Athlete Quotes

I think we're going in the right direction.

I think that realistically we can shoot for the title this year. If we stay healthy and be persistent throughout the season, I think we have good chance to go all the way.

Oh, I think, watching Magic, him being one of my... I'm one of his biggest fans, and just trying to emulate what he did, going out on the playground, and also playing with older guys.

I'm a high-risk taker on the court in the sense of trying to squeeze things in there.

Hard work does pay, and you just have to continue to work, and you got two guys, when you're talking about Gary and myself, we have a God-given talent, but we worked at it and we're happy to be where we are today.

When I was a little kid I used to play with guys twice my age, so, I was the last one picked, so if I picked I knew that I had to get the ball to the scorer if I wanted to stay on the court, so that was pretty much my job.

A lot of late nights in the gym, a lot of early mornings, especially when your friends are going out, you're going to the gym, those are the sacrifices that you have to make if you want to be an NBA basketball player.

You can't go on winning all the time.

To be the best, I had to work harder than everyone else.

The pressure began to mount as I kept winning every time and people were anxious to see if I could be beaten.

Squash was my livelihood and as in business, I had to stay on top.

Squash has the credentials to become an olympic event and our goal is to see the sport in the 2008 Beijing Olympics. We are working towards this and will keep trying even if our bid is not successful.

Squash has been my life and I owe a lot to the sport.

Nicol has great potential and there is a huge gap between her and the rest of the juniors. She needs to concentrate full time on the professional circuit from now on and it is the only way for her to realize her potential.

My unbeaten record and the 10 British Open wins have not been equalled.

It wasn't my plan to create such a record. All I did was put in the effort to win every match I played and it went on for weeks, months and years until my defeat to Ross Norman in Toulouse in 1986.

I began playing in the senior circuit when I was 15 and won the world senior amateur title the same year.

However, there is no assurance that we can produce world class players so soon. Only time can tell.

Generally the younger generation are not hard working. They will have to put in more effort to achieve results in tournaments. most of them can perform well but they cannot deliver when they play abroad.

Everything is changing in squash. Lots of television coverage and the game has become very professional.

Every winning streak will have to end sometime.

Without hard work and discipline it is difficult to be a top professional.

I wanted to start a proper academy and recruit juniors from all over Pakistan following my retirement after the World Open in 1993 but there was no support.

Colonialism deprives you of your self-esteem and to get it back you have to fight to redress the balance.

But ultimately it comes down to how the team performs on the day.

But I don't need to use politics as a way of making money.

Because I'm anti-war, I've been called pro-Taliban.

And when the pressure was on us, the team handled it very well. One has to learn to play well under pressure.

The war on terror is the most insane and immoral war of all time. The Americans are doing what they did in Vietnam, bombing villages. But how can a civilised nation do this? How can you can eliminate suspects, their wives, their children, their families, their neighbours? How can you justify this?

The team that is going to win is the one that does its homework the best by studying its opponents.