KARACHI, Pakistan, Oct. 4, Jansher Khan showed for the second time in nine days that the once invincible Jahangir Khan is indeed mortal when he beat the world number one to take the Pakistan open squash title on Sunday.
Jansher, 18, survived a match point in the third set of the final and completed a stunning recovery with a 19, 19, 108, 95, 90 victory over his fellow Pakistani.
Jahangir, who was unbeaten from April, 1981 until November 1986, has subsequently suffered four defeats, He lost to Jansher in the Hong Kong open in straight games last weekend.
Yet few of the spectators packing the Karachi court gallery would have put rupees on Jansher when he trailed 85 in the third set.
The 24yearold defending champion had been as masterful as ever, dominating the centre of the court, taking almost every shot early and wearing down his youthful opponent.
As Jahangir served for the match, it seemed he was poised to avenge emphatically his straight sets defeat by Jansher Hong Kong.
But Jahangir’s crucial drop shot dropped just too low and into the tin. Thereafter the final turned into a nightmare for the man unbeaten on his home soil since 1980.
Jahangir led 52 in the fourth set but then crumbled and did not win another point. In the fifth set it appeared he had virtually stopped trying and it was all over in five minutes.
“I wasn’t expecting victory until won the third game”, Jansher said. “It proved a turning point”.
Stange’s superb round earned him one of the most coveted records in gulf. “I am tickled to death. There is no better place to hold the course record than at the home of the golf at St. Andrews,” he said.
Strange, leading 1987 U.S. money winner, who has shot 61 twice competitively, had just 27 putts and made 10 birdies, including six in a row from the seventh.
Article extracted from this publication >> October 9, 1987
