Rehmat Khan
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Rehmatullah "Rehmat" Khan (sometimes spelled Rahmat Khan or Rhamat Khan) is a squash coach and a former squash player from Pakistan. He coached his cousin Jahangir Khan throughout his career. The partnership led to Jahangir winning 10 British Open titles and a spectacular winning streak of 555 consecutive matches.
Rahmat was among the leading squash players on the international circuit in the late-1970s, reaching a career-high ranking of World No. 12. He was a close friend of Torsam Khan, Jahangir's older brother, who was among the top professional players. In 1979, Rahmat and Torsam, who both saw the potential in young Jahangir, made plans to buy a 50% share in a Sussex squash club and bring Jahangir to England to train. However, just when the deeds were to be signed, Torsam suffered a heart attack during a tournament match in Australia and died suddenly.
At that point, Rahmat made a decision to sacrifice his own playing career to take on the challenge of coaching the enormously promising youngster Jahangir. He commented at the time: "I was No. 12, but because of constant injuries I didn't think I would climb any higher." Jahangir had considered quitting the game in the wake of his older brother's death, but Rehmat helped to convince him that Torsam would have wanted him to continue. Rahmat convinced Jahangir's family to let him come to England to train.
In 1981, the 17-year-old Jahangir became the youngest player to win squash's World Open. This tournament victory marked the start of an unbeaten run by Jahangir which lasted for five years and over 500 matches. Jahangir won a total of six World Open titles and 10 British Open titles during his career.
Rahmat has coached several promising players like
- Siddharth Suchde who played at no. 1 for Harvard and became a national champion
- Basit Ashfaq who played at the top spot for Trinity and became part of the record winning streak in collegiate sports
- Aamir Atlas Khan who is the currently the top Pakistani pro player
- Jonathon Power as a young kid
Other notable students of Rahmat include Dale Styner (Canada No. 1), Sabir Butt (Canada No.1), Peter Hill (Singapore No. 1), Sami Elopuro (Finland No. 1), Paul Carter (English National Coach), Max Weithers, Len Steward, Abdullah Al-Mazayyan, Safir Ullah Khan, Khayal Mohammad Khan, Majid Khan, Farhan Mehboob, Yasir Butt, Khalid Atlas Khan, Farukh Zaman and Maria Toor.
Rahmat has also been the national coach of Pakistan and Kuwait as well as the state of Maharashtra (India).
Rahmat has also co-authored several books like Winning Squash, Jahangir and the Khan Dynasty and Advanced Squash. He also created a video called How to Play Squash the Khan Way that was released by Virgin Records.
The government of Pakistan awarded him the Medal of Excellence or the Tamgha-e-Imtiaz in 2005.
Rahmat now lives in the San Francisco Bay area and coaches several promising and upcoming US Juniors at Vaayu Squash in Los Gatos, California.
Stuart Sharp captured the partnership on film painstakingly as it happened and has produced a documentary film called The Conqueror.
Personal life
Rahmat's was born to the Khan family, where all the family members are squash players. His father Nasrullah Khan was formerly the coach of another dominant squash champion, Jonah Barrington. He is the nephew of Roshan Khan, and cousin of Jahangir Khan and Torsam Khan.
He was married to British women Josie, but divorced her after thirteen year of their marriage, and later married to Salma Agha in 1999, but divorced her in 2010. He has two daughters and one son; singer Natasha Khan (better known by her stage name Bat For Lashes) from his first wife and actress Sasha Agha and Liaqat Ali Khan from his second wife.[1]
References
- ^ Snapes, Laura, "Glitter in the Dark", pitchfork.com, n.d. Retrieved 2012-10-22.