Saving private Ryan

He's been one of Ireland's leading international sportsmen for close on six years. The past 12 months, which have included two tournament wins, have been the most successful of his professional career. When his sport's new rankings are issued for November he expects to be just three or four spots short of a place in the world top 10.

A fortnight ago he beat the reigning world champion in the first round of his latest tournament. He went on to reach the final, the biggest of his career, where he went agonisingly close to taking a twoset lead against the world number one, before losing 3-1. Two days later he flew home to Dublin, but there was no open top bus-ride through the city. And there wasn't a county councillor in sight. Name: Derek Ryan. Occupation: Professional squash player. Tell him if he'd been a tennis player he'd be world famous and a millionaire by now and he throws you one of those "tell me about it" looks.

So, why squash? "Because I was brutal at everything else," he says. "Athletics, football, rugby, I tried them all. That's why I stuck at squash. I was alright at that."

It's eight years since Ryan, now 29, moved from his Killiney home to Manchester to begin his professional career with the city's Northern club. The move also signalled the beginning of what he describes as "subsistence living". "Realistically the most you can hope for out of squash is enough money to pay your air fares and bills - unless you're from Pakistan or Egypt, where the sport is huge. Look at it this way, the biggest single prize in squash last year was £8,000 for the winner of the British Open, which is just about what you get as a first-round loser in Wimbledon. But that's the way it is and I knew that's the way it would always be, even in my first year as a pro in England. You don't go in to this sport for money - you're effectively an amateur, with a professional's expenses."

Without the support of the Irish Sports Council, who gave him a £15,000 grant this year, Eriksson, his main sponsor, and Adidas, who supply his gear, Ryan concedes that a career on the professional circuit would have been impossible. His achievements in the sport have been all the more remarkable in light of his financial struggles. For most professional squash players the chief source of funding comes from clubs who pay them to appear in league matches. Ryan, who is now based in Nottingham, plays for Derbyshire club Duffield, but has represented Quarter Latin (France), City Squash Kiel (Germany) and Salzburg (Austria). "There were times when I'd have to qualify for a tournament, maybe in Pakistan, on a Friday, having played a league match on a Wednesday night, just to get a few quid - and not much either. Having played for my club I'd travel out on the Thursday, travel all day, get to the place, play and qualify for the last 12. By then you'd be wrecked and by the time your first-round match came around, when you'd playing one of the seeds, you'd just feel shattered. There's no way I'd do that any more because you need the rest."

Before Christmas Ryan will skip club duties to concentrate on improving his world ranking, by playing in two tournaments in Pakistan (the Pepsi International, which begins this weekend, and next week's Pakistan Open), the Qatar International and the World Open in Bombay (November 29th to December 6th). Victories in the Hartford Cup in Connecticut and the European Champion of Champions in Oslo at the beginning of the year, along with his appearance in the final of the Kuwait Open earlier this month, should see him beat his previous best world ranking of 15, which he reached three years ago, when the November list is issued by the Professional Squash Association.

A place in the world top 10, however, is not quite the obsession it used to be for the Dubliner. "That really isn't what drives me anymore. I don't think `I want to be top 10, I want to be top five' now, it's more I don't want to have any regrets. . . "When I've had big wins in the past and I've done well in tournaments, like in Kuwait, the buzz I got from them was like nothing I ever experienced. Just winning is incredible, it's such a high. . . doing well, playing well, playing above your level. "The feeling I had when I beat Rodney Eyles (the current World champion, who Ryan beat in Kuwait) just wiped away all those feelings I had when things were going badly last year, when my confidence was gone and I just felt lonely.

It may not be his obsession any more but if Ryan maintains his current form through his next four tournaments he may welcome in the New Year as a top 10 world ranked professional squash player.