Roshan Khan (

Pashto Pashto ( , ; , ) is an eastern Iranian language in the Indo-European language family, natively spoken in northwestern Pakistan and southern and eastern Afghanistan. It has official status in Afghanistan and the Pakistani province of Khyb ...

/ ; 26 November 1929 – 6 January 2006) was a squash player from Nawakille,

Peshawar Peshawar is the capital and List of cities in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa by population, largest city of the Administrative units of Pakistan, Pakistani province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. It is the sixth most populous city of Pakistan, with a district p ...

Pakistan Pakistan, officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of over 241.5 million, having the Islam by country# ...

. He was one of the leading players in the game in the early 1960s, and won the British Open title in 1957.Profile of Roshan Khan on Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government website
Retrieved 16 July 2019 His son Jahangir Khan became the world's leading squash player in the 1980s and has been recognized as the greatest squash player of all time.

Career

In 1949, Roshan finished runner-up to Hashim at the inaugural Pakistan Open. He went on to win that title three consecutive times between 1951 and 1953. In 1956, Roshan faced Hashim in the final of the British Open (which was considered to be the effective world championship of the sport at the time), with Hashim winning 9–4, 9–2, 5–9, 9–5. In 1957, the following year the pair met again in the British Open final, and this time Roshan won 6–9, 9–5, 9–2, 9–1 to end Hashim's six-year reign as champion. Roshan made a third British Open final appearance in 1960, when he lost to Azam 9–1, 9–0, 9–0. Roshan also won the US Open three times and the Canadian Open twice. Hailing from Pashtun family from Nawekalli,

, Roshan had three sons – Torsam Khan, Hassan Khan and Jahangir Khan – both Torsam and Jahangir were groomed by Roshan to become top international squash players.Profile of Roshan Khan on the-south-asian.com website
Published November 2001, Retrieved 16 July 2019 Torsam reached a career-high ranking on World No. 13 in 1979, when he died of a

heart attack A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when Ischemia, blood flow decreases or stops in one of the coronary arteries of the heart, causing infarction (tissue death) to the heart muscle. The most common symptom ...

while playing a tournament match in

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

at the age of 27. In the wake of Torsam's death, Jahangir considered quitting the game, but instead decided to pursue a career in the sport as a tribute to his brother. He went on to achieve unprecedented heights within the game – capturing ten British Open titles, six World Open titles, and enjoying a five-year unbeaten run which stretched to over 500 matches. He was the brother of Nasrullah Khan and uncle of Rehmat Khan. Roshan was the second cousin of the two other leading Pakistani players of his time – the brothers Hashim Khan and Azam Khan. He was also connected to them by marriage – Roshan's brother-in-law was married to the sister of Hashim and Azam's.

Awards and recognition

Pride of Performance The Pride of Performance (), officially known as the Presidential Pride of Performance, is an award bestowed by the Pakistan, Islamic Republic of Pakistan to recognize people with "notable achievements in the field of art, science, literature, sp ...

Award by the President of Pakistan in 1960.Roshan Khan's award info on Pakistan Sports Board website
Retrieved 21 July 2020

Death

Roshan Khan died on 6 January 2006 in

Karachi Karachi is the capital city of the Administrative units of Pakistan, province of Sindh, Pakistan. It is the List of cities in Pakistan by population, largest city in Pakistan and 12th List of largest cities, largest in the world, with a popul ...

British Open final appearances

References

External links

Pakistan Squash – The Khan Supremacy Part III
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Khan, Roshan Pakistani male squash players Pashtun squash players 1929 births 2006 deaths Recipients of the Pride of Performance Khan family (squash) 20th-century Pakistani sportsmen