Hi there,

Just back from Asia, and delighted to say that it was a very successful trip. I lost in three games in qualifying in Malaysia (it was 22-20 in the decider and could really have gone either way) and then managed to make the main draw of 32 in Korea.

It proved that the couple of months of really hard work is paying off. I had been playing well on the training court and it was good to be able to transform the same form into competition.

Getting through qualifying in Korea was a really big deal. There were eight qualifying places in the singles (four men and four women) and seven of them were Koreans - plus me! That just shows you how tough it is.

Now I'm looking forward to the Yonex Scottish National Championships in Perth, then the Uber Cup plus a run of European circuit tournaments.

I'm desperate to win the Scottish National singles title for a third time, and I'm delighted that Rita (Yuan Gao) is playing. Now that she is part of the Scottish coaching team, she had toyed with the idea of pulling out of her defence of both the singles and women's doubles titles.

But I wanted her to be there - and not only because we are defending champions in the doubles. If I win the singles, I want to beat everybody. It's much more of an achievement if Rita is in the draw. Mind you, I hope I'm not regretting it come the Sunday night.

As for the doubles, we don't want to hand the title to Imogen (Bankier) and Emma (Mason) on a plate. We beat them in the final last year when they were the top seeds. Hopefully, we can do it again.

As for getting into the Olympic team, I'm trying not to think about it too much. I know it is going to take a huge effort to get into the world's top 16 (currently No.41) by the May 1 cut off date. But you never know.

I'm just going to keep working really hard and try to pull off some good results. Whatever happens, I know that the tough training schedule will stand me in good stead for the future. There are plenty goals still to accomplish.

Susan

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