Our 4th interview of the Brian Sullivan London Doubles 2014 series goes to Jan Michálek, a very talented international Czech player from Brno. I had the pleasure to play against Jan in 2011 during the Euro in Sweden and I was really impressed by his attitude and skills. He also comes from a strong family of pétanque players and game lovers. Jan, its a pleasure to have you with us and welcome to London! Here is your interview: Name: Jan Surname: Michálek Country: The Czech Republic Club: Carreau Brno Position: Tireur Boule model: KTK inox (but my opinion is: it’s not in the type of boules, it’s in the head!“) Herve: Jan, welcome to London! We are delighted to have you with us. Tell us what you expect from your trip in London this August? Jan: At first, I have never been to London or to England at all before, so I’m looking forward to see and enjoy this beautiful country and city. I imagine, that the tournament in London will be a delightful mix of prestige pétanque and of good humor. And that’s the way i really like! Herve: What do you think of Londoners? Jan: I can’t judge the Londoners, because I know just few these citizens, but I spent pretty nice moments with Vince Wills, Dean Seville and Monty Quaia in my city Brno and if the rest of Londoners or English is as perfect as these three young guys, I will be totally content in the heart of your kingdom. Herve. What do you think of the pétanque in England? Jan: Pétanque in England seems very similar to the czech one. I talked with guys from England, Scotland and Wales and I realized, that your association deals with totally same problems and your players achieve comparable results on the European or world level. But I must say that I met many players from UK and I had mostly great experiences with these people. English people enjoy the game, they are respectable and polite and they are mostly in a good mood. Herve: Whos your pétanque idol and why does he/she inspires you? Jan: It’s „in“ to say you don’t have any idol, because you don’t want to be as someone else, you don’t want to be just a copy and you try to be specific. If I said I had any pétanque idol, I would lie. It’s true, that I don’t try to copy the style or I don’t buy new boules, because my idol plays with its or something in this way, but on the other side I have met lots of epic pétanque players during my pétanque career and some of them impressed me more than others. When I was younger than I am in these days (I, Oldman), I used to have lots of pétanque idols, but then I met them or I was honoured to play against them and I was little bit disappointed, because they were rude, unfair or bigheaded and I absolutetely hate hight and mighty people with no humility. But some of these idols stayed idols for ever. I have to mention Dylan Rocher, who is as old as me and we know each other from our junior ages, when we had many czecho-french internships. He was always kind, fair and he has never elevated himself over us (can i say it like this?) although he certainly could. That makes him the best player! I have same experiences with Italian star Diego Rizzi or with lovely french member of national team Anna Maillard. Herve: What about in real life? Jan: In my real life, my idols have the same characters like Rocher, Rizzi or Maillard. Mainly it’s my daddy, who is more than father for me. He is altruistic and he has great sence for justice and that’s why I adore him. In my point of view, lots of whole world idols are very cheap and ground people. I appreciate different human qualities, which aren’t so entertaining but which are so necessary and which are still sporadic. Herve: Whats your best ever moment in pétanque Jan: I have lots of perfect pétanque moments in my memories, but if I have to choose just one, it will be my participation on the world championship of men in Marseille in 2012. In was an extraordinary day for every pétanque player and I had a chance to stand in the centre of huge hall overcrowded of fans and represent my country. That has been always my dream and it comes true. Herve: And the worse? Jan: I don’t remember my worst pétanque moment, but I can say, that is always very hard for me, when I find out, that somebody plays unfair. However I have lots of these experiences and I never more can perceive these people as my pétanque friends, but I perceive them as my opponents and enemies. And by the way, I was shoted to my head by pétanque boule twice, that is not good pétanque moment either. Herve: If there is one thing that you would like to achieve in pétanque, what is it? Jan: I would like to win world championship of course! But seriously, I would like to change pétanque perception in The Czech Republic. Lots of people don’r perceive it as a sport, but as a cultural or social event with beer and cigarettes and that’s not the way of pétanque I like on big international tournaments.
Posted on: Fri, 08 Aug 2014 06:18:36 +0000
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