Mohibullah flags squash decline

Pakistan’s once-dominant squash tradition is facing a crisis of discipline and preparation, veteran player Mohibullah Khan says, as overcrowded courts, poor fitness habits and distracted young players threaten to extinguish a sporting legacy built by generations of champions.

Mohibullah Junior, the elder brother of former world champion Jansher Khan and a former World No2, says the contrast between his generation and current players could hardly be sharper.

“When Jehangir Khan and Jansher Khan were playing, they practised for at least seven hours a day,” Mohibullah told The Express Tribune at the Peshawar Sports Complex, where he now coaches.

“Just 20 minutes a day practice can’t make you a world-class player.”

He said mobile phones had become an unwelcome fixture on squash courts, with young players frequently interrupting training to check their devices or watch TikTok videos.

Mohibullah called on the Pakistan Squash Federation (PSF) and the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Directorate of Sports to prohibit mobile phones inside squash courts so players could concentrate fully on training.

His own career was shaped by a level of commitment he fears is disappearing. He reached the World Open final in London in 1986 and the British Open final, while also winning the British Amateur twice, the French Open twice, the Pakistan Open three times, the Australian Open once and the Irish Masters once.

He recalled that even his wedding day did not interrupt his routine.

“In 1976, on my wedding day, everyone was waiting for me to go for the barat and I was busy practising. Once my practice was done, I returned,” he said.

That determination helped produce a remarkable concentration of squash talent from Naway Kalay, a village on the outskirts of Peshawar that gave Pakistan seven international stars including Hashim Khan, Azam Khan, Roshan Khan, Mohibullah, Qamar Zaman, Jahangir Khan and Jansher Khan.

Mohibullah said the golden generation trained wherever it could. Jehangir and Jansher even preferred an ordinary court at a Pakistan Air Force (PAF) facility to an air-conditioned one, believing the tougher conditions would better prepare them for matches in Britain's colder climate.

During one trip to London, Mohibullah and Qamar Zaman found sports facilities closed for Christmas. They moved to a parking-lot basement and spent hours hitting the ball against a wall.

“Today, the problem is not a lack of courts but how they are used.”

“Compared to the past the number of squash courts has increased considerably, but the talent is simply not there,” Mohibullah lamented.

He believes overcrowding prevents promising players from receiving enough court time, while ageing facilities and expensive maintenance add to the challenge. He said he had spent Rs1.5 million renovating two courts.