9-7, 9-1, 9-0: Killing em’ softly feat. Jahangir Khan!

Jahangir Khan of Pakistan in action during the British Open Squash Championships at Wembley Arena on 20th April 1986. (Photo by Bob Thomas/Getty Images)

Such breath-taking pyrotechnics were conceived on the back of a rigorous training regimen. Jahangir pushed himself to the absolute outer limit of his abilities day after day. He would begin with a 9-mile jog, followed by endless court sprints and then sweating it out at the gym. Cross terrain running, encompassing customised surfaces, asphalt, and water, sand, hay, grass et al, interspersed with high-altitude training, completed him as an athlete and as a player.

It is said of Jahangir that the death of his brother clobbered into him the desire to win and win like no one before. He was silent and attentive as a child and lived the life of a Spartan; focused single-mindedly on the job at hand. Such steely resolve was rare, even alarming, for its sheer intensity.

Come 1986 and Ross Norman, a New Zealander, and Jahangir met his first bugbear. The 555-match unbeaten streak was stopped in its tracks after a loss to Norman. His loss made unprecedented headlines across sports bulletins around the world. He had shown, finally, that he was a human and could be beaten. The endless wins had stopped, but he still kept winning more often than not, even though new players emerged.

Jansher Khan proved to be a nemesis for Jahangir and their head-to-head record is a near dead heat. Jahangir signed off his glittering career shepherding Pakistan to a World Team Championship triumph in 1993, just before retiring that very year.

In the spring of 1985, Jahangir completed a “double” of squash titles involving a transcontinental expedition. This pursuit must rank as one of the most ambitious ones attempted in the annals of squash.

Less than 24 hours after trouncing Chris Dittmar in the final of the British Open, Jahangir checked-in at Manhattan for his first-round North American Open match. In the constricted time frame that he got, he travelled across the entire Atlantic to put himself to the test yet again.

In that six-day gruelling period, Jahangir won both tournaments against all odds, battling not just his highly fancied opponents but also fatigue, jet lag and adjustment problems so inherent in such a swift switch between these highly contrasting environs.

With such an encumbering array of achievements Jahangir surprisingly has no airs about him. The legend has been globetrotting for a long time, promoting the game wherever he goes. His modest persona makes him a “people’s champion”. He was bestowed with the prestigious ‘Sportsman of the Millennium’ award by the government of Pakistan. As the present President of the World Squash Federation, Jahangir is busy trying to get squash listed as an Olympic sport.

In a telling show of emotion, Jahangir remarked once that he would gladly trade all his wins for ensuring an Olympic berth for squash! And then he gave an endearing parting shot about how it is imperative to leave the game better than one found it. He had won hearts again, oh so softly!