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[Martin Heath] So the guy that's going to be holding the the bungee, I don't want
you standing in the corner. My name is Martin Heath. I'm I'm from the west coast of
Scotland. A place called Oban. I'm the head sports coach of the varsity squash team.
Alright, quick feet, guys. Lift up your feet. [Oscar Lopez] My name is Oscar Lopez. I'm from Mexico
City. I am the assistant coach at the University of Rochester and I played here for four years
as well. [Ryosei Kobayashi] My name is Ryosei Kobayashi. I'm from Tokyo, Japan.
[Faraz Khan] I'm Faraz Khan. I grew up in Greenwich Connecticut and I am from Pakistani descent.
Both my parents grew up there. [Oscar] My dad use to play squash too and it's a little
bit of a rare sport as well and I just loved it immediately as soon as as I started
playing. [Ryosei] Squash is not popular in Japan. No one knew what squash is. Their first
reaction is like, "oh is it like tennis, but in a like room or box?"
[Faraz] Usually they said, "oh the vegetable you mean?" So their reactions are always, "oh I never
heard about it. Is that is that racquetball?" [Martin] A common way of describing squash
is that it's like physical chess. You have all these possibilities, all these different angles,
a lot of ways of playing the game as well. You are trying to finish off the point by
making the ball bounce twice or forcing an error from your opponent, but you're having
to do it in this way where you have to compete for the same space as your opponent. So, it's
a more cerebral game. [Ryosei] First thing, I made up my mind to come here is because
of Martin Heath, the former number four player in the world. [Martin] It was obviously a childhood
dream to be a professional squash player, for me at least. But it had this added bonus
of being this incredible worldwide sport, very small, but spread all over the world.
The team is a microcosm of the experience that I had, and I think the way the world is turning.
[Oscar] This team is special. We have players from China, Japan and Mexico. Different cultures
that bring us together. We learn from each other, different languages, different experiences
and then, squash is bringing us together. (Crowd cheering)
[Martin] We have now become rivals with the the Ivy League schools. They have traditionally dominated college squash. (Clapping)
It is great to play Princeton. It's great to host them at at Rochester.
They are our rival. We have beaten them before, but we have lost to them a lot more times
than we have beaten them. [Oscar] When I was playing we only beat them once and it was
was a great year. [Ryosei] I feel the like the level completion is very high since all
of the universities coaches recruit really good players from all over the world.
Every match is exciting. (Clapping) [Martin] Alright buddy, let's do this. [Faraz] It's a lot
of excitement the day you play. I was playing on the number one spot so I knew I was going
to play their best player and it was pretty nerve wracking. When you are in the moment,
the nervousness fades away. I enjoy long rallies because I am in a rhythm eventually he will
get tired. So I am putting in an investment. Even if I am tired, which I was, I know that it will pay off.
[Martin] Nice. Well played.
[Ryosei] One shot is my turning point. (Clapping) So I wait until the opportunity comes and just strike it.
(Cheering) That moment I felt like, oh it's my game.
[Martin] You always need that turning point, that emotional moment where the crowd gets involved, the energy lifts
in the room. It's only five courts and it's relatively limited space. So, the noise level
can get up quite a lot. The guys in the other courts feel that. We definitely want to create
that atmosphere. (Cheering) [Oscar] I think that changed the momentum of the match
where it could have gone either way but it was a battle on every court.
This win means a lot to us as coaches and as for the players as well. [Martin] It's a job that I would do
for nothing you know if I could afford it. I can't unfortunately, but
that's the reality and that's the huge motivating factor for me to stay
in the job. It really is a privilege for me.