COAS asks Jansher to groom squash champion

ISLAMABAD: Former world champion Jansher Khan said Chief of Army Staff Gen Qamar Javed Bajwa has given him task to help raise future world champion using all his expertise and experience of decades.

The game’s former legend who visited The News Office in Islamabad Monday evening praised Army Chief acumen and love for sports, saying he was amazed at Gen Bajwa’s knowledge, interest and passion for sports promotion. “I have been directed by the Army Chief to take all possible steps and measures to help raise future squash champion to keep alive country’s traditions in the world of squash. He promised all out support and backing which I need to groom future champion,” Jansher told this correspondent.

The former champion said he was amazed to see the vast knowledge the COAS possesses on sports and said the meeting with him revolved around the sports promotion in country.

“I told him the reasons which I think are behind our failure in producing future world champion. It was in 1986 that I won my world junior title and since then the country is struggling to produce even junior world champion. The reason is very simple, even the best of players today in Pakistan are looking for short cuts. There is no shortcut recipe to become champion rather than it is an outcome of pure hard work and share passion to achieve the goal.”

Counting on his success he said he used to train for almost ten hours daily and knew well even at that time he cannot beat the likes of great Jahangir Khan unless and until putting in hard and extra training.

Recalling his first win over the former champion, Jansher said he announced in the middle of his teen that he was going to beat Jahangir Khan in six months time.

“For a young lad, who was new on the blog, it was a big announcement that even offended great Jahangir and he complained that I should not have made any lofty claims at this point of time. Eight months after this announcement in 1987 in Hong Kong Open I succeeded in beating Jahangir Khan to the surprise of squash world. And that was not a fluke as back home in Karachi I also repeated that feat beating the former champion in Pakistan Open final following a five-game thriller, even after surviving a match point in the third game. Once I took the third game, I never looked behind and went on beat great Jahangir 9-0 in the fifth game. No one even has thought of beating Jahangir with such a margin at that time.”

Jansher admitted his rise at international circuit was instrumental in the early retirement of Jahangir. “Jahangir could have played five more years had I been not there at the circuit. I made him exert even harder which took its toil and he started having backache which resulted in his leaving the game.” The former champion said that there were no short cuts to glory. “I always trained extra hard. Putting in more than ten hour of hard work made me ready for international circuit even at the start of my teen. In today’s Pakistan no squash player wants to give more than two to three hours daily to his game and that is the reason for their failure to raise their standard. I used to get up at 4 and 5am to start my training and used to go to bed early. That is not the case with professional squash players in the country today.”

Jansher promised to work on grooming talent.” What I require is to spot a talent first and if he has the ability to work harder, I am ready and train, coach and guide him”.