Jahangir Khan
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
- This article is about the squash player. For other people with the same name, please see Jahangir Khan (disambiguation).
Jahangir Khan (born December 10, 1963) is seen by some as the greatest squash player in history. He was coached initially by his father, Roshan Khan, the 1957 British Open Champion, and then by Rehmat Khan, who guided Jahangir through most of his career.
Contents |
Playing career
In 1981, when he was 17, he became the youngest winner of the World Open Championship, beating Australia's Geoff Hunt. He won 6 World Open (1981–85, 1988) and a record 10 successive British Open titles (1982–91). He enjoyed one of the longest unbeaten run in professional sport, that lasted for five and half years and 555 matches. After losing to Geoff Hunt of Australia in the final of the 1981 British Open, he did not lose again until November 1986 when he lost to Ross Norman of New Zealand in the World Open final. Norman had been in pursuit of Jahangir's unbeaten streak, being beaten time and time again. "One day Jahangir will be slightly off his game and I will get him," he vowed for five years.
Jahangir on his unbeaten streak:
- It started with my win over Geoff Hunt in the 1981 World Open final. It wasn't my plan to create such a record. All I did was put in the effort to win every match I played and it went on for weeks, months and years until my defeat to Ross Norman in Toulouse in 1986.
- The pressure began to mount as I kept winning every time and people were anxious to see if I could be beaten. In that World Open final, Ross got me. It was exactly five years and eight months. I was unbeaten for another nine months after that defeat.
Rivalry with Jansher Khan
In 1986, another Pakistani, Jansher Khan appeared on the scene to challenge the domination of Jahangir Khan. Jansher lost the first two matches he faced Jahangir, Pakistan Open in December 1986 and three months latter in the final of the Spanish open. But then in the Hong Kong Open in September 1987 Jansher beat Jahangir with the score of 3/0. Jansher went on to win the next eight matches against previously unbeatable Jahangir. Jahangir suddenly had a new challenge. He later reversed Jansher's winning streak and went on to beat Jansher 11 times in their next 15 meetings. They became known as the two JK's. Both met 37 times in tournament play. Jansher won 19 matches (74 games 1,426 points), and Jahangir 18 matches (79 games, 1,459 points). This record doesn't include exhibition matches and league matches between them.
Awards and service
Jahangir retired from Squash in 1993 after helping Pakistan to win the World Team Championship in Karachi. The Government of Pakistan honored Jahangir with the awards of Pride of Performance and civil award of Hilal-e-Imtiaz for his achievements in Squash. They also awarded him the title Sportsman of the Millennium.
In 1990 he was elected Chairman of the Professional Squash Association and in 1997, Vice-President of the Pakistan Squash Federation. He was elected as Vice-President of the World Squash Federation in November 1998, and in October 2002 was elected WSF President. In 2004, he was again unanimously re-elected as President of the World Squash Federation at the International Federation's 33rd Annual General Meeting in Casa Noyale, Mauritius
See also
- List of squash players
- Jansher Khan
- List of World Open Squash Championship Results
- World Squash Federation
- List of Pakistanis
