Tuesday, July 12, 2005

It's foolish to give up sport for advertising: Sania

Tennis star Sania Mirza on Saturday maintained that she had played her best and put in 200 per cent at Wimbledon, where she lost in the second round after putting up a spirited fight. "I gave what I had and I played my best. Winning and losing is all part of the game. I gave it my 200 per cent," Sania, who was here to participate in the celebrity golf organised by HISA, told PTI. Sania said ranking was not a factor when one played at the Grand Slam level. "It does not really matter whether you are playing against the fifth seeded or are 75th seeded, what matters is putting in all your best and playing the game. Rankings keep changing, sometimes you are up, sometimes down." To a query on whether it was the mounting pressure and expectation that had seen her losing out at Wimbledon, the world no 70 said, "the pressure is always there. In sports you always face the pressure but you learn to live with it. As far expectations go, when I play a match I do not think about it, I play for myself and my country." Dismissing criticism that she had shifted her focus from sports to modelling, she said, "I know what I am doing. Just because I happen to do a couple of advertisements does not mean I have shifted my focus from the game. Any sane person would know that it would be foolish to give up the sport for advertising."

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