The splendid game of squash has seen some outstanding athletes mastering this wonderful sport, but some left the greatest influence on the game. Putting together the names of the greatest is always difficult and a matter of personal choice. However, I have tried to pick the six kings who were pivotal because they dominated the game in their respective eras and helped in shaping this game.

F. D. Amr Bey (Egypt)

Abdel Fattah Amr, known as F. D. Amer Bey, moved to England in 1928 as an Egyptian diplomat. He used to play tennis and polo and hwad represented Egypt at tennis in the Davis Cup. Once introduced to squash, he picked the game very quickly. He introduced a wide range of strokes to the game, which combined with his athleticism made for a game of precision and endurance.

He won his first major tournament in 1931, beating Dugald Macpherson in the British Amateur Championships. He later defeated Don Butcher in the British Open which used to be played on challenge basis in those days. The reigning champion had to face a challenge over a three-match series. Butcher had won the first two years of the tournament, but was now no match for Amr. Amr won the first match comfortably and despite dropping the first two games of the second match, he secured the next three with a loss of only three points to make a third match unnecessary.

Amr did not receive a challenge in 1933 and from 1934 to 1937 he recorded four consecutive wins against Butcher and Jim Dear. During this period, he won six British Amateur Championships and was the only player other than Jonah Barrington to win both titles in the same year. Sadly, for the squash world, Amr retired in 1938 at the age of only 28 and went on to pursue his career as a diplomat. He was later appointed as the Egyptian ambassador to the United Kingdom.

Hashim Khan (Pakistan)

Hashim Khan dominated the squash world from 1950 to 1962. The king of the Khan clan was the brother of Azam Khan and cousin of Roshan Khan. He was the first player to choke up on the racquet, a grip that he adopted at an early age to compensate for his small stature.

With this grip he was able to develop masterful control over the racquet face and produced a wide variety of exotic shots. He dominated squash in Pakistan and came to England in 1950. He easily defeated the then champion Egyptian Mahmoud Khan in the final of the British Open by a score of 9-5, 9-0, 9-0.

Remarkably, Hashim was 37 years old when he won his first British Open, and went on to win the title for seven times in the next eight years. He then moved to America where he dominated the hard ball game, but returned to England each year from 1957 to 1982 to win a record six British Open Vintage titles meant for players over 55 years of age. The great Khan won his last title at the approximate age of 69.

Johan Barrington
(Ireland)

I have included Johan Brrrington in my list of great kings of squash because he brought a new dimension to the squash world. It was the ability to win by physically outlasting your opponent. He was a late starter to the game, not playing his first squash match until he was 23. But he had an unparalleled dedication. He trained unmercifully and constantly pestered better players to play him. Barrington soon developed such physical fitness that he began to beat the better players by wearing them into the ground.

In 1966 he became the second player to win both the British Amateur and British Open since Jim Dear in 1939. Barrington then went on to win the British Open six times and British Amateur Championship three times.

Barrington is rightly credited for introducing the dimension of fitness in squash. He proved that shot-making ability alone can’t sustain a champion on top for a long period. Barrington was also very charismatic and was single handedly responsible for widespread growth of squash around the world in the 1970s.

After his retirement from professional squash in 1982, he started playing in age group events and coached the British National Junior Squads.

Geoff Hunt (Australia)

As Jonah Barrington began to fade, the baton passed to mild natured yet extremely determined Australian Geoff Hunt. Hunt had a wider variety of shots than Barrington but lacked the Irishman’s fitness in the beginning of his years. This led to some classic confrontations between him and Barrington. Initially, Barrington had the upper hand. However, Hunt improved his fitness and surpassed Barrington to face the challenge of a host of Pakistani squash players.

Hunt won the first British Open in 1973 when Muhammad Yasin had to withdraw before the final due to an injury. After the creative shot maker Qamar Zaman of Pakistan who took his title in 1974, Hunt went on a run of seven consecutive Open wins to set a new record.

Hunt had a knack for winning games from the brink of defeat, which was particularly frustrating for Qamar Zaman, who failed on countless occasions to topple the mighty Australian. Hunt’s record eighth British Open title came in 1981 against the 17-year-old Jahangir Khan. This proved to be his last major victory as Jahangir beat Geoff Hunt in the final of the 1981 World Open to end Hunt’s run of four World Open titles.

Hunt retired in 1982 due to a cracked vertebra. After a complicated surgery he staged a brief comeback but then spent most of his time in squash coaching at the Australian Institute of Sport where he helped develop an impressive array of players including Brett Martin, Chris Dittmar and Rodney Eyles.

Jahangir Khan
(Pakistan)

Jahangir Khan was the undisputed champion of squash world and the best of the next generation of the “Khan Clan”. He is the son of Roshan Khan, the British Open winner of 1956 and nephew of the great Hashim Khan. Jahangir was coached by his brother Torsam Khan who was himself an outstanding squash player. Torsam was in the top 10 in the world of squash before tragically dying on the court during a match in Adelaide, Australia. This tragic incident early in Jahangir’s career served as inspiration to work even harder to become the best squash player ever.

Jahangir's achievements were remarkable not only for their magnitude but also because they came while he was still at such a young age. He won the 1978 World Amateur Championship at only 15 years of age. He became professional in 1980 and by the end of 1981 he was number one in the world. Jahangir produced many upsets during that first season including a fine win against Geoff Hunt in Chichester Festival.

Not only could Jahangir match the fitness level of Barrington and the stroke play and mental toughness of Hunt, but had awesome power and ability to conceal his shots from his opponent. He was simply relentless on the court, attacking his opponents with a barrage of well-executed, hard-hit volleys. His opponents always found them under constant pressure with no time to settle into normal game plans.

After a close and memorable encounter in the British Open of 1981 which Jahangir lost to Hunt. Jahangir would not lose another match for the next five and half years. During this time, he won five British Open, five World Opens, close to 100 other major tournaments and nearly 500 successive matches, a record which stands like a mountain in the world of squash.

There were only two players who could even stretch Jahangir during this spell. The first was Gamal Awad of Egypt who began to push Jahangir during the 1982-83 season. The classic clash between the two culminated in the longest ever squash match in the final of Chichester Festival that lasted for 02 hours and 45 minutes before Jahangir came out the victor, 3-1.

The second major challenge to Jahangir came from Ross Norman. In the 15 months prior to the 1986 World Open final, Norman lost to Jahangir in eight consecutive major finals. Finally, in Toulouse on November 11, 1986, Norman had his day. Norman beat Jahangir 3-1 to lift the World Open crown and end Jahangir’s astonishing run. Again, the effort put in by Jahangir’s challenger would take its toll. Norman remained in the top ranks of the game but would never come close to repeating his victory again.

Norman’s victory however gave other players some confidence to challenge the supremacy of Jahangir. The next champion in the making and the challenger was none other than the fellow Jansher Khan.

The two Khans could not be less alike. Jahangir was the perfect professional, a quite well-mannered ambassador of the game. Jansher was aggressive and somewhat controversial. His lack of respect for Jahangir offended the world number one and fueled a bitter on-court rivalry which exists even after retirement from the game.

Jahangir had problems overcoming Jansher’s game plan of slowing down the pace of the game and breaking up Jahangir’s attacking play. Jansher beat Jahangir in the semifinal of the 1987 World Open, but Jahangir would gain the title by beating Jansher in the final of the following year. This was Jahangir’s last World Open victory as he fixed his sights instead on topping Hunt’s eight British Open wins.

Each year Jahangir would come to the British Open focused, well prepared and in top physical condition. He was unstoppable in this tournament and went on to record 10 consecutive wins between 1982 and 1991.

Injury forced Jahangir out of the 1992 British Open and into retirement. I was fortunate to watch him play against Jansher. It was always a treat to watch the greatest of the great in action.

Jansher Khan (Pakistan)

Jansher was born on 15th June 1969 in Peshawar. He first came to prominence in 1986 when he won the World Junior Championship. He followed this with an improbable run to the final of 1987 British Open. At that time, he was only 17, but he put together an astonishing run of outstanding performances, toppling three higher ranked opponents, Gawain Briars, Ross Norman and Chris Dittmar, all in brutal five game marathons.

The young Jansher was tall and lightly built. In his initial playing days, he lacked the power and variety of shots Jahangir owned, but he covered the court with exceptional speed and had an ability to slow down the pace of game to disrupt the opponent’s rhythm. The real asset that Jansher brought to the squash court was his tremendous belief in his ability to win.

Despite Jansher’s success in the World Open, the British Open crown would elude him early in his career. He had to wait till 1992 when in his sixth attempt he ultimately won the British Open. He later won British Open Six times and World Open record eight times and remained as World no one from Jan 1988 till 1998.

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