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Speaker 1: It's a good start of the year for our biggest

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Speaker 1: name in squash. Paul Cole defended this New Zealand title

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Speaker 1: of the weekend as we told you about. Of course

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Speaker 1: it's onto The Australian Open begins today, but he's got

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Speaker 1: a buy so that gives them a chance to jump

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Speaker 1: on the phone have a word with us.

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Speaker 2: Good morning, yeah, good morning, thank you.

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Speaker 1: So how did the weekend feel for you? I mean,

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Speaker 1: must must be a bit special given the old hometown.

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Speaker 2: Oh mate, the whole week was pretty special from you know,

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Speaker 2: when I walked in into the venue on Monday, I

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Speaker 2: could I just got this weird sort of feeling that

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Speaker 2: it was going to be a wicked week and the

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Speaker 2: venue was special without anybody in it. And then when

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Speaker 2: it was you know, in the weekend, when it was

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Speaker 2: packed or twelve hundred people, it was something, you know,

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Speaker 2: a memory that I was sort of cheer us forever.

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Speaker 1: Now did it sort of look any different? I mean

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Speaker 1: that stage or the court on the stage. I mean

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Speaker 1: it's not the first time it's ever been done, obviously,

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Speaker 1: but from a player's point of view, from an esthetic anyway,

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Speaker 1: it was absolutely brilliant. As a player, do you notice

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Speaker 1: it doesn't matter.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, Like I think everyone when they walked in, they

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Speaker 2: sort of got that feeling of, you know, it did

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Speaker 2: feel special, felt different, And I think you can tell

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Speaker 2: by everyone thought it was really up for the tournament

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Speaker 2: and really wanted to do well and play well. And

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Speaker 2: I think that just goes to show how good the

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Speaker 2: sort of venue and set up was. I think, you know,

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Speaker 2: as soon as you get something like that, you can

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Speaker 2: see the players feed off the energy and the atmosphere

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Speaker 2: that are there. So it was a really good week

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Speaker 2: everyone involved, Like for me especially obviously, like you said,

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Speaker 2: being my hometown. But you know, I know all the

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Speaker 2: people that came from abroad had such a good time,

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Speaker 2: and you know, the crowd welcomed them in the true kiway,

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Speaker 2: So it was great to see.

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Speaker 1: And what about the pressure good did you feel that,

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Speaker 1: given you know you're defending the title?

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Speaker 2: Actually not so much, to be honest, I sort of

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Speaker 2: the last couple of years I probably felt a bit

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Speaker 2: more pressure playing here, but this year I just sort

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Speaker 2: of went in the mindset that I really just wanted

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Speaker 2: to soak it all up and embrace it rather than

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Speaker 2: try and block it out. So you had a lot

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Speaker 2: of my family there and I was just just hanging

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Speaker 2: out with them during the day and enjoying it. Then

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Speaker 2: you know, when I went to play and seeing the crowd,

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Speaker 2: I just sort of, you know, I really soak it

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Speaker 2: up other than trying to block it out. I think,

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Speaker 2: you know, sometimes and I try and block it out

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Speaker 2: that it actually creates more more pressure and more nervous

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Speaker 2: nervousness there. So I felt mentally felt great all week,

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Speaker 2: and you know, just trying to try and use this

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Speaker 2: as a bit of a leaping board for the for

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Speaker 2: the rest of the season.

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Speaker 1: And when don't we talk about the hometown, I mean,

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Speaker 1: is it really a hometown. I mean, christ you came

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Speaker 1: to board, didn't you. Yeah.

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Speaker 2: No, I'm definitely a greymouth boy through and through, but

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Speaker 2: I came over here to do boarding school, so I

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Speaker 2: have a lot of friends and most of my squash

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Speaker 2: was played in christ Hip, so definitely feels like a

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Speaker 2: bit of a home for my squash specifically. But you know,

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Speaker 2: I'm always a gravemough boy. But yeah, like it was

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Speaker 2: a it was a good week to see so many

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Speaker 2: familiar faces that I played into club with on a

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Speaker 2: Tuesday night.

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Speaker 1: Now, the sport itself, I mean there was a record

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Speaker 1: number of people watching that. Our son, for example, he

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Speaker 1: was at the Edinburgh Squash Club. They were all watching it.

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Speaker 1: It seems squash has got a bit of a thing

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Speaker 1: going at the moment.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, I think so, mate, for sure. We just got

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Speaker 2: into the Olympics for the first time, which is a

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Speaker 2: great boost for squash. But seeing this week at christ

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Speaker 2: Hitch and the New Zealand specifically, it's it's taking off

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Speaker 2: a lot. Man. There's a lot of support around the

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Speaker 2: sport in New Zealand which is great to see. We've

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Speaker 2: got a young junior coming through now which is really

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Speaker 2: nice to see as well. So as in a pretty

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Speaker 2: healthy shape in museum I think. And you know, if

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Speaker 2: we can get a few more juniors coming through and

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Speaker 2: pushing onto the international stage, that would just be like

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Speaker 2: that next step that we need. But it's definitely a

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Speaker 2: healthy community here and that just showed the numbers of

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Speaker 2: ticket sales this week and Crash it fantastic.

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Speaker 1: Speaking to him is Paul let me, I'll come back

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Speaker 1: to the Olympics in just a moment. But so what

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Speaker 1: have we got You've got a title the other day

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Speaker 1: in America. You got the title over the weekend. So

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Speaker 1: it's a good start good year.

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Speaker 2: Yes, it was. I've been playing really well. I just

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Speaker 2: haven't been getting you know, the winds of tournaments, and

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Speaker 2: you know that's probably just putting a bit of pressure

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Speaker 2: on myself to win the events. So, like I said,

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Speaker 2: this week, it was more about soaking up the atmosphere

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Speaker 2: and enjoying it. And I you know, played the best

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Speaker 2: squash I'll play season and got another title. So yeah,

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Speaker 2: definitely feeling good in the mental space. And like I said,

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Speaker 2: my squash has been there all season. I feel like

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Speaker 2: I've been hitting it really well, just not quite pissing

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Speaker 2: it all together. So yeah, I made I'm looking forward

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Speaker 2: to pushing off the rest of the season, excited to

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Speaker 2: keep playing. Like I said, mentally, feeling really good now

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Speaker 2: and the squash is there. So I've got a couple

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Speaker 2: of big events that I'm really targeting coming up and

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Speaker 2: just looking forward to those.

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Speaker 1: I was going to ask about that actually, So of

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Speaker 1: all the tournaments you can play, how many do you

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Speaker 1: target and how do you balance that up, you know

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Speaker 1: with travel and fitness and fatigue and stuff like that.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, we've got probably nine big tournaments a year now,

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Speaker 2: so obviously I try and I try and not play

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Speaker 2: too many events before them because that takes a bit

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Speaker 2: out of you. So normally try and have like a

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Speaker 2: training block before the big ones, which is, like I

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Speaker 2: said's about nine a year, and then take color ones

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Speaker 2: around that that's at my timetable obviously open for me

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Speaker 2: is one that I always target and want to feel

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Speaker 2: good coming into. So that's you know, we take that off.

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Speaker 2: But then I've got real chair in May, so just

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Speaker 2: sort of trying to plan in a schedule where I'm

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Speaker 2: not too fatigue from travel or tournament play going into

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Speaker 2: that one.

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Speaker 1: And as far as Australia goes, having got this title,

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Speaker 1: is it the same field roughly, so you'll go and

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Speaker 1: feeling pretty good about winning in Australia this week as

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Speaker 1: well or not.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, definitely top threed in that one as well. So

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Speaker 2: the draw definitely is pretty similar to the couple were

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Speaker 2: coming from overseas because it's a slightly bigger event. But yeah, basically,

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Speaker 2: you know, my draw is actually reily similar as what

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Speaker 2: it was this week. So yeah, looking feeling confident and

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Speaker 2: I'm feeling energy wise, feeling pretty good. So I have

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Speaker 2: a lot of friends and I as oh, I have.

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Speaker 2: I played a lot of my squash there when I

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Speaker 2: started that professional so I haven't been back there and

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Speaker 2: you know, ten ideas, so looking forward to to kicking

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Speaker 2: off there in a few days now.

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Speaker 1: You mentioned the world champion in Chicago this year, and

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Speaker 1: I know there's another big one in Washington coming up

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Speaker 1: as well. Is America playing an increasingly large role or

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Speaker 1: sort of omniprisiond and squash or Am I just making

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Speaker 1: that up?

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Speaker 2: No, They've always got you know, there's quite a lot

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Speaker 2: of importaments floating around in America. I think it's quite

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Speaker 2: a The problem they have is squash has paid in

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Speaker 2: you know a lot of country clubs where the joining

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Speaker 2: sea is very very expensive, so not everyone has the

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Speaker 2: access to play squaffs there. But there's a definitely like

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Speaker 2: a like I said, a lot of sort of courts

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Speaker 2: and stuff around. It's just getting their accessibilities to everyone.

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Speaker 2: I think the Olympics, especially being in America, that definitely

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Speaker 2: making this was that, and I think up a whole

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Speaker 2: lot of centers that are are more public rather than private,

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Speaker 2: which is great to see. And yeah, like there's definitely

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Speaker 2: some really strong women coming through and some younger guys

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Speaker 2: coming through as well. They're doing really well at the

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Speaker 2: junior level now, so their program is doing well.

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Speaker 1: So in general you would argue, what in terms of

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Speaker 1: talents and players and young people coming through the game

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Speaker 1: is improving?

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Speaker 2: Yeah, exactly. There's definitely definitely some more countries getting involved,

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Speaker 2: which is great to see, and some countries that you

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Speaker 2: might not expect used to be a powerhouse and Aussie

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Speaker 2: but you know they're not, sort of they're any more.

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Speaker 2: But there's a few more countries like America stepping up

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Speaker 2: and it's great to see that the sport's going quite

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Speaker 2: global now.

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Speaker 1: And when you mentioned the Olympics, I mean, have you

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Speaker 1: thought about how you target that? What does it mean?

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Speaker 1: I mean, is a World championship more important than a

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Speaker 1: gold medal? Advice versa or it doesn't matter.

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Speaker 2: It's been quite funny for me, as you know, I'm

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Speaker 2: late in my career, but it's a it's like a

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Speaker 2: new process. I've never had an Olympic Olympic campaign and

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Speaker 2: so i'm you know, speaking to a few people from

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Speaker 2: high performance sport just on how you sort of prep

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Speaker 2: for an Olympic campaign, which is it's quite weird because

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Speaker 2: it's you know, a four year process. And like I said,

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Speaker 2: this is I'm thirty two, and this is the first

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Speaker 2: time I've sort of thought about a four year plan.

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Speaker 2: I've always thought about having World Champs every month, so

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Speaker 2: one it's months every year. But this is obviously like

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Speaker 2: a four year plan. So it's quite cool to experience it.

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Speaker 2: And you know, you sort of when you get involved

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Speaker 2: with prepping for an Olympic Games, you really feel how

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Speaker 2: important it is. So I'm super excited for that. But

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Speaker 2: you know, I've got a few will Champs between now

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Speaker 2: and then, so I'm sort of focusing on the World Champs,

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Speaker 2: but definitely in the Olympics. There's something pretty big for me.

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Speaker 1: Fantastic And when you talk about late in your career,

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Speaker 1: what are your thoughts around that, what are you looking at? Physical? Mental?

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Speaker 2: Bit of both, yeah, but both. Obviously, I think squash

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Speaker 2: is a very physical sport, so if you don't, you know,

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Speaker 2: I'm pretty smart of my body. But you know, I mean,

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Speaker 2: age is definitely a factor. If you start slowing down,

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Speaker 2: then it's just a disadvantage purelier there. So it's about,

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Speaker 2: you know, keeping my schedule and my training so that

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Speaker 2: keeps me in shape to later in my career. But

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Speaker 2: I mean the way the technologies go in these days

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Speaker 2: that you can play until you're thirty five for six

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Speaker 2: thirty eight, it's obviously just a lot depends on the

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Speaker 2: sort of physical side. I think, you know, mentally it's

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Speaker 2: pretty easy to get up for an Olympic Games or

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Speaker 2: a will Chamce, so it's not really an issue. But

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Speaker 2: obviously that's the body's not doing what the mine wants

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Speaker 2: to do. Then you've got a bit of an issue.

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Speaker 1: Brilliant. Congratulations again on the weekend. Go well in Australia

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Speaker 1: this week and hopefully we'll talk again before the end

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Speaker 1: of the year.

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Speaker 2: Right, thanks, might really appreciate it.

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Speaker 1: Cool nowhere is it all talk? Sir Paul Cole on

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Speaker 1: his way to Australia for the week. It's say, what

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Speaker 1: has you got? He's got after this one? He's got

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Speaker 1: the German Open, some Champs in London, the Manchester Open,

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Speaker 1: then the World qualifying. Then you've got the big International

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Speaker 1: Open in Egypt in the early part of April. It

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Speaker 1: must be interesting. We should talk to somebody about it. Sometimes,

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Speaker 1: you know, when you're thirty five, thirty six, thirty seven,

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Speaker 1: you're thinking, right, this is coming to an end, what next,

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Speaker 1: Big decisions, Ay Interesting decisions. For more from the mic

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Speaker 1: Asking Breakfast, listen live to news talks it'd be from

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Speaker 1: six am weekdays, or follow the podcast on iHeartRadio