‘Squash Gave Me Life’ – Toorpakai Opens Up on Inspirational Story

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One of the most inspirational and influential women ever to play squash, Pakistan’s Maria Toorpakai Wazir fought against gender barricades and extreme circumstances in order to follow her dreams and forge a career in the sport that would enable her to find a reprieve from the inequality that dogged her formative years – even resorting to masquerading as a boy to compete in sporting competitions.

Toorpakai, who hails from the highly conservative area of South Waziristan in Pakistan, was forbidden from playing squash due to the local Islamic culture’s attitude on women’s participation in sport, so pretended to be a boy in order to compete. Once her cover was blown, Toorpakai and her family were subjected to threats until she moved out of the country to be trained under the tutelage of former Men’s World Champion Jonathon Power.

Speaking to Financial Times Managing Editor, Gillian Tett, at the Women in the World Summit in New York, Toorpakai opened up on the hardships she faced growing up and about the salvation she ultimately found in squash.

“Becoming a squash player is an impossible thing, people don’t allow girls to have an education and you can get shot if you try,” said Toorkapai.

“I played sports in skirts and I was the first person to do that. When I was about four and a half, I was different. I was strong and I wanted to hang out like my brother outside, like any other boy who was playing soccer, cricket, marbles, flying kites or running around wrestling.

“I wanted to be like them, so that was a time when I tossed all of my girly clothes in the fire, put on my brother’s clothes and cut my hair. I was looking for challenges, I was always finding fights after that and I was known as Genghis Khan. The girls over there live a different life.

“These are the lawless areas so everything is decided by the men, the elders and we don’t have any government there. Usually, the women suffer a lot and, when a male child is born, everybody celebrates and every father wants more men because the more sons you have, the stronger your family is. No-one wants a daughter and, when there are fights between local families, they would always sacrifice or sell their daughters.

“We moved to Peshawar and my father was always very active, he was pro women’s rights and he educated my mum after marriage and my sister is the youngest parliamentarian in Pakistan.”

Toorkpakai is especially appreciative of her father, who she credits for supporting her as she chose not to give in to the inequality that engulfed her local surroundings at that time.

“It was my father who backed us up,” she explained.

“I was very aggressive and you can see all of the scars on my head so my father chose to channel my negative energy into positive energy through sports. He was concerned about my health and he loved us. I also did weightlifting for some time and I won the boy’s national championship as Genghis Khan.”

She was soon introduced to squash and enjoyed honing her burgeoning talent under the guise of being a male for a number of months before the truth finally came out and she was subjected to threats and taunts.

Initially, Toorpakai focused all of her attention on playing and improving at squash, training for hours a day until her hands were raw.

“I suffered a lot from society because my family is very supportive and my father believes in equality,” Toorpakai said.

“There was always a very happy environment at home but, outside, you don’t see a lot of women. I was bullied, I was harassed and it was unbelievable. I was on the right path, I wanted to play squash and that was the only safe haven that I could find for myself.

“I used to hit for 10 hours a day, my hands were bleeding and bruised but I kept hitting and I got better because I had no other way to survive. Squash gave me life.”

After winning a number of national junior championships, Toorpakai soon found even more notoriety, even leading to the Pakistani Squash Federation arranging for snipers to be stationed around the squash court for her protection.

“I wasn’t scared for myself, I was scared for everyone out there,” the 25-year-old recalled.

“I was worried that, if I went to the squash court, it could be blown up. I have seen bomb blasts, I have seen people killed in front of me and I have lived my whole life like that. In squash, when I got better, I got threats from the Taliban but I had a skill and I was never going to give up.”

In the face of adversity, Toorpakai continued to perfect her craft, even retreating to her room at home to practise for a number of years.

However, it soon became clear that, if she was to ever truly make it a professional squash player, she would need to leave the country and she soon set about bringing that dream into fruition.

“Life only comes once and you have to take a risk,” she said.

“You have to try your best and I kept playing for three and a half years in my room. My father said that, in order to play sports, I would have to leave the country. He said that the baby bird has to fly away from the home. I started emailing everywhere and, after three and a half years, I finally got a reply from Canada.”

That reply came from Power in Canada and his interest in the young Pakistani opened up new doors for Toorpakai who soon joined him in Toronto to begin her training with him.

Despite being apprehensive about moving over 6500 miles away from home, Toorpakai revealed that she was made to feel welcome and believes that moving to Toronto changed her as a person.

“I heard a lot of negative things back home about the West and I was really scared.

I thought that as soon as people knew that I came from Waziristan, which is the hub of terrorism, I would go to jail. I was afraid but the people were so loving and so kind. We have to come across and we have to meet each other.

“Sport gave me a chance and, today, I am a very different person. I got better as a squash player and I got better as a human being.”

Now ranked 56th in the World Rankings, Toorpakai has established herself as a strong contender at a number of PSA World Tour events, with four titles to her name in as many years.

Backed up the grit and sheer determination that has driven her career thus far, Toorpakai looks destined for even greater glory on the PSA World Tour.