"I don't support it all," Sattar said of the North West Frontier Province (NWFP) cabinet announcement in May prohibiting men from coaching sportswomen.

"How could I? My coach is Muhibullah Khan," she said, referring to the former world number two, who is brother and coach of former top-seeded world player Jangshir Khan.

Sattar's dilemma echoes that of scores of female athletes in the conservative province, where sexes are usually segregated and many families prohibit daughters from sport because they do not want them exposed to men.

"There is an attitude among society and families that it's no good to be coached by a male. My family is quite harsh with me about having a male coach," she told this news agency in the NWFP capital Peshawar's Qayum Stadium.

The ban, only partially enforced by the ruling Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal alliance of radical Islamic parties, has won mixed responses.

Most of Sattar's co-players are against it, citing the paucity of female coaches in NWFP, but there are plenty who appreciate it and seek full segregation in sport.

"In Peshawar, male coaches don't do their job properly when they're coaching girls, they get distracted," said Sadia Khaled, an athlete who represents NWFP in tournaments across Pakistan.

"I'd like to see an exclusive sports complex for women, because it's so unpleasant coming to a male-dominated sports complex. I feel self-conscious training in front of the men here. They tease me."

Sattar also represents her province in women's cricket. The 15-woman team is still being coached by a man.

"Most good players get no opportunity because their families don't allow them to be coached by men," she said.

Badminton and volleyball player Aysha, 18, prefers male coaches because they make her "bold".

"I need male coaches to inspire courage. I'll be bold if I'm pushed by a male," she said.

Saqina, 22, a provincial-level badminton player, believed the ban would allow more women to play sport.

"We belong to a very conservative society... it's difficult to get permission from our families to play sport. If men were banned, my family would allow me to play more games."

But while male coaches were popular for producing strong players, girls also had to deal with favouritism.

"Female coaches will give us more opportunity because some male coaches give priority to their blue-eyed players," said badminton and volleyball player Shazia.

NWFP's top table tennis coach, Naveed Khan, warned the ban would sound the death knell of women's sport if it was fully enforced.

"This will be the end of women's sport. We have hardly any qualified female coaches in NWFP," he told AFP.

Khan can no longer coach students through the school and campus system, but he still coaches women privately and no-one has ordered him to stop.

He cited the dilemma of NWFP's junior squash champion, the only female practising at the Pakistan Air Force's squash academy.

"She plays with males, is coached by a male, and dreams of being world number one in male rankings."

"She said 'I don't want to play with females because they don't give me a fight'."