It’s not often that squash catches everybody’s attention these days, the high-energy sport now struggling to survive because of sponsor apathy, poor publicity and the failure of once-dominant nations to produce new, exciting talent.
But then something tragic happens and the entire world takes notice – like the death of Pakistani great Hashim Khan on Monday. Khan, who was 100 years old, breathed his last in Denver, thus bringing the sport into global spotlight once again.
It was Khan who put Pakistani sport on the world map with seven British Open titles between 1951 and 1958, spawning a virtual assembly line of champions from his country, almost all of them surnamed Khan and coming from a small town called Nawa-e-Kili in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.
Among them were Roshan Khan who broke his cousin Hashim Khan’s British Open domination, Mohibullah Khan, Azam Khan, Roshan Khan and the modern greats Jahangir Khan and Jansher Khan who monopolised the sport in the 80s and 90s.
Thereafter, however, the reservoir of Pakistani talent dried up for some reason leading to a change of guard at the top level with the emergence of players like Jonathon Power of Canada, Peter Nicol of Britain, David Palmer of Australia and Ramy Ashour and Ahmed Barada of Egypt.
So will Hashim Khan’s death act as a catalyst and inspire a whole new generation of Pakistanis to excel in the sport? One certainly hopes so, although the odds of that happening – considering Pakistan’s near-total devotion to cricket – are not very high.
High on expectation
The Qatar Stars League (QSL), the country’s premier football tournament, kicks off today with much expected of the teams.
Starting almost a month ahead of its normal schedule because of a string of international events over the next few months to which Qatar has committed, the QSL will strive to better itself, both in terms of quality as well as its capacity to draw crowds to the stadiums.
Over the years, the tournament has had its share of ups and downs. While some teams like Lekhwiya, Al Sadd, Al Rayyan and Al Gharafa have been able to play at a fairly decent level, others have struggled to stay afloat and had to be content with making up the numbers.
Al Sadd even went on to win the Asian Champions League in 2011, but since then Qatari clubs have had a tough time at the continental level.
Qatar is aware that the league needs to be strengthened because it is hosting the 2022 FIFA World Cup to which the country will automatically qualify. The efforts put in over the next eight years will surely go a long way in ensuring that Qatar puts up a competent team for the world’s greatest sporting gala.
