“It's really the next step for me. All the guys here, we're all relatively equal, so it'll be good to go out and experience some higher level players more often.”
With the country's top player, Paul Coll, not attending national level events because he is too good, being the second-best player in the world currently, Donnelly said the added experience will help him get a leg up against his opponents.
“We're all pretty evenly matched in the top ten except for Paul. Everyone has their day and can take out the whole thing if they perform well.”
His plan includes a return trip before the New Zealand Squash Championships in June before heading back to Europe to have back-to-back seasons with high-level competition.
He plans to base himself in the UK on his return.
Having more regular games against good opponents is one of the things Donnelly said he's looking forward to the most.
“I think my fitness and my skills are good. It's just a mindset thing for those big games and not getting in my own head.
“Playing good people regularly will mean I have less nerves in those big games when they come up because I'll have done it before.”
Donnelly said it was exciting to be finally getting to chase his dreams after plans in previous years for overseas squash experience were quashed by Covid-19.
While New Zealand has continued to postpone and cancel tournaments, his overseas peers had been able to continue like normal and he said he doesn't want to miss the boat.
Having been based in Gisborne, he felt like it was now time to go out and spread his wings on the world stage.
Despite having more time to prepare, he said it had still not been cheap to cover the costs associated with travelling.
He said he is grateful to his sponsors, friends and family for their support.
“I'm not going to waste my time over there going out and having fun. While that's still part of it, it's not why I'm doing all of this.”
