HIS HAIR was as black as ever, and there was just  a suggestion of extra fat around the middle, but this was Jansher Khan alright, but a Jansher Khan who was ten years older than when he made his last appearance in Britain.

Jansher has the same intensity.(photos:©2007 Fritz Borchert)

Eighty or so die hard squash fans squeezed into the confined seating behind the glass wall in this mainly-tennis club in London. They were there to see a legend in the flesh and the start of his comeback, his first round match of the Anscombe & Ringland London Open. His opponent was  Scott Handley ranked 56 in the world, not a ranking to put the scares into a player who won ten world titles and six British Opens. But a lot changes in ten years and the game has got faster and more explosive and Jansher, who says he has been playing exhibitions in the intervening years, was surely not aware of just how fast the game has become.

Handley was understandably nervous. He was playing a bloody legend, for gawd sakes!

In fact Handley, who grew up playing in his parents squash club, was on a  hiding to nothing. If he lost he would be laughed at for losing to an old man, if he won, well, so what?

The first game gave intimations of a Jansher victory; that lovely movement was still there and  the racket skills  were evident in every stroke he made. But also, sadly, was the Jansher blocking, his laggardly, sluggish movement in clearing a path to the ball for his opponent. At this point I should mention that the refereee was Ian Mackenzie, squash coach, author of squash coaching books, buddy of Ross Norman, squash magazine publisher and editor, who, in his spare time, is a qualified referee. Mackenzie was around in the nineties when referees were loathe to penalize Jansher.

Jansher says he'll continue to train and enter more PSA events, if given wildcards.(photos:©2007 Fritz Borchert.)

The most common scenario back then had Jansher slicing a delicious backhand drop  that stuck to the wall. Peter Nicol, faster than a squirrel on nitro, was blocked from getting to the ball but his appeals fell on deaf ears. The referee had to decide whether the shot was too good or obstruction had taken place. They usually decided in favour of Jansher, much to the anguish of the entire Brit contingent. Some observers claim that Nicol was denied two Open titles because of this quirk of officiating and that when the referees finally stopped defending Jansher, it was game over for  the skinny Pakistani and the start of the Nicol reign.

Handley stuck to his game.(photos:©2007 Fritz Borchert)

But back to the present. Jansher took the first two points  with tight drives; Handley hit a fine forehand cross court with perfect width that left Jansher stranded on the T and then evened the score when awarded a stroke. A nervous Handley hit two balls back at himself to forfeit two strokes and then made up for that hiccup  with a cross slam into the nick and a forehand slam that eluded Jansher. So 4-4 and no clues.

Jansher showed who was boss by cracking the next serve into the nick, but then it was Handley’s turn; another forehand cross court, a beautiful backhand drive to perfect length and then his seventh point came when McKenzie  penalized  Jansher for blocking.  Jansher trook it in his stride and then hit his best streak of the match: a long backhand drop, a perfect volley drop and a lucky nick at the back wall to reach game ball at 10-7. He was looking good and staying with the pace and although Handley took two more points  Jansher closed the game out with a forehand slam and he had the game11-9 after 15 minutes. Jansher did not look tired. In fact Jansher never looks tired, he also hardly sweated, so it was difficult to tell just how well he was holding up.

Handley  was now settled into his rhythm  and in the second game he started to take the ball short with well timed clip boasts. While Jansher looked a little slow, he still maintained an aura of competitiveness coming back from 2-4 to lead 6-4 with the help of some wayward boasts from Handley. But  Handley was now grooved and got the service back with a long backhand drop.  At this point Jansher gave telltales signs that his gas tank was rapidly emptying. He tried to slam the service into the nick and hit tin. This was fatigue beginning to show. Then he was denied a let for lack of effort. This was followed by two strokes against him to put Handley at 9-6. And so folks, that really was the match.  Jansher was not really interested in contesting the last two points and  so the 10-minute game was Handley’s to tie the match.

The third game found Jansher going for shots when he shouldn’t have attempted while Handley stuck to his game of pace and shot mixing, taking Jansher short  whenever he could. Jansher’s efforts decreased  and the game was over in six minutes, 11-6 to Handley.

The final game was a three minute walk-through, 11-0, for Handley as Jansher simply could not find the gas nor desire to contest the rallies. The final shot was backhand drop from Handley which Jansher watched from the back of the court. He walked forward, shook hands and left the court, his comeback off to a decidedly  rocky start.

Hiddy Jahan was in the front row and he was upbeat about the match:

“I think Jansher did well  after all that time away. He won the first game, but you know, I think he lost heart after all those decisions against him,” he told me.  But then Hiddy never liked referees, so for once I was wise enough to not to argue with him.

Back in the changing room Jansher was philosophical:

“I am very happy with the way I played, but three weeks is not enough training. I need two or three months,” he said. Will he continue with his comeback?

“Oh yes. For the next two months I shall be training,” he assured me.

The fact is his very presence has caused tremendous interest in this small, one star tournament. And if promoters are clever, they will give Jansher the wild cards he wants to play in the main draw.  If they want to sell out the first day, always difficult, then Jansher is the man to draw in the crowds – anywhere in the world.

The final word is left for the victor, Scott Handley. When I asked him  how he felt after the match he said:  “Relieved.” 

SERME ADVANCES ON WOMENS SIDE
France's Camille Serme scored a notable upset in the women's WISPA World Tour event when she defeated fourth-seeded South African Tenille Swartz 9-5, 9-2, 9-1.  The 18-year-old European Junior Champion from Creteil now takes on England's Deon Saffery for a place in the semi-finals.

Anscombe & Ringland London Open

RESULTS: Men's 1st round:
[Q] Majid Khan (PAK) bt [1] Bradley Ball (ENG)                            11-7, 11-5, 11-9
[6] Tom Hoevenaars (NED) bt [Q] Tom Pashley (ENG)                   11-3, 11-7, 9-11, 11-3
[3] Scott Handley (ENG) bt Jansher Khan (PAK)                           9-11, 11-6, 11-6, 11-0
[7] Mathieu Castagnet (FRA) bt [Q] Joe Lee (ENG)                       11-10 (6-4), 11-7, 11-2
Jesse Engelbrecht (RSA) bt [8] Mohd Nafiizwan Adnan (MAS)    11-9, 11-9, 11-10 (2-0)
[Q] Ben Ford (ENG) bt [4] Ritwik Bhattacharya (IND)                  9-11, 11-8, 11-9, 11-10 (7-5)
Alex Stait (ENG) bt [5] Khawaja Adil Maqbool (PAK)                    11-7, 11-6, 11-10 (4-2)
John Rooney (IRL) bt [2] Shahid Zaman (PAK)                              11-5, 11-5, 11-6

    Women's 1st round:
[1] Dominique Lloyd-Walter (ENG) bt [Q] Victoria Lust (ENG)       9-4, 9-0, 9-4
[5] Joshna Chinappa (IND) bt [Q] Rachel Willmott (ENG)             9-7, 9-3, 9-4
[3] Sarah Kippax (ENG) bt [Q] Celia Allamargot (FRA)                 9-3, 9-0, 9-1
[7] Carla Khan (PAK) bt Adel Weir (RSA)                                     9-1, 9-0, 9-3
Deon Saffery (ENG) bt Kerri Shields (IRL)                                  4-9, 6-9, 9-2, 9-5, 9-4
Camille Serme (FRA) bt [4] Tenille Swartz (RSA)                         9-5, 9-2, 9-1
[6] Laura Mylotte (IRL) bt Soraya Renai (FRA)                             9-3, 9-5, 9-1
[2] Rebecca Botwright (ENG) bt [Q] Heba El Torky (EGY)            6-9, 9-2, 9-3, 9-0