DAY 4 – AFTERNOON SESSION QUARTERS ENGLAND-NEW ZEALAND

INTERVIEW WITH LAURA MASSARO

 

So you ‘re through to the semis now, how do you feel about that ? I suppose you’re delighted.

Yeah, just really happy to put the team through. It’s always hard when you’re the seed and Sarah-Jane did a brilliant job by putting us in the lead and that takes a lot of pressure off me. I could just play with freedom knowing that we’ve got a really good chance. I was happy to put the match away and make sure that we get a spot in the semis and then we are in with a chance of retaining our title. Hopefully.

Yes, quite. The semis tomorrow then. What frame of mind are you in ? Is it different from other events ?

It is a bit different but in a good way though. We get on well so in the evening, it means going out for dinners, it’s a little bit more relaxing  so I’m sure tonight it’ll be another team dinner, come back, have a good sleep and prepare for tomorrow.

Sounds good to me. Alison didn’t play today. Why was that ?

She wasn’t supposed to play. She had a tough game with Tesni yesterday. We’ve got a really strong squad so it’s just about making sure that everyone stays sharp and fresh at the same time. It’s nice to be able to rotate. We’ve all had a match where we’ve rested so that means we’ve all got a bit of energy left in our legs.

Is it the same playing in the World Teams and the European Teams or is there a difference ?

It’s very similar in terms of set-up but it feels different …. In the worlds, there is  a lot more strength and every match is harder. It’s more strenuous for a longer period of time. Everybody wants to be World Champion so it takes on more importance. It carries more weight.