Book Review: Holding Court

Javed Akhtar | Arab News

Khalid Hussain is a respected name in Pakistan’s sporting circles. He has established his reputation by reporting on hockey, squash and tennis over a decade and a half. And he is currently in England giving readers of The News a blow- by-blow account of the acrimonious and eventful cricket series. Arab News readers will be familiar with his name as he contributes regularly to this paper. Covering squash was part of his beat and Khalid came in close contact with top officials and living legends of the game including Jahangir Khan and Jansher Khan. Having been associated with Pakistan’s domination of squash and having reported on it from the length and breadth of the squash world, Khalid was saddened to see the decline of the country after the retirement of Jansher in 2001. Pakistan finished a lowly 11th out of 24 participants at the World Squash Championships in Melbourne in 2001. Khalid felt there was need to record for posterity the exploits of Pakistanis. The result is “The Golden Rule: Fifty Years of Squash in Pakistan” which traces the rise of Pakistan’s squash and tells us how Nawakilli, a small dusty village on the outskirts of Peshawar became the nucleus of the squash world. When he broached the subject of the book, he was discouraged by all as he admits in the acknowledgement of the book, “Most of my friends discouraged me from involving myself in what they thought was a lost cause. For them squash, after the retirement of Jansher Khan in the summer of 2001, was almost a dead sport in Pakistan. “They felt that nobody cared enough to read about its existence and the details of its progress in our country, where cricket is the only passion,” Khalid writes. Khalid has meticulously researched the book material and has shed light on how, from very humble beginnings, Hashim Khan established his squash dynasty by winning the British Open, the unofficial world championship, at his very first attempt. According to Khalid, after Hashim, Pakistan’s domination was stretched into the 1960s by his younger brother Azam Khan, his nephew Mohibullah Sr. and Roshan Khan. During those golden years, the British Open became the “prized possession of the Pakistanis.” Then came a period when Pakistanis were superseded by others. In 1975, Qamar Zaman restored Pakistani pride by winning the British Open. Zaman was succeeded by arguably the most successful player in squash history. Jahangir Khan, from a family of champions, became a superstar by remaining unbeaten over a mind-boggling five years. During this period, Jahangir won a record 10 consecutive British Open crowns and six World Open titles. Jansher turned out to be a worthy heir, staying world No. 1 for an astonishing record 10 years and during this period getting his name inscribed on the coveted British Open trophy a record eight times. This was another son to make the tiny village of Nawakilli proud. Though its glory days appear to be long past, Pakistan is still a country with an abundance of squash talent. An ambitious junior development program to bring the world laurels home is in full swing, hopefully taking Pakistan to the top of world squash. If the book needed any high profile endorsement, it has been provided by the legendary Jahangir khan, now the president of World Squash Federation. In the foreword of the book, Jahangir writes: “The ‘Golden Rule’ discusses the highs and lows of squash unlike most sports books where to reach the end tends to become a tedious process. I can assure you that this captivating page-turner grabs the interest of even an average reader who is not given in much to sports. Khalid’s unique writing style and the way he knits the tale of squash in Pakistan and its heroes is the beginning of a new trend in writing.” High praise indeed from someone who knows what he is talking about, and well deserved. The book has several historic and memorable photos of the stars, many of them in color. It is worth reading and preserving as a chronicle and record of Pakistan’s glory days in the world of squash.