Spanish NBA star Pau Gasol, who is in India to promote basketball seems to be cherishing his country's triumphant period in world sports.

Spain is living a very sweet moment: Gasol

Spanish NBA star Pau Gasol, who is in India to promote basketball seems to be cherishing his country's triumphant period in world sports.

The second NBA superstar to visit the country this month, following Orlando Magic center Dwight Howard, was all praise for his country's sportsmen who have shown perseverance, skill and talent in varied sporting disciplines ufffd be it at the recent FIFA World Cup or Rafael Nadal's authority on the tennis court ufffd it's Spain all the way.

Gasol, a seven-footer, attributed the country's success to the fact that youngsters in Spain train very hard and are fearless as they prepare to take on global competition. "We work hard since childhood and looking at certain players and teams attaining success in the sport, it becomes contagious and spreads acrossu00a0 the country," said Gasol

This explains World No 1 Rafael Nadal aggro on court. But there's humility too, as Gasol explained. "Nadal is such an amazing tennis player but above that he is an amazing person. You need to combine both to be a successful athlete. We have got great guys and are all very humble despite their success. We are actually living a very sweet moment," added Gasol, a two-time NBA champion and a three-time All-Star.

However, he started off as a student of medicine before realising that his body was better suited to basketball. Tipping young Indian aspirants, Gasol that it's a crucial moment when a student decides what he wants to do with his life, and his was a personal choice.

"You need to decide what challenges you ufffd education or professional sport. There is a lot of risk involved. I learnt medicine but chose basketball," said Gasol.