in order to be successful.
HB: What are your plans of appearing again in the Swedish national Team? In Porto 2012 or Bad Munder 2013?
CJR: I would be very surprised if I played for Sweden again.
HB: What happens next for you in Minigolf?
CJR: I hope I will get an invitation to the Diamond Masters in Prague in February/March. Maybe I’ll visit the eternite in Eskilstuna just to have some fun.
HB: Again a big congratulation to the team gold medal in Stockholm and the EC title and good luck in the future.
CJR: Thank you.
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