Nawakille: A Squash Town You've Never Heard Of

The small village of Nawakille (pop. few thousand) outside the frontier city of Peshawar in Pakistan boasts something that no other in the world can. Over the last half century, the village that does not have a single squash court, has produced six world number ones in the sport. In fact, since 1950 the six between them have won 29 British Opens (the Wimbledon of squash) and 14 World Opens (which started only in 1975).

This is an incredible story that just happens to be a sport story. If the sport of squash had a bigger profile in world sport, there would have been movies made on this subject. For now, a writeup in this blog will have to suffice. While the British whiled away their time guarding the Khyber pass, they decided to relieve their boredom by building a few outdoors roofless squash courts. In the heat and direct sunlight, it was difficult to play a game with one of the highest cardiovascular work rates. But try telling that to the Pathan warriors.

Hashim Khan, the first of the lot, become a ball-boy at the Peshawar British Army Officers club and practiced with the broken balls tossed out by the officers. When the officers would retreat indoors in the 100 degrees heat and the squash court was empty, it would be "Hashim vs Hashim" in the court according to his biography. He got good enough to be the Pakistan champion by 1949 and somehow got enough sponsorship to get to the British Open in 1951. He was 34 years old at the time (Borg retired from Tennis at 26). In the warm up tournament he beat the four time British Open champion Mahmoud El Karim conceding just six points. The British press called it a "flash in the pan", expecting for order to be restored, but Hashim went on to beat Mahmoud in the Open final 9-5, 9-0, 9-0, and then continued to win the tournament six out of the next seven years.

Roshan Khan was a cousin of Hashim and beat him in the 1957 British Open.

Azam Khan was Hashim's younger brother and practice partner. Sparring with his brother, Azam got good enough to win the British Open 4 times. One of his victories was over Roshan Khan with a dominating 9-1, 9-0, 9-0 scoreline that forced the Squash Rackets Association to introduce a playoff for third place to make it worthwhile for the audience to buy tickets.

Mohibullah Khan was the fourth of the group from Nawakille and won the British Open in 1963 in dramatic fashion, recovering from 8-1 down in the fourth game and saving multiple match points before winning in the fifth.

Then came a fallow period of two decades where Pakistan produced five world number 2's but no world number won as Jonah Barrington of Great Britain and Geoff Hunt of Australia dominated the game. Maybe it was because Aftab Javed, Gogi Alauddin, Mohammed Yasin and Qamar Zaman were not from Nawakille. But Mohibullah Jr was from the village (Jansher's elder brother), and he was the closest of all to get to world number 1, but unfortunately got incarcerated for carrying drugs to Britain. That will ruin anyone's career.

The domination started again in 1979 by perhaps the greatest of all, Jahangir Khan (literally "world conqueror"). He beat the legendary Australian Geoff Hunt in the British Open Final and started surely the longest unbeaten streak in any individual sport. He went 5 years and 8 months or 555 matches without getting beat. Over his career, Jahangir accumulated 10 British Open titles and 6 World Opens.


The last of the line was Jansher Khan who won 8 World Opens and 6 British Opens. The Jahangir-Jansher rivalry over the next few years took on the nature of Sampras-Agassi or Palmer-Nicklaus, elevating the sport to a new level but leaving each wondering how much more successful he would have been without the other. Their rivalry was announced to the world in the 1988 World Open in Amsterdam by "the rally". The first point of the match consisted of 247 strokes and lasted 6 minutes 16 seconds and ended in a let. Jahangir went on to win what would be his last World Open.

No one has ever been able to uncover the secret of Nawakille. Why did a small village produce so many world beaters without the existence of a single squash court. It is easy to come up with explanations of why Kenyans are excellent long distance runners, why Austrians produce world class skiers. But squash and Nawakille? I'm stumped.

US Win the Ryder Cup- No Tiger Required

The US defeated Europe in the most closely contested Ryder cup since Brookline in 1999. The overall quality of the golf was exceptional and one is tempted to think that if Soren Hansen had defeated the 400 yards driving JB Holmes (they were all square after 15) the result would be different. But the crowd did its part as the 13th man and a well deserved victory to the US.

While the British press will be skewering Nick Faldo over the result, vicariously getting even for his career long non-cooperation with them, there wasn't much the captain could do different. Faldo's picks of Casey and Poulter worked out nicely and his decision to rest Garcia the second day did not hurt the team given his subsequent tepid performance. Its a shame that Europe's leading Ryder cup player of all time will have a losing record as the captain.


In an earlier post I had written about Anthony Kim's promise and Sergio Garcia's importance to the Europeans. The two happened to come across each other in the first match of the day and Sergio got absolutely annihilated by the American 5 & 4. Kim was on fire and finished 8 under for 14 holes. With Karlsson making short work of Justin Leonard 5&3 in match 3, it came down to the wonderful battle between Hunter Mahan and Paul Casey in match 2 to set the tone. The match fittingly finished all square on the 18th. Then the Americans produced some critical victories in the middle of the pack with Kenny Perry, Boo Weekly, JB Holmes and Jim Furyk. If one of those results had turned in favour of the Europeans, you can't help but feel the European tail of Poulter, Westwood and Harrington could have brought it home.

The US rookies, untainted by the negativity of past defeats, played remarkably and brought a lot of points home. An American victory has been a while coming and you have to tip your hats to them this time around for some great play. On to Wales for 2010!

Ryder Cup Day 2- Down but a far way from out

Europe mounted a mini come back on the second day as the group matches stage of the Ryder cup ended with a 9-7 lead for the US team (6-2 after the first day). Traditionally the strength of the European sides, this will be the first time in at least the last 4 Ryder cup matches that the Europeans will not be leading going into the singles matches.

There are 12 singles matches on Sunday and the math is pretty simple. The Europeans have to get the equivalent of 7 victories (2 draws are equal to 1 victory in points) out of 12 matches on Sunday to retain the cup, since a 14-14 tie will favour the holders. Sunday is a day of momentum and it will be important to see who leads off in the first few matches. Once the results starts going up on scoreboards it usually puts a lot of pressure on the players of the team chasing. That is why in the last two cups Europe ran away with a record margin of victory (18.5 to 9.5). The US players were chasing and that's never easy to do surrounded by forty thousand supporters and with the hopes of an entire continent riding on you . Nothing beats points on the board and if I were either captain I would load my best players upfront.

The standard of golf over the two days we have seen at Valhalla has been especially good with some great individual performances. The pick of the players for the Europeans so far has been Ian Poulter, fully justifying captain Nick Faldo's controversial choice of him ahead of sentimental favourite Darren Clarke. Poulter won both his matches today for 2 valuable European points. Leading from the front for the US team has been world number 2 Phil Mickelson. He has played some amazing rescue shorts and throughout the two days has steadied his rookie partners.

Ryder Cup Day 1- A Zinger for Faldo

I hate to say I told you so. (Ryder Cup- A Contrarian View). The British press' coronation of the European team not withstanding, the US team took a formidable 6-2 lead after the first day of of the 37th Ryder Cup. Phil Mickelson and Anthony Kim came through their 2 matches with 1.5 points despite Kim looking nervous early on. The surprise performance (and there is always one) was by Hunter Mahan and Justin Leonard who brought in 2 points and looked untouchable. I had said the player to beat for the Americans would be Sergio Garcia, and he came home with half a point out of his two matches.

It's still early but the Europeans need a dramatic reversal of fortune tomorrow. The foursomes and the fourball format is supposed to be a European strength. They needed a lead going into the twelve single matches on Sunday but now would do well just to be close. Faldo will be going to sleep a worried man tonight. He better be praying that Garcia and Harrington start to produce, and Mickelson (out of his shell in Tiger's absence) stops.

Twenty 20 has to kill Test Cricket

Australian cricketers are causing a stir by snubbing an earlier tour of Pakistan on security grounds, yet agreeing to go ahead with the Indian tour inspite of the recent bombings in Delhi. Cricket Australia went to great lengths to express "concern" at the security situation in India but there was no mention of any commercial considerations. Andrew Miller was more perceptive in a cricinfo article: "India, once tolerated at best by visiting nations, is now fawned upon shamelessly by savvy superstars who recognize the brevity of their athletic prime and the value of being seen to be seen in such a red-hot marketplace. Pakistan, by contrast, is regarded as India without the assets. A hot, dusty, foreign hellhole where you can't even get a drink, for God's sake - let alone a billion-rupee contract."


Under current ICC rules teams refusing to tour under its Future Tours Programme (FTP) are liable for hefty fines. But amid the IPL and Stanford millions, players have got more power and can exercise more choice. The boards seem to have little choice but to heed the players less dependent on international cricket (A billion dollars between lunch and tea). Miller narrows in on this: "Like the competitively honed creatures that they are, the players sensed a weakness, and they went for it mercilessly. They wanted a break in their never-ending calendar, and quite rightly so, but not one that would jeopardise their unparalleled earning powers. They saw in a little-loved tournament in a little-loved country the perfect combination to bend and abuse. The tournament never stood a chance, and nor does it have any hope of a revival in 2009."

As Cricket Australia and Ricky Ponting, the captain, kept insisting there was no double standard and everything was done on security considerations, former Australian cricketer Dean Jones threw a spanner in the works. Jones implied it was all done not to take on the economically powerful Indian Cricket Board (BCCI): "There is reason to be concerned about security there, particularly in Delhi, where the latest bomb went off. Through my role as an executive director of the Indian Cricket League, I know we have major headaches with security there."

Pakistan cricket is no doubt a loser. The country has yet not had a test match in 2008. But in this incident is reflected the greater malaise of international cricket. The bigger picture is that there are nine test playing countries left since Zimbabwe got ejected. Bangladesh, New Zealand and Sri Lanka are smaller markets and West Indies has already seen the erosion of its powers. Once Pakistan is sidelined as well it leaves the quartet of India, South Africa, England, Australia. While other sports expand their markets and enroll more audience participation, international cricket seems to be headed in the opposite direction.

Some may see this cherry picking behavior on the part of cricketers as a cause of decline for Test and One Day cricket, I just see it as an inevitable consequence of the ascendancy of Twenty 20 cricket. Money is not simply a sign of greed in today's marketplace as the cynics keep pointing out. In this free wheeling commercial era, money is also a scorecard of success. Twenty 20 cricket 1, Test cricket 0.

Ryder Cup- A Contrarian View

The US goes into the Ryder Cup as underdogs for the first time in years and the British papers have been doing their part in getting ahead of themselves calculating the margin of victory. The champagne is on ice, waiting for the Sunday coronation. Even the betting markets reflect the Europeans' overwhelming status. The three players odds on to be top point winners are all Europeans- Garcia, Harrington and Westwood.

The sentiment is understandable as the Europeans took the last two Ryder cups with record margins of 18.5 to 9.5 points each and have won eight of the last eleven cups. There is a lack of desire and camaraderie among the US players. Tiger is out injured. The in form player is European double major winner Harrington. There are too many rookies in the US team. Retrospective explanations as above will be endless if the US loses, but a closer look now shows few of these to have weight.



The US has home advantage and expect the Kentucky course to be set up with light rough and fairways that widen at 300 yards to accommodate their long drivers. Tiger should not be missed, with only a 10-12-2 record so far and intimidating his own team as much as opponents. Look for one of the US rookies, particularly Anthony Kim (23 year old with third best PGA scoring average) to make an impact. The Hot Harrington had a 0-4-1 record in the last Ryder cup in Ireland. Experience is over-rated as rookies have previously had some of the best performances.



The biggest problem for the US will be countering Sergio Garcia who has a formidable record of 14-3-3. If the US can find an answer to him, expect this Ryder cup to be very finely balanced. A lot is dependent on how teams respond to pressure and for the first time in a while, the US does not have the pressure of expectations. Symbolically, the match is being held in Muhammad Ali's home town of Louisville, Kentucky. So don't be too surprised if it turns out to be a "thrilla".

The Haka

Different sports have their own peculiarities and rituals. American football players douse their coach with a cooler full of Gatorade. Ice hockey fans throw their head gear onto the ice when a home player scores a hat trick. New Zealand international rugby teams popularly known as "All Blacks" perform the Haka, a form of Maori traditional dance to gee themselves up and to intimidate opponents before the start of a game. All this 10 feet from the opponents faces, who are expected to watch the ritual.

While I have never been able to get into rugby (and I used to watch Bass fishing on ESPN in college), the Haka has always fascinated me. There have been instances where the opposing teams have tried to ignore the Haka and the All Blacks have gone on to beat them by a higher than expected score. So ignore the Haka (in the following Addidas Ad) at your own peril: