I enjoyed my 15 years at the top, and now I enjoy watching the current crop. What I did, maybe they can't do, and what they do, perhaps I couldn't do. It's like that. I wanted to simply be the best. On a professional level, I wanted to be No. 1, and I worked hard to be that.
Pakistan is rich in sporting talent, but the only thing needed is to have sincere and honest administrators who should be held accountable by the government. Pakistan should be recognised as a sporting nation and not as a terrorist country.
Let's face it. There is no setup in Pakistan to train and groom young players at the grassroots level in different sports. Those of us who did make a name for ourselves and became champions did it with our own initiative - there was no academy to back us till we reached a certain level on our own.
A player cannot become a world champion overnight. To become a champion, a player has to sacrifice a lot and to devote much of his time practising and training.
The pressure began to mount as I kept winning every time and people were anxious to see if I could be beaten.
Let's face it. There is no setup in Pakistan to train and groom young players at the grassroots level in different sports. Those of us who did make a name for ourselves and became champions did it with our own initiative - there was no academy to back us till we reached a certain level on our own.
We shouldn't be thinking about individuals or departments. We should be thinking about national interest. Lifting the standard of Pakistan squash is like working towards national interest.
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.
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.
Everything is changing in squash. Lots of television coverage and the game has become very professional.
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.
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.
I began playing in the senior circuit when I was 15 and won the world senior amateur title the same year.