Jansher Khan (born 15 June 1969, in Peshawar, Pakistan[1]) is a former World No. 1 professional squash player from Pakistan. During his career he won the World Open a record eight times, and the British Open six times.
Jansher is of Pashtun ethnicity and belongs to Nuwai Kelai, Peshawar.[2] He came from a family of outstanding squash players. His brother Mohibullah Khan was one of the world's leading professional squash players in the 1970s. Another older brother, Atlas Khan, was a highly-rated amateur competitor.Now his other family membes are part of squash league. Some of the names are given below:
Jansher won the World Junior Squash Championship title in 1986. He also turned professional that year. At the time, the men's professional tour was dominated by another great Pakistani player – Jahangir Khan. At the World Open in 1986, Ross Norman finally ended an unbeaten run by Jahangir in tournament play which had lasted five and a half years. But from 1987 onwards, Jansher turned men's squash into a sport which now had two dominant players. Jahangir won the pair's first few encounters in late-1986 and early-1987. Jansher then scored his first win over Jahangir in September 1987, beating him in straight games in the semi-finals of the Hong Kong Open. Jansher then went on to beat Jahangir in their next eight consecutive encounters. This included a win in the semi-finals of the 1987 World Open, following which Jansher claimed his first World Open title by beating Australia's Chris Dittmar in the final. With Jahangir retiring, Jansher came to establish himself as the sole dominant player in the game in the mid-1990s. He won a record total of eight World Open titles, the last being in 1996.
Retirement and after squash
Jansher officially announced his retirement from squash in 2001. He won a total of 99 professional titles and was ranked the World No. 1 for over 10 years. In August 2007, Jansher announced that he was coming out of retirement to play in a Professional Squash Association tournament in London in October 2007. He said in a news conference that the reason for his comeback was that, "I feel I am mentally and physically fit to play the international circuit for another three to four years".[3] He lost in the opening round of the event to England's Scott Handley 11–9, 6–11, 6–11 0–11.[4]In October 2011, It was revealed that Jansher was suffering from Parkinsonism and is currently being treated in Pakistan.[5]
