Squash Stars: Maria Toorpakai and Nicol David
Pakistan's No. 1 player Maria Toorpakai and eight time world champion Nicol David from Malaysia discuss the intensity and joy of their sport
Maria Toorpakai grew up in the traditional tribal region of Waziristan, and from an early age decided she would rather play with the boys than stay inside with the girls. So she burned her 'girly' clothes and cut her hair short so she could run and jump and wrestle outside. When her family moved to Peshawar Maria picked up a squash racket for the first time, and by the age of 16 was Pakistan's number one player. Her success led to death threats however, and she was forced into hiding and playing only in her bedroom. Maria now lives and trains in Canada. Her book A Different Kind of Daughter: The Girl Who Hid From the Taliban in Plain Sight (with Katharine Holstein) is out now.
Malaysia's Nicol David has dominated women's squash since 2005. She was the World No 1 woman player for an unprecedented 9 years. Nicol says her greatest win was her first world title when she was 22 in Hong Kong, which came as a complete surprise. She started playing squash with her sisters to work out her hyperactivity, and quickly became a junior champion. She says squash is like 'physical chess' - you are always thinking ahead by two or three moves.
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Clips
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Being recognised as a squash player
Duration: 00:50
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"Dressing as a boy gave me freedom."
Duration: 00:46
Broadcasts
- Mon 18 Apr 2016 02:32GMT成人快手 World Service Americas and the Caribbean
- Mon 18 Apr 2016 04:32GMT成人快手 World Service Online, UK DAB/Freeview, South Asia & Europe and the Middle East only
- Mon 18 Apr 2016 05:32GMT成人快手 World Service East Asia
- Mon 18 Apr 2016 06:32GMT成人快手 World Service Australasia
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- Sat 23 Apr 2016 23:32GMT成人快手 World Service except Americas and the Caribbean & News Internet
- Sun 24 Apr 2016 00:32GMT成人快手 World Service Australasia
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