MARIA TOORPAKAI WAZIR was born on
22 November, 1990 in South Waziristan,
one of the most volatile regions of Pakistan,
where girls are confined to their homes,
seldom allowed to study and not given any
freedom. Maria wanted to fly kites and play
freely like the boys in her locality. One day,
when her parents were out visiting,
burnt all her clothes, cut her hair short, and
donning one of her brothers' clothes, went
out to play with the boys. When her parents
returned home, her broad-minded father
was amused as she looked every bit a boy
and he playfully called her his Genghis
Khan (the great Mongol warlord).
Thereafter, Maria disguised
herself completely as a boy,
adopting Genghis Khan as
her name. She wouldplay rough games with the boys, get into
fights, and return home badly bruised. When
the family moved to Peshawar, her father
decided to channelize her aggression
positively to sports. He enrolled her in a
weight-lifting academy as Genghis Khan.
Maria trained hard, won the Weightlifting
Championship in the boys' category at
Lahore, and was soon ranked number two
in Pakistan for weightlifting in the junior
division.
Then came puberty and the shape of her
body began to change. After she narrowly escaped the mandatory weigh for the under 16 boys weightlifting championship which is
almost in a
state of undress, the 12-year-old
realized her precarious position.
She gave up weight-lifting and
switched over to squash, a game
that had caught her fancy.
However, when she enrolled at
Pakistan Air Force's squash
academy, she was asked to produce
her birth certificate. She couldn'thide her identity any longer .Fortunately for
her, the director of the academy admired her
gut, and not only admitted her as Genghi
Khan but also offered to be her coach, He
even presented her with her first Jonathan
Power racquet.
All hell broke loose one day when the
director accidentally called her by her real
name. The boys were aghast to find that they
were competing with a girl all along. They
taunted her mercilessly calling her the girl
from Pashtun who had disguised herself as
a boy, and refused to play with her.
lgnoring their jeers, Maria decided to
prove her worth as a woman player. She
would lock herself up in the squash court
and practise 10 hours every day. She won
the under-13,under-15 and under-19 championship was
seeded number 3 at the Asian Junior
championships and even
clinched the national title. In August 2007,
General Musharraf, who was the president
of Pakistan then, bestowed upon her the
Salaam Pakistan Award in recognition of her
Outstanding performance in the field of
Sport. The same year she was nominated as
the WISPA Young Player of the Year.
Things took a serious turn when the
Taliban found out. They believed that it was
un-lslamic for a girl to play in shorts and T-shirts without a veil . They warned her family of severe consequences if they didn't stop her from playing. Maria was confined to the house and her game suffered as a result. Then came the news that the 2010 national games were going to be held just down the road from her house. Maria signed up for it but on the day of tournament the Taliban refused to let her play.
Today Maria banks 62 in PSA ranking. She continues to pursue her dream to become the top women's squash player in the world. She also works actively on the project called only one girl Foundation, which helps underprivileged girls around the world....
22 November, 1990 in South Waziristan,
one of the most volatile regions of Pakistan,
where girls are confined to their homes,
seldom allowed to study and not given any
freedom. Maria wanted to fly kites and play
freely like the boys in her locality. One day,
when her parents were out visiting,
burnt all her clothes, cut her hair short, and
donning one of her brothers' clothes, went
out to play with the boys. When her parents
returned home, her broad-minded father
was amused as she looked every bit a boy
and he playfully called her his Genghis
Khan (the great Mongol warlord).
Thereafter, Maria disguised
herself completely as a boy,
adopting Genghis Khan as
her name. She wouldplay rough games with the boys, get into
fights, and return home badly bruised. When
the family moved to Peshawar, her father
decided to channelize her aggression
positively to sports. He enrolled her in a
weight-lifting academy as Genghis Khan.
Maria trained hard, won the Weightlifting
Championship in the boys' category at
Lahore, and was soon ranked number two
in Pakistan for weightlifting in the junior
division.
Then came puberty and the shape of her
body began to change. After she narrowly escaped the mandatory weigh for the under 16 boys weightlifting championship which is
almost in a
state of undress, the 12-year-old
realized her precarious position.
She gave up weight-lifting and
switched over to squash, a game
that had caught her fancy.
However, when she enrolled at
Pakistan Air Force's squash
academy, she was asked to produce
her birth certificate. She couldn'thide her identity any longer .Fortunately for
her, the director of the academy admired her
gut, and not only admitted her as Genghi
Khan but also offered to be her coach, He
even presented her with her first Jonathan
Power racquet.
All hell broke loose one day when the
director accidentally called her by her real
name. The boys were aghast to find that they
were competing with a girl all along. They
taunted her mercilessly calling her the girl
from Pashtun who had disguised herself as
a boy, and refused to play with her.
lgnoring their jeers, Maria decided to
prove her worth as a woman player. She
would lock herself up in the squash court
and practise 10 hours every day. She won
the under-13,under-15 and under-19 championship was
seeded number 3 at the Asian Junior
championships and even
clinched the national title. In August 2007,
General Musharraf, who was the president
of Pakistan then, bestowed upon her the
Salaam Pakistan Award in recognition of her
Outstanding performance in the field of
Sport. The same year she was nominated as
the WISPA Young Player of the Year.
Things took a serious turn when the
Taliban found out. They believed that it was
un-lslamic for a girl to play in shorts and T-shirts without a veil . They warned her family of severe consequences if they didn't stop her from playing. Maria was confined to the house and her game suffered as a result. Then came the news that the 2010 national games were going to be held just down the road from her house. Maria signed up for it but on the day of tournament the Taliban refused to let her play.
Today Maria banks 62 in PSA ranking. She continues to pursue her dream to become the top women's squash player in the world. She also works actively on the project called only one girl Foundation, which helps underprivileged girls around the world....
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