Aamir happily married to job for now

But like Ghaffar when he first came to live in England at the age of 12, Sheeba does not yet speak English. She speaks only Ghaffar's first language, which is Pushto, the first language of Afghanistan. Not only will she have that to deal with when she leaves Pakistan, where she has lived all her life, but she will not be able to begin normal married life with her husband because of his badminton commitments.

He lives at the lottery-funded National Badminton Centre in Milton Keynes for five days a week, on top of which he will be travelling constantly to tournaments in preparation for next year's Olympic Games. Sheeba, 20, will live in Southall with Ghaffar's mother. It is impossible not to marvel at his young wife's strength of character in taking on so much.

"What's great is that they get on really well," said Ghaffar. "It will be hard for Sheeba. In a way it would have been harder if she had been able to come over straight away because she would have missed her mum and dad and me all at the same time.

"Now she has this transitional period with them. All I can tell her is it won't be forever. I want to play for another three years to see if I can reach the world's top 10, up from No30 where I am now.''

That means five hours' training six days a week, while he is simultaneously taking an HND in business studies. But when his badminton days are done, he wants to be a policeman. Interestingly for someone with such a career choice, Ghaffar lists his greatest weakness as a tendency to get angry very easily.

"Obviously I would control that in the job," he said hurriedly, with a laugh. "I just find the idea of joining the police interesting. You don't need a degree, the pay is good and you still need to be fit. I've never had any hassle off the police. I'm pretty cool with them."

All that is in the future. This week is all about the world championships. Ghaffar says he has never played better than he is now, and is determined to go to Athens next year to make up for his disappointment at last year's Commonwealth Games when England's strength in depth meant he missed out. Sheeba will not be at the NIA but for the first time in his life, Ghaffar's mother is coming to watch him play.

"In the Asian community parents just don't support you in sport," he said without a trace of resentment. "Sports are seen as just for a laugh. To make money you're supposed to be a doctor or an accountant. They're thought of as better than me, even though I play professionally. No one appreciates it. But that's okay. I know how hard I've worked. I know what I've achieved."