Article completion date: July 2006
Jahangir Khan's Unbeaten Run
British Open final, March 1981 (Bromley) - Geoff Hunt (Aus) bt Jahangir Khan (Pak) 9-2, 9-7, 5-9, 9-7
World Open Final, 11 Nov 1986 (Toulouse) - Ross Norman (NZ) bt Jahangir Khan (Pak) 9-5, 9-7, 7-9, 9-1
And in between those matches, for five and a half years, Jahangir Khan didn't lose a single squash match. He won 555 consecutive matches (774 according to some sources). This included five straight British Open titles and five straight World Open titles. This is the first entry in my Sports section because this is phenomenal; and as far as I can see, unprecedented in any sport - the closest contender being, perhaps, Ed Moses who won 122 straight 400m hurdles races over almost ten years. Let's assume Jahangir won 555 straight matches. This is 100 matches per year, which roughly equates to 20 tournaments if you get to the final in each one. So each year, he entered 20 tournaments and won them all - for five and a half years. If someone like Roger Federer (2005) or John McEnroe (1984) only loses three tennis matches in a year they are feted as one of the best players ever - so to not lose at all for five and a half years seems unbelievable. Ross Norman's victory made worldwide headlines, so predictable was a Jahangir victory. Here are a few facts about Jahangir Khan, the unbeaten run, and squash in the Jahangir Khan period.
- Jahangir was 17 at the start of the run and 22 when it finished. He spoke later of the mounting pressure he felt each time he went on court to defend the record.
- Ross Norman was the world number two at the time of his win and had lost something like 30 times to Jahangir - including the 1985 World Open final and the 1986 British Open final. He had been in pursuit of Jahangir for a while and had claimed "One day Jahangir will be slightly off his game and I will get him." He was ranked number two throughout 1986 and 1987 before Jansher Khan emerged. He retired in 1994, largely staying in the top ten until then.
- After the defeat Jahangir went unbeaten for another nine months, including victory over Ross Norman a few weeks after the defeat.
- Jahangir was finally matched in world squash soon after Jansher Khan emerged in 1986. Jahangir won the first three matches against Jansher, but was beaten by Jansher in September 1987. Jansher then beat Jahangir in their next seven matches (to make eight consecutive wins), but Jahangir turned it around to win 11 of their next 15 matches. The rivalry largely dominated the sport until the early '90s. They played 37 times, Jansher winning 19 times and Jahangir 18.
- After the unbeaten run finished, Jahangir won one more World Open (in 1988, beating Jansher in the final) and reached two more finals (in 1991 and 1993). He continued to dominate the British Open, winning the next five for a total of ten straight titles from 1982 - 1991. His overall total was six World Opens and ten British Opens, and, of course, numerous other titles. Jansher ended up with eight World Open titles and six British Opens (he won the next six British Opens after Jahangir's dominance was ended, from 1992-1997).
- Apart from Ross Norman's 1986 World Open victory, Rodney Martin of Australia was the only person to break the Jahangir/Jansher dominance of the World Open and British Open between 1981 and 1996 - winning the 1991 World Open title (beating both Jahangir and Jansher in the tournament). The duopoly was otherwise ended when Rodney Eyles (Australia) won the World Open in 1997 and Peter Nicol (UK) won the British Open in 1998, but no player has dominated these events in anything like the same way since.
- The world number one ranking was obviously dominated by Jahangir and Jansher from 1982 to 1997 - Jansher took over in 1988 and the number one and two rankings swapped between them after that, until Jahangir's retirement.
- Jahangir also raided the North American hardball squash circuit between 1983 and 1986. He played 13 tournaments, winning 12. He played the leading American player, Mark Talbott, in 11 finals - beating him 10 times. His loss was in the final of the 1984 Boston Open, 18-16 in the fifth game. Hardball squash is the American version of the game, played with a harder, faster ball, on a smaller court. It is much less played now (except the doubles version) as most Americans have switched to playing the international version. Mark Talbott is cited as one of the greatest hardcourt players (he was hardball squash world number one from 1983 - 1995). It seems almost arrogant that Jahangir just wandered over to the US about three or four times a year to win one of the top tournaments and beat one of their greatest ever players.
- Jahangir's squash style was built on incredible fitness and stamina, backed by a gruelling training program, which he used to grind all his opponents down with long, hard-hitting rallies. His initial motivation and drive came from the death of his elder brother, Torsam Khan, from a heart attack in a squash tournament in 1979, aged 27. Torsam Khan was a top player (ranked world number 13 in 1979). In fact, the Khan family formed a squash dynasty, with a number of world ranking members. Jahangir was initially coached by his father, Roshan Khan (who was British Open champion in 1957), and then by his cousin Rehmat Khan (ranked at world number 12 at his best).
- Jahangir retired in 1993, after helping Pakistan win the World Team Championship in Karachi. [The World Team Championship is held every two years and has three men in each team, with group matches followed by quarter finals, semi finals and final. Not surprisingly Pakistan won it in 1981, 1983, 1985 and 1987, although Australia won it in 1989 and 1991. Pakistan hasn't won it since 1993.] Jahangir has remained active in world squash and is currently President of the World Squash Federation. Jansher retired in 2001.
- For more information and further links, see the Wikipedia page, Wikipedia page on Jahangir Khan. World Open results are here and British Open results here. The Professional Squash Association (PSA) rankings and historical rankings (back to 1984) can be obtained by clicking on Rankings on the left hand side of the PSA site.