SquashTalk > Pakistan Squash > Khans Family Genealogy Part IV
Squash in Pakistan
Contents
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Pakistan Open History
Pakistan Open 02
Incredible Khans
Part I
Part II
Part III
Part IV
Khan Family
Part I
Part II
Part III
Part IV
British Open 02
Pak Open 02
YMG 2001
Qatar Classic 2001
Cathay Pacific 2001
British Open 2001
The Khan Family, A Squash Dynasty
by Rob Dinerman. © September2001
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may not be reproduced without express permission of SquashTalk
Photos: Martin Bronstein (top two), NSRB (third photo), Reuters (bottom),
all © 2001
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| Jahangir in Malaysia this summer -- an observer |
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| Jahangir in Italy last summer -- coaching |
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| Jansher's last gasp -- a valiant attempted comeback in Maastricht (vs Power) after knee woes. |
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| JMansoor Zaman (left) -- shows promise |
PART IV: Towards the Future [Part I ] [Part II] [Part III]
Although Jahangir finally relinquished his ten-year British Open grip to Jansher Khan (also a Khan and from Nawakille, though not related to the family we have been discussing), it was due to a back injury that required his withdrawal rather than an on-court defeat, though by this time the extraordinary conditioning effort expended by the last and greatest of the Khan family standard-bearers had made him increasingly vulnerable to this kind of attritional condition.
By this early 1990's juncture, the remarkable warriors of this extended clan had between them won a total of 23 British Opens, 11 Canadian Opens, 22 North American Opens and 19 WPSA Championships. Through several family generations and extending over nearly half a century, they had banded together, passed the mantle with exquisite timing and produced a run of major championships that, barring an absolute miracle, will never even be approached, much less equalled.
Unfortunately, by this time as well, the next generation, almost all of whom had been born in America, had become so Americanized that the squash grind that their forbears had embraced so passionately did not seem nearly as appealing to them.
Mo's oldest son, Sakhi, did manage to win the '96 WPSA Teaching Pro event, and became the pro at the Cambridge Racquet Club near MIT (setting up a website, Khansquash.com, that sells a racquet line with the family name), but throughout the past decade no one has really arisen to carry on the family tradition in PSA competition.
Similarly Pakistan as a whole, no doubt spoiled by the success enjoyed by Jahangir and later by Jansher Khan (whose total of six British Opens and nine World titles nearly matches Jahangir's tallies of 10 and 6 respectively), completely abdicated their long-standing commitment to encourage junior development, with the almost unbelievable result that, once Jansher's run ended in the late 1990's, there wasn't a single Pakistani ranked in the top 50 of the PSA standings!
Jahangir, who had seen this situation looming and been uncharacteristically critical of the Pakistani squash federation as it became imminent, was recently named Sports Minister in an attempt to right matters and develop some world-class talent. His efforts in this regard have already borne recent fruit with the good progress in the 2001 Qatar Open of Shahid Zaman (son of the great Pakistani shotmaker Qamar), who defeated World #6 Australian star Paul Price in the first round, and his run in the 2001 World Challenge in Melbourne
Zaman's younger brother Mansoor is also starting to emerge as a notable talent, as is Azam's grand-daughter Carla Khan, 22, whose ranking is starting to rise on the WISPA women's professional tour, which Moslem women had been discouraged from competing on until recently. These recent developments are an encouraging sign, but nothing that happens henceforth will be able to emulate the family run begun by Hashim in the late 1940's and extending all the way through the ending of Jahangir's playing reign in the early 1990's. Bonded by the gritty roots of their Pathan past, that Khan dynasty prospered and perpetuated itself with a degree of excellence and continuity that deserve to be admiringly remembered as one of the most extraordinary extended achievements in the history of professional sports.
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