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Speaker 1: You're listening to the Weekend Sport podcast with Jason Vine

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Speaker 1: from Newstalk ZEDB.

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Speaker 2: Royal Wellington Golf Club is hosting the eighth edition of

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Speaker 2: the Women's Amateur Asia Pacific Championship from February twelve through

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Speaker 2: fifteen next year, bringing together the region's best young amateur

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Speaker 2: women's golfers. The winner earns starts in three major championships,

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Speaker 2: the AIG Women's Open, the Amundai Evon Championship and the

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Speaker 2: Chevron Championship. Eighty four players from twenty eight country set

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Speaker 2: to contest, including a record nine from New Zealand. Among

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Speaker 2: them is in Sir Choi, who is currently ranked fifty

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Speaker 2: fourth in the World Amateur Rankings, our top amateur. She

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Speaker 2: joins us now and so thanks for joining us. You've

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Speaker 2: played this event several times before. How special is it

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Speaker 2: to play the Women's Amateur Asia Pacific Championship though in

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Speaker 2: your own home country?

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Speaker 3: Actually this is my I played at fourth time, so

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Speaker 3: there's my fift time going into playing this toilet and

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Speaker 3: it feels like a great honor to be playing it

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Speaker 3: back in my home country. Because I've been telling many

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Speaker 3: other competitors that New Zern is such a great place

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Speaker 3: to come to, and it's like such a pride to

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Speaker 3: be able to show people how after raw is and

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Speaker 3: how amazing Golfusian is able to provide for the rest

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Speaker 3: of the players of the world to come compare on

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Speaker 3: our home soil.

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Speaker 2: So you were thirteenth in the twenty twenty five edition,

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Speaker 2: are the best of the kiwis sixty one, sorry, sixty seven,

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Speaker 2: seventy one, sixty seven, sixty seven. How do you reflect

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Speaker 2: back on the twenty twenty five edition of this tournament.

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Speaker 3: I think it was a really great learning opportunity for me.

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Speaker 3: It was definitely one of my best performances so far,

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Speaker 3: and I'm very part of the result I've made, and

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Speaker 3: during this time there were many moments where I hope

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Speaker 3: that I could have done better, but I think it

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Speaker 3: was a moment for me to reflect on and push

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Speaker 3: forward for the twenty twenty sixth editions.

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Speaker 2: The winner earns starts in three major championships. How big

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Speaker 2: and incentive is that for an amateur golfer.

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Speaker 3: That is a very big incentive. It's one of the

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Speaker 3: three major events, and it's a great opportunity for us

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Speaker 3: to get to know the professional playing field and just

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Speaker 3: getting within the top top ranking of that tournament gives

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Speaker 3: us like points for this college ranking system, which allows

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Speaker 3: if we have enough points, which allows us to go

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Speaker 3: professional without taking any two school or pro testing. So

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Speaker 3: it's like a very big incentive for us.

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Speaker 2: Absolutely. I just want to take you back to twenty

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Speaker 2: twenty four. You won the New Zealand Women's Strike Play

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Speaker 2: Championship and the New Zealand Women's Amateur Championship, and that's

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Speaker 2: a double that even lydia Co didn't achieve in the

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Speaker 2: same year when she was an amateur. So tell us

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Speaker 2: about twenty twenty four in a particular those two wins.

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Speaker 3: Last year two and two four us prapping for college

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Speaker 3: and it was like my final year of high school.

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Speaker 3: So around the last months of twenty twenty four, I

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Speaker 3: had no school and just exams. So I've been grinding

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Speaker 3: on golf for a very long time and during that

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Speaker 3: time I have managed one the two tournaments, which I'm

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Speaker 3: very grateful and thankful for. I think it was all

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Speaker 3: based on a hard work and the grind that I've

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Speaker 3: been putting in for the past twenty twenty four and

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Speaker 3: that's what got me to that level.

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Speaker 2: So you're now based at Pepperdine University in Malibu, California,

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Speaker 2: which sounds like a very nice part of the world.

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Speaker 2: Tell us about the decision to move there and how

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Speaker 2: you've enjoyed your time there.

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Speaker 3: Firstly, I've met the coach in Australia while playing a

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Speaker 3: tournament as I was playing with one of the graduate

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Speaker 3: students there. She just told me about how great Peppadine

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Speaker 3: was and I was like, oh, that sounds so great,

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Speaker 3: and she was like asking if she should put me

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Speaker 3: on with the coach. So I talked with the coach

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Speaker 3: a fair bit with both my parents and going to

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Speaker 3: California on my own did seem a bit risky. However,

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Speaker 3: she was very welcoming in and a lot of my

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Speaker 3: teammates already knew beforehand, so it felt like a big

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Speaker 3: family going there. And everyone at Paperline is really nice.

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Speaker 3: The weather's great, which is the best part. We're by

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Speaker 3: the ocean, the views amazing, so you can't really hate

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Speaker 3: ma Levis.

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Speaker 2: No, it doesn't sound like it sounds like a great

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Speaker 2: place to be playing golf. So how much has your

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Speaker 2: game developed in the last twelve months since you've been

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Speaker 2: in the States.

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Speaker 3: It definitely has developed a lot I'm hitting it much further,

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Speaker 3: my scores are much more consistent, I'm feeling much stronger

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Speaker 3: for sure. I'm definitely much more ready for future tournaments

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Speaker 3: and anything that is to come, as I'm balancing much

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Speaker 3: more scorework and the travels that's been going on for

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Speaker 3: the past year.

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Speaker 2: So in a typical week, and so how much golf

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Speaker 2: are you playing? Are you playing every day or does

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Speaker 2: your study not allow that? What does a typical week

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Speaker 2: look like for you?

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Speaker 3: Typical we would look like six days a week and

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Speaker 3: then a day off, But then it'll be for us.

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Speaker 3: It's a bit different during the winter and the summer

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Speaker 3: because sometimes it gets dark at like five pm or

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Speaker 3: like six pm, so we'll start from twelve pm after

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Speaker 3: our classes are finished until it gets dark and then

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Speaker 3: we study for the rest of the night.

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Speaker 2: Wow, and when and how did your golf journey begin?

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Speaker 2: Can you remember the first time you picked up a

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Speaker 2: golf club?

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Speaker 3: Yes? I can. So. The thing was, I always enjoyed

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Speaker 3: playing different sports, and it actually started off from mini

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Speaker 3: golf and then my dad asked if I wanted to

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Speaker 3: play golf for real, and honestly, maybe naive, I didn't

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Speaker 3: realize what he meant by it, and I just said

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Speaker 3: yes willingly. And on christmopshy, I just found not golf

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Speaker 3: close were under the tree and I was like yay,

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Speaker 3: And that is luckily how I started.

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Speaker 2: So how old were you then?

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Speaker 3: Around seven and a half?

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Speaker 2: Amazing, amazing and what you just thought it was going

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Speaker 2: to be a big game of mini golf?

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Speaker 3: Yeah, with my differences of clubs, amazing interrange?

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Speaker 2: So when did when did you start to take it

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Speaker 2: quite seriously?

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Speaker 3: Then?

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Speaker 2: How old would you have been? So?

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Speaker 3: Funny thing is my dad also realed me into it.

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Speaker 3: He said, the thing is, if I was to start

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Speaker 3: a golf then I have to go pro, like I

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Speaker 3: have to be serious on the start. So I guess

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Speaker 3: from the end of eight.

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Speaker 2: Wow, So you're dad when you were an eight year old?

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Speaker 2: Said okay, you can play, but only if you take

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Speaker 2: it seriously enough to turn pro one day.

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Speaker 3: Yes, you've got the vision before I start.

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Speaker 2: Well, so let's talk about that. Then you mentioned it

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Speaker 2: before about getting enough points. How will you know when

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Speaker 2: it's time to turn pro? Or is it just a

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Speaker 2: matter of getting enough points? How does it all work?

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Speaker 3: So the college system has its own point, but to

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Speaker 3: go professional it's honestly all to you are then most countries,

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Speaker 3: I think you have to be eighteen to grow professional,

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Speaker 3: while LPGA is eighteen. However, once you hit the age,

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Speaker 3: you can choose to play college or you can choose

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Speaker 3: to like if you play really well, you can make

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Speaker 3: you can get points in college as I mentioned before,

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Speaker 3: or you can just decide to grow professional and like

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Speaker 3: try to school, which is like the testing stage for

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Speaker 3: going professional.

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Speaker 1: So have you?

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Speaker 2: Yeah? So have you? What is the plan? Will you

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Speaker 2: complete your studies? What is the plan? When do you think,

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Speaker 2: as we said here today, when ideally would you go pro?

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Speaker 3: I've got two more This was my second year, so

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Speaker 3: I have brown two and a half more years left

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Speaker 3: of college and I think I will finish, so once

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Speaker 3: again my degree, I think I will try and grow professional.

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Speaker 2: Amazing, amazing, Well, it's a very exciting time for you

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Speaker 2: and in particular coming to Royal Wellington in the middle

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Speaker 2: of February for the Women's Amateur Asia Pacific Championship, and sir,

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Speaker 2: it's been wonderful to get the chance to chat to

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Speaker 2: you all the best for that tournament and for your

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Speaker 2: golfing career. We look forward to staying in touch. Thank you, no,

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Speaker 2: thank you. Inser Joy our top female amateur golfer, heed

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Speaker 2: of the Women's Amateur Asia Pacific Championship at Royal Wellington

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Speaker 2: in mid February.

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Speaker 1: For more from Weekend Sport with Jason Fine, listen live

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Speaker 1: to News Talk st B weekends from midday, or follow

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