New Zealand squash champions, Paul Coll and Joelle King will play against the world's best on home soil for the first time in their careers for the New Zealand Squash Open tournament this month.

The NZ Open is a big deal as it is the first time the tournament is being hosted in 28 years – and it's right here in Tauranga.

The NZ Open – running from November 8-13 – is part of the PSA World Tour, which will see 48 players from more than 20 countries compete in a state-of-the-art glass court at Trustpower Baypark Arena.

Tournament director Wayne Werder caught up with the BuzzWorthy team to talk all things sqauash.

Check out what he has to say in the latest podcast here or by clicking the link at the bottom of the page.

Home turf

'It's the biggest tournament that I've played on home soil so I'm super excited,” says Paul.

'I'm extremely proud that we can bring all these top international players to our country,” says Joelle. 'But for Paul and I, we spend so much time playing in everyone else's backyard with all their people cheering for them so I think it's going to be nice for the fans.”

Both players' family friends will show up to watch Paul and Joelle in live action. 'I've never had them at a [international] match and it's just going to feel like home,” says Paul.

Top players

Paul, who won gold for men's squash singles at the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games, was ranked world number one for the sport in October but recently resumed world number two, behind squash rival Ali Farag from Egypt.

'Hopefully a win this week might help me to get closer to one again,” says Paul. 'It's been a crazy 10 months and there's been a lot of pressure on myself with rankings and stuff so I'm just enjoying my squash and trying to win another title.”

Sixteen of the squash players that will compete in the NZ Open in the state-of-the-art glass squash court flown in from the US.

Joelle is ranked fifth in the world for women's squash singles. 'I lost in the semi-finals in the individuals [at the Commonwealth Games], and I was seeded one there so disappointed I didn't come away with a medal in the singles,” says Joelle. 'Hopefully I can take the pressure and use it in a positive way.”

New challenges

Before the NZ Open kicks off Paul and Joelle will compete in the Nations Cup among seven other teams, which began Thursday and will run until Sunday, November 6.

The Nations Cup will be held at the same venue and will run in a unique and new format including sudden-death and power-plays. 'I always think that as athletes we're a bit of control freaks, we like to know exactly how everything work so we're all going in pretty blind,” says Joelle.

'I just urge everyone to come down and support New Zealand, get behind us, get nice and loud, bring the noise and just have a good time and enjoy the squash,” says Paul.

'I'm a proud Kiwi, I love being home, I love people here so I'm hoping it's going to give me a spark,” says Joelle.