Jahangir Khan

Early life

Jahangir Khan was born 10 December 1963 in Karachi to a family from Peshawar. His father Roshan Khan was a squash champion and winner of the British Open in 1957.

His father was a squash professional at Fleet Club of the Pakistan Navy. His elder brothers Torsam and Hassan were both budding squash players.

Jahangir was born with a double hernia and advised to refrain from physical exercise. He underwent his first hernia operation aged five. He received a squash racket with a shortened shaft from his father on his eighth birthday which he used to practice his grip.

When Jahangir turned ten, Roshan started taking him to the Fleet Club for a weekly playing session where he started practicing. At the age of twelve, Jahangir underwent a successful second hernia operation, and soon after his father started training him.

Early Career

In November 1978, Jahangir Khan became the Pakistan National Junior Champion at the age of just fourteen after defeating the title holder Ramshaid Gul in the final in Peshawar.

A few months later. he ousted the top seed Muhammad Saleem at the National Open Squash Championship in Karachi, before bowing out to Maqsood Ahmed in the quarter finals.

Jahangir was chosen to tour Scandinavian countries with the National Juniors team. He visited his brother Torsam and cousin Rahmat in London and stayed there to improve his squash skills.

In April 1979, Jahangir participated in the British Junior Open Championship where he reached the final but lost to Australia’s Glen Brumby.

In October 1979, Pakistan selectors decided not to select Jahangir Khan for the qualifying round for the World Amateur Championship in Melbourne. Fortunately, Jahangir was drafted after replacing a player who withdrew from the tournament and progressed through the qualifying rounds.

He steadily made his way through the early rounds and straight games victories in the quarter and semifinals over John Leslie of England and Frank Donnelly of Australia to reach the final.

Jahangir defeated Phil Kenyon of Great Britain 2-9, 9-2, 9-2 and 9-5 to secure an unexpected victory. He became the world amateur champion at the young age of fifteen and the youngest ever to achieve this distinction.

In November 1979, tragedy struck when Torsam Khan died suddenly of a heart attack during the Australian Open match in Adelaide.

Torsam’s death profoundly affected Jahangir who contemplated quitting but decided to pursue a career in the sport as a tribute to his brother. He started training vigorously under his cousin Rehmat before joining the professional circuit.

Professional Career

In 1980, Jahangir turned professional aged 16 and reached the final of the Irish Open where he was beaten by Jonah Barrington.

He entered the World Open being played in Adelaide on the courts where his brother died the previous year. He faced Pakistan’s number one Qamar Zaman in the quarter-final and bowed out after a five-set game.

Jahangir followed up by winning the New Zealand Open, before facing Qamar again on home ground in the final of the PIA Masters in Karachi. Jahangir next won the British Under-23 Open and followed it by lifting the Belgian Open.

He defeated reigning world champion and legend Geoff Hunt in the Canada Club Open held in Munich. Hunt overcame Jahangir in straight sets just ten days later in the 1981 ISPA Smirnoff Masters in Northern Ireland.

Jahangir’s third encounter with Hunt was in the final of the Patrick Chichester Festival final. Jahangir won the match which lasted a record 2 hours and 11 minutes.

British Open

At the 1981 British Open in Bromley, Jahangir secured wins over Sherren of Zimbabwe, Sohail Qaisar from Pakistan, Australian Dean Williams and two Pakistani compatriots Hiddy Jahan and Qamar Zaman.

Jahangir reached the final where he faced Hunt who won the tournament. The match lasted 2 hours and 14 minutes, surpassing the record set at Chichester.

Jahangir won the Welsh Open where he won against Hiddy Jahan. This was the last time he would face five sets and the win was also the start of his unprecedented unbeaten run.

He next won the Asian Masters in Karachi beating Qamar Zaman in straight games, German Open, winning 3-1 against Hunt, and the World Masters in Newcastle against Zaman.

At the 1981 World Cup in Toronto, Jahangir once again met Hunt in the final. Jahangir had hurt his shoulder during the semis but still decided to play the final which coincided with the second anniversary of Torsam’s death.

Hunt prevailed in the opening round 9-7 which lasted 50 minutes. Jahangir sailed through the next three games 9-1, 9-2, 9-2 and become the new World Champion at the age of 17, the youngest ever in the history of the sport.

Unbeaten run

Over the next five years and eight months, Jahangir reigned supreme in the squash world defeating all opponents and winning every tournament.

His has the record of winning the World Championship without dropping a game, and playing the longest squash match in history, when he beat Gamal Awad of Egypt in 2 hours and 46 minutes in the Chichester Festival tournament in 1983.

His streak, considered the longest in the history of any sport, was finally ended by New Zealand’s Ross Norman in the World Open in Toulouse, France, in November 1986.

A new rising star from Pakistan, Jansher Khan prevailed after Jahangir and won the World Championship in 1987. Jahangir regained his title the following year but it would be his last world crown.

He continued his winning run at the British Open into the nineties, finally retiring from squash in 1993, after losing in the World Open final to Jansher.

His tournament victories included 6 World Open titles, 10 consecutive British Open crowns, 13 Pakistan Opens and leading Pakistan to the World Team Championship title on five occasions.

Awards and Activities

He also played the hardball American version of the game, winning the US title thrice. He was ranked as the number one player in the world for 94 months, including 72 in succession.

In 1990 he was elected Chairman of the Professional Squash Association. Later, he served as the President of the World Squash Federation from 2002-2008 and has subsequently been its President Emeritus since 2008.

In 1984, Jahangir Khan was featured on postage stamp issued by the Government of Pakistan. In 1999, he received Sport and Youth Award by  the French Government.

In 2005, Time Magazine named Jehangir Khan as one of Asia’s Heroes in the last 60 years. In 2017, he was featured on a Government of Japan issued commemorative stamp. In 2018, he received the 8th Asian Award for Outstanding Achievement in Sports.

In 2018, Jehangir Khan became global President of Shahid Afridi Foundation (SAF) in a ceremony held at Japan.  He currently lives in Karachi, Pakistan with his wife Ghazala (m. 1999) and three children.

Government of Pakistan honoured Jahangir Khan with Pride of Performance and Hilal-e-Imtiaz for his achievements in squash.

World Open (6 wins, 3 runner-ups)

 British Open (10 wins, 1 runner-up)

World Championships