JAHANGIR KHAN REVISITED
By Adil Ahmad
(former chairman Karachi Squash Association,
and chef-de-mission and manager of the
1981 Pakistan Squash Team – Jahangir Khan, Qamar Zaman, Maqsood Ahmed and
Daulat Khan – that won the World Team Championships in Stockholm (Sweden) beating Australia
in the final).
Few men have raised the profile of their country in the
world the way that Jahangir has. He is perhaps the only good remembrance that
we have from the Zia-ul-Haq era, and even there many would disagree. What good
was it conquering the world of a squishy black rubber ball when the country
itself was going broke? But skeptics aside, the emergence of Jahangir on the
world stage threw Pakistan
a lifeline at a time when the Pakistani people were tottering on the verge of
terminal depression. A popularly elected leader had been strung up in
unceremonious fashion by jackboots that had managed to lose half the country
not so long ago. In a way Jahangir embodied the indomitable spirit of the
Pakistani people, specially the noble and warlike Pathans who were taking the
battle to the Soviets in Afghanistan .
Wherever in the world Jahangir went he received far more than the accolade
reserved for a world champion.
During his career Jahangir won the World Open six times and
the British Open
a record ten times. Between 1981 and 1986 he was unbeaten in competitive play
for five years. During that time he won 555 matches consecutively. This was not
only the longest winning
streak in squash history, but also one of the longest unbeaten runs
by any athlete in top-level professional sports. Jahangir retired as a player
in 1993, and then went on to serve as President of the World Squash
Federation between 2002 and 2008.
Today Jahangir spends his time monitoring his many investments
worldwide which in Pakistan
include a textile unit and sports complex. The recession has dried up
sponsorships for the sports complex which is under construction at the site of
the fabled PIA Squash Complex on Karachi ’s
Kashmir Road
that PIA, under the fallible wisdom of its past chairman Air Marshal Daudpota,
renamed the Jahangir Khan Squash Complex in acknowledgement of his many
conquests. Subsequently PIA gifted Jahangir the property to do with what he
pleased.
There are many who feel, and rightly so, that PIA should
have laid the foundations of a brand new squash complex to honour Jahangir’s
achievement. The PIA Squash Complex held historical importance as the world’s
first purpose built squash facility, constructed under the personal supervision
of the legendary Air Marshal Nur Khan who would often visit the site in the
middle of the night to ensure that the contractors were on their toes.
Having
said that, if there was anyone who had earned the stripes to tamper with squash
history, it was Jahangir Khan. Had he decided to demolish the facility and
shift upon the site his textile unit, I am sure the world would have accepted
his decision, and applauded him for it, for at least in the eyes of the squash
playing world Jahangir can do no wrong.
Born on December 10th,
1963 in Karachi, Jehangir Khan is considered by many to
be the greatest player in the history of the game. He is the worthy recipient
of the Hilal-e-Imtiaz (Crescent of
Excellence), the second highest honor given by the Government of
Pakistan to both the military
and civilians. It is awarded
for distinguished merit in the fields of literature, arts, sports, medicine, or science for civilians.
Jahangir was coached initially by his father, Roshan Khan, the 1957
British Open champion, but more out of paternal love than any real hope of
Jahangir making the grade since Jahangir had a medical condition that doctors
said would not permit the stress and strain of a professional squash player’s
career. But a couple of hernia operations later the family was hard pressed to
keep Jahangir away from the squash courts.
In 1979 the Pakistani selectors did not consider Jahangir for
the team that would play in the world championships in Australia, judging him too
physically weak. But there were those who had seen the young lad train under
cousin Rahmat, and knew differently. Jahangir was privately entered in the
World Amateur Individual Championship and, at the age of 15, became the
youngest-ever winner of that event, making squash officialdom eat crow, an
acquired taste that it has developed a substantial appetite for over the years.
In November 1979 tragedy struck and Jahangir's older brother
Torsam Khan, one of the
leading players on the international squash circuit in the 1970s, died unexpectedly
of a heart attack
during a tournament match in Australia .
Torsam's death affected Jahangir profoundly, and some say that it provided him
with the emotional impetus that propelled him into the realms of the extraordinary.
He considered quitting the game, but decided to pursue a career in the sport as
a tribute to his brother.
In 1981, when he was 17, Jahangir became the youngest winner
of the World Open, beating Australia 's
Geoff Hunt, the game's dominant
player in the late1970s, in the final. 7/9, 9/1, 9/2, 9/2. It was an epic,
energy sapping final that physically and emotionally devastated a man on the
brink of being hailed as the greatest squash player the world had ever known,
on the verge of relegating Hashim Khan to number two. Geoff Hunt, however, had
managed to pull off a victory against Jahangir in the final of the British Open
that year, 9-2, 9-7, 5-9, 9-7. But the effort involved was too great and
heralded the end of an incredible Aussie era.
That tournament marked the start of an unbeaten run which
lasted for five years. The hallmark of Jahangir’s play was his incredible
fitness and stamina, which he owed in great measure to the punishing training
and conditioning regime put in place by Rehmat Khan. Jahangir was by far the
fittest player in the game, and would wage a battle of attrition, wearing his
opponents down through long rallies played at a furious pace.
The “Who’s Who”
of world squash fell at his feet, demolished by a force too powerful to resist.
Geoff Hunt, Dean Williams, Chris Dittmar, Qamar Zaman, Ross Norman, and Jansher
Khan were his opponents in the six World Opens that he won in 1981, ’82, ’83,
’84, ’85, and ’88. None of these matches went to five games, often
characterized by an embarrassing one-sidedness. In 1986, ’91, and ’93 Jahangir
made the World Open final, but went down to Ross Norman (9-5, 9-7, 7-9, 9-1),
Rodney Martin (14-17, 15-9, 15-4, 15-13), and Jansher Khan (14-15, 15-9, 15-5,
15-5) in encounters that were vicious but poetry in motion nevertheless.
His ten British Open wins came against Hiddy Jehan (1982),
Gamal Awad (1983), Qamar Zaman (1984), Chris Dittmar (1985), Ross Norman (1986),
Jansher Khan (1987), Rodney Martin (who met him thrice in 1988, ’89, and ’90),
and Jansher Khan (1991). Of these ten title wins, the score-line suggests that
the Aussie Rodney Martin proved his most combative opponent, taking him to five
games in 1989 (9-2, 3-9, 9-5, 0-9, 9-2). The year before that, in 1988, Rodney
had taken Jahangir to four games (9-2, 9-10, 9-0, 9-1). In his last British
Open win in 1991 Jansher took him to four games as well 2-9, 9-4, 9-4, 9-0. All
the others were straight sets that ended in embarrassingly short durations. The
only time he was a runner-up in the British Open was in 1981 when he lost to
Geoff Hunt in four games 9-2, 9-7, 5-9, 9-7.
Jahangir’s unbeaten run of five years and eight months, and
555 matches, finally came to end in the final of the World Open in 1986 in Toulouse, France, when Jahangir went
down to New Zealand's
Ross Norman. The squash
grapevine was abuzz with all manner of speculation. Some said that Jahangir had
sprained an ankle while playing the Malaysian Open, and his playing the World
Open soon after was a tactical error on the part of his managers. But there
were more ominous rumours afoot.
Jahangir’s complete sway over the game was
driving sponsors away by making the outcome so predictable. He had been under
pressure to loosen his grip. Jahangir’s own response was pretty matter of fact.
"It wasn't my plan to create such a record,” he said. “All I did was put
in the effort to win every match I played and it went on for weeks, months and
years. 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. I
was unbeaten for another nine months after that defeat."
With his dominance over the international squash game in the
first half of the 1980s secure, Jahangir decided to test his ability on the
North American hardball
squash circuit in 1983, making the hike across the Pond until 1986.
Jahangir played in 13 top-level hardball tournaments during this period,
winning 12 of them. He faced the leading American player on the circuit at the
time, Mark Talbott,
on 11 occasions, all in tournament finals, and won 10 of their encounters.
With his domination of both the softball and hardball
versions of the game, Jahangir truly cemented his reputation as the world's
greatest squash player. At the end of 1986 another Pakistani squash player, Jansher Khan, hailing from
the same village
of Nuakilli
Jahangir ended Jansher's winning streak in March 1988, and
went on to win 11 of their next 15 encounters. The pair met in the 1988 World
Open final, with Jahangir emerging the victor. The two JKs would continue to
dominate the game for the rest of the decade. Jansher and Jahangir met a total
of 37 times in tournament play. Jansher won 19 matches, and Jahangir 18
matches. Jahangir did not win the World Open again after 1988, but he continued
a stranglehold over the British Open title.
The secret to Jahangir’s success lay in his superlative
mental and physical prowess. Jahangir revealed that he never had any fixed
training regime particularly designed for him, nor had he any specially
formulated diet. He would eat anything hygienic but, never miss his two glasses
of milk every day. For his training, he would often start his day with a 9 mile
jog which he would complete at a moderate pace, followed by short bursts of
timed sprints.
Later he would weight train in the gym, and finally cool down in
the swimming pool. This routine he would follow five days a week. On the 6th
day he would match practice, and rest on the 7th day. Jahangir would run on
every surface, from custom-built tracks to asphalt roads, grassy farm fields and
seashores in ankle high sand and knee deep waters. High altitude training under
low oxygen conditions was an integral part of his physical conditioning
conducted in the upper reaches of the Karakorum
mountain range in Pakistan .
All in all it made Jahangir one of the most physically and mentally fit
athletes in the world.
Jahangir retired as a player in 1993 after helping Pakistan win
the World Team
Championship in Karachi .
The Government of Pakistan honored Jahangir with the awards of Pride of
Performance and Hilal-e-Imtiaz,
as well as the title of Sportsman of the Millennium. Time Magazine has named
Jahangir as one of Asia 's Heroes in the last 60
years. He was conferred with a Honorary Doctorate of Philosophy by London
Metropolitan University for his contributions to the sport. Jahangir
is listed in the Guinness Book
of World Records as having the most world championship squash
titles.
In 1990, Jahangir 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.
There are many who feel that Jahangir could have been better
utilized in his post retirement period, and that the Government of Pakistan has
not leveraged the phenomenal goodwill that he, and others of his ilk who
populated the sports department of PIA, had accumulated during the course of
their incredible careers. “They should have been formally accredited as
Pakistan’s roving ambassadors showing the country’s flag in the four corners of
the world, something they were well accustomed to doing,” says a human resource
development analyst, who laments the manner in which Jahangir, Jansher, Zaheer
Abbas and others were summarily dismissed from PIA. “Instead, they were belittled
and cast aside, and left to their own devices. Had Jahangir been retrained to
function as a formal diplomat, and posted to the United Nations perhaps, with a
strong and competent team, we could have long resolved the problems of Kashmir and Palestine .
Instead, Jahangir was allowed to waste his time at the World Squash Federation
lobbying for the inclusion of squash in the Olympic movement, a pipe dream that
will never come true.”
Jahangir currently lives in Karachi , with his wife, Rubina, and their two
children, Omar and Marium. In his book ‘In the Line
of Fire: A Memoir’ the former president of Pakistan Pervez Musharraf makes a
telling comparison. "If Hollywood only knew his story of tragedy, grit and
determination it would make another movie like Chariots of Fire.
Many of those who know him consider him the best athlete who ever lived."
The question is, why would the West make a movie that extols the exploits of
the East?
Great writeup
ReplyDelete