In 1951, an aging Hashim Khan came out of nowhere to win the coveted British Open title. His triumph laid the foundation of Pakistan’s squash empire which produced legends like Azam Khan, Roshan Khan, Qamar Zaman, Jahangir Khan and Jansher Khan. Many believe that Pakistan’s domination in international squash continued unabated till the late nineties. But there were several years in the seventies when Pakistan’s top guns struggled to win major titles at the international level.At that time, Pakistan’s squash was looking for a revival and one of the few players who made it possible was a lanky young man from Peshawar, Mohibullah Khan. A namesake of former British Open champion Mohibullah, a nephew of the great Hashim, he also hailed from Nawakilli but was not related to the squash royalty from the legendary village.

Mohibullah was a tennis boy at the PAF Officers’ Mess in Peshawar but instead of tennis he developed a keen interest in squash.

“After finishing my work on the tennis courts, I would just go and play squash. I had no rackets and would borrow a racket and squash balls from Ustaad Umar Daraz,” Mohibullah told me in an interview, referring to his former coach and mentor.

Mohibullah remembers that even as an 11-year-old kid he impressed the experienced Umar Daraz, who used to be a squash coach at the PAF Mess and later trained a number of leading Pakistani players.

“Ustad saw me playing regularly and was convinced that I had what it took to become a world class player. He requested Air Marshal Nur Khan to transfer me from tennis to squash. The Air Marshal was very supportive and I was soon relieved of my duties as a ball boy. Umar Daraz took me under his wings. Air Marshal Nur Khan continued supporting me and I was enrolled at the PAF School,” recalls Mohibullah.

Mohibullah didn’t disappoint his mentors.

Within two years he started to live up to expectations by winning the National Under-16 Championship in Lahore at the age of 13.

“That day I received the biggest surprise of my life,” he says. “At the prize distribution ceremony (England squash legend) Jonah Barrington, who had come to Lahore on a visit, was also present. He made a speech while holding a brand new Dunlop racket. It was the most beautiful thing I had ever seen and I couldn’t take my eyes off it. Suddenly he announced my name and presented the racket to me. He was really impressed by my game and even predicted that I would go on to become a world champion.”

Back then, Mohibullah was one of the leading national youngsters backed by the Punjab Squash Association (PSA) in both training and education. With the help of Nur Khan, Umar Daraz and PSA, Mohibullah’s game improved by leaps and bounds.

At 15, he was selected to play in the Drysdale Cup in London. That was his first international trip and he still remembers an incident that happened during that visit.

“When I was leaving for London I was told that an official of the Pakistan High Commission will receive me at the airport there. When I reached Heathrow, I waited and waited but nobody came. Then I noticed a man who had Asian features. I approached him and Inquired if he was looking for me to which he replied in the affirmative. I was really angry at waiting for such a long time and asked him why he didn’t approach me in the first place. He started laughing and then said that he was expecting Mohibullah to be a burly man. ‘But you are so thin and young. How can you play squash at the top level?”

But Mohibullah wasn’t just destined to play squash at the top level. He was also destined to win. That year, he not only became the youngest play in history to win the Drysdale Cup, Mohibullah soon went on to become one of the best exponents of the game in the world.

Now that he had proved himself at the junior level, Mohibullah switched to amateur squash and won the British Amateur Championship in 1973, beating compatriot Qamar Zaman in the final. He retained the prestigious title in 1974.

Unlike his more skillful countrymen like Qamar Zaman and Gogi Alauddin, Mohibullah wasn’t a great stroke-maker. But he was a supremely fit athlete. He was at the height of his career in the mid-seventies when he beat all the top players of the world including Australian legend Geoff Hunt. He won major tournaments like the Australian Open and Irish Open. He could have won the inaugural edition of the World Open held in London in 1976 but lost to Hunt in the final after leading by two games to one.

Unfortunately, Mohibullah’s career was cut short when he was accused and found guilty of drug-smuggling by a court in England. He served prison time in England but still insists that he was innocent. He claims that it was a man whom he knew from Peshawar, who was travelling with him on the same flight. “He was the one with drugs on him,” he says.

“Going to jail was a very unfortunate incident but Allah gave me the strength to endure it. I’m really thankful to Allah that today I’m back in my country and living with my family.”

Two of sons Imran Mohib and Shehzad Mohib represented Pakistan in international squash. Tragically, Imran passed away at a young age because of pancreatic cancer.

“Imran’s passing is the greatest tragedy I have ever endured,” says Mohibullah. “He was a very good son and I miss him every day.”

Mohibullah played a key role in giving Pakistan one of its most successful squash players of all time - Jansher Khan. It was Mohibullah who mentored Jansher, his younger brother, during his early years. Jansher went on to become a legend, winning a record eight World Open titles and six British Open crowns.

After his retirement from professional squash, Mohibullah started coaching and has been training youngsters in Peshawar as a top-ranking official of the Pakistan Sports Board (PSB). “It is my greatest desire to help Pakistan produce world champions like Jahangir Khan and Jansher Khan.”

Khalid Hussain is Editor Sports of The News

Khalidhraj@gmail.com