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KL
Open 2003 Champion,
Women’s World Open
2000 Champion,
Currently ranked
2nd in the world,
New
Zealander Professional Squash Player, |
16th Feb. 2003 |
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Carol
Owens
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by Tricia Chuah |
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My heart totally stopped
when I was told to meet up with Carol Owens, a well-known squash
player who is self-confident and an expert in the sport. I mean, come
on! |
| She’s the world no. 2.
Only one person is above her by ranking. That’s awesome!! Anyway, I
wanted to interview her after she won the women’s final of the KL
Open, but I couldn’t locate her until.......nature called! I bumped
into Carol in the ladies’ room before she hit the showers, and seized
the opportunity to book her before the media agents do. So, after she
got cleaned and PROPER, we met at court 5 of the National Squash
Centre, Jalan Duta, where the games were held.
Yes, it was an embarrassing and impolite way to obtain the interview
session but, it was definitely worthwhile, as the reward was an
interesting and insightful chat with her. |
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| Congratulations for
winning the KL Open, Carol. What do you think of the tournament? |
| Carol : |
Well, it was very
well-organized and I noticed that the condition of the court is
new. |
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| It is! They did up the
complex in preparation of it. |
| Carol : |
Oh yeah?! I think
it’s lovely! Although the floor was a bit slippery during the
qualifying rounds, the organizers did a good job by sorting it out
soon after. So, there wasn’t a problem for me. |
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| Being no. 2 in the world,
wasn't this tournament rather small for you? |
| Carol : |
I wanted match
plays before the Tournament of Champions in New York next week, so
this tournament was just right for that. Plus, I've been here year
after year since.....well, I can’t remember actually.......but
probably for the past 12 years. It gets pretty comfortable. |
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| Was it the sights and
people here that attracted you to visit again and again? |
| Carol : |
Well, I’ve been
travelling for so long, everyone in the
world seems the same to me. They’re just people basically. Malaysia’s
a nice place. The people are very hospitable and I feel welcomed here. |
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| I'm glad you feel that
way! By the way, how did you maintain your ranking at the top
for so long? Is there a special strategy or something? |
| Carol : |
Nah,
nothing unusual. Just being consistent and training hard. Also, not
losing to people below my rank. In small tournaments like
these, there’s more pressure to win when you’re top seed because
obviously, you can’t afford to lose to people much, much lower than
you in ranking, or else your average will suffer. In bigger
tournaments, the pressure’s not as great to win, as there’s more top
10 players participating, a lost won’t lower the average too much. |
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Continue |
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