Category: Sport
Date: 06.07.2006
Printable version
On Today at Wimbledon last night on 91Èȱ¬ TWO, 91Èȱ¬ commentator Pat Cash talked about his strong reservations of the methods adopted by Chinese tennis coaches when they visited his academy in Australia, with a group of Chinese ladies tennis players.
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In conversation with presenter John Inverdale, Cash said:
"A group came to my academy in Australia... and boy, I tell you, are they tough on the girls.
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"We had never seen anything like it. We were almost shocked. They trained in the hot sun in Australia for five hours and then they were screaming at them, 'Go out there and do some more running!'."
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John Inverdale, in reference to Mattew Pinsent's recent documentary on the Chinese gymnastic coaches' training methods, asked: "Is their means of operation something you would have reservations about?"
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Cash replied: "Absolutely. Certainly we told them to stop. But they didn't."
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He continued: "We had four girls and five coaches and they were learning everything they possibly could. Picking my brains, picking my partner's brains, writing everything down.
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"They've probably got a Pat Cash coaching book - I wouldn't be surprised at all!"
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"They work them very hard. There's no excuses. And I thought they worked them too hard. They haven't quite learnt the subtlety of rest is important as well."
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"We got them fit, superfit. But they said that wasn't enough. We want them super, super, superfit."
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Notes to Editors
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Please credit 91Èȱ¬ TWO's Today at Wimbledon programme when using these quotes.
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CF
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