PESHAWAR: In spite of the passing of 25 years of Jansher Khan, his record has not been broken till date in the squash field around the World, President of Pakistan Dr. Arif Alvi awarded Jansher Khan with Nishan e Imtiaz on Thursday. With this award, legendary Jansher Khan is the first Pakistani player to win four major national honours Including Presidential Pride of Performance in (1986), Sitara-e-Imtiaz in (1994), Hilal-e-Imtiaz in (1998) and Nishan-e-Imtiaz (2023). Another squash legend Jahangir Khan, a strong Jansher Khan rival, has the honor of three honors -in which the government of Pakistan awarded him President Pride of Performance, Hilal-e-Imtiaz and Nishan-e-Imtiaz.
When contacted , Jansher Khan thanked Prime Minister Mian Muhammad Shahbaz Sharif, Defense Minister Khawaja Muhammad Asif, Governor Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Haji Ghulam Ali for being nominated for the Nishan-e-Imtiaz Award for his services to the country and the nation. He said PML (N) has always played a special role and taken personal interest in sports and especially squash. Jansher Khan further said that when he was the world champion and whenever he came to win a tournament, even in the 90s. Mian Muhammad Nawaz Sharif and Mian Muhammad Shahbaz Sharif used to encourage me in every way by organizing special events in Lahore. “I hope that Mian Muhammad Nawaz Sharif, Mian Muhammad Shahbaz Sharif, Defense Minister Khawaja Muhammad Asif and Governor Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Haji Ghulam Ali would continue to play their special role for squash so that we can regain our dignity in the world of squash again,” a jubilant Jansher Khan said.
It is worth to mention here that during his career, Jansher Khan won PSA Professional 293 matches out of total 331, PSA Professional Tour Finals 99 out of 118 and from 1993 until 1996 in 81 matches Jansher was unbeaten for four years, his longest winning matches streak in top-level professional sports as recorded by Guinness World Records.
Born on Jun 15, 1969 in Nawa Kali, Peshawar, Jansher Khan of Pakistan is a former World No. 1 professional Pakistani squash player. During his career, he won the World Open a record eight times, and the British Open six times.
Jansher Khan is widely regarded as one of the greatest squash players of all time. Ranked number 1 in the World from January 1988 till January 1998, (513 weeks) (118 months) (9.8 Years). Jansher Khan’s retirement in 2001 brought an end to nearly 50 years of domination by Pakistan in the sport of squash. He was troubled by back, knee and groin injuries throughout his career.