Jahangir’s pep talk boosts players’ spirits for C’wealth Games

Listen to the champ: Pakistan squash legend Jahangir Khan (second from right) having a chat with MRCB executive vice chairman Tan Sri Mohd Salim Fateh Din (second from left), SRAM director of coaching Major (rtd) S. Maniam (left) and former SRAM president Huang Ying How at the National Squash Centre in Bukit Jalil.

PETALING JAYA: The national squash players are all pumped up for their Commonwealth Games mission after meeting Pakistan legend Jahangir Khan just two days before their departure to Birmingham.

Jahangir, a six-time world champion and 10-time British Open champion, arguably regarded as the greatest men’s player in history and Pakistan’s most decorated sportsman, paid a brief visit to the National Squash Centre in Bukit Jalil yesterday.

He spent close to an hour sharing anecdotes, giving advice and motivation to the players to do well in Birmingham.

As a player, he was known as a strict disciplinarian and known for his phenomenal fitness, but off it Jahangir is always jovial so it was not a problem for him to mingle with the young players who were probably seeing him in person for the first time.

The Squash Racquets Association of Malaysia (SRAM) director of coaching Major (rtd) S. Maniam said the players were delighted with his presence and listening to stories about his career.

“It has been an excellent session where the players had the chance to talk to the legend himself and were so happy to listen to his success story.

“It was inspiring and thought-provoking too. The players enjoyed their interaction with him, “ said Maniam.

“The excited players had at least half a dozen questions and Jahangir was quite candid with his answers.

“There was a question on how he managed to be the No. 1 player for many years and win so many matches, so Jahangir went at length on explaining about his routine.

“He explained that he wakes up at 5am, goes for a 10km run, and heads to squash courts for training and plays with four to five players one after the other, and later goes for a swim to relax his muscles. It was seven to eight hours of training daily and five or six days a week during the off season.“That was inspiring and quite a revelation to our players. I’m hoping that some of them will take heed and improve on their training, not to the level he was talking about but certainly to raise their regime to produce better results.”

That explains his super fitness and the endurance that helped him stay unbeaten for 555 matches in a span of five years and eight months. The streak was ended by New Zealand’s Ross Norman in the 1986 World Open final.

The Bristol-based Ng Eain Yow was the only player who missed the session as he had returned to England on Monday to continue his preparation at his club.

Besides Eain Yow, the men’s team comprise Ivan Yuen, Syafiq Kamal, Addeen Idrakie and Ong Sai Hung while Rachel Arnold, Aifa Azman, Chan Yiwen and Ainaa Amani Ampandi make up the women’s squad.

Maniam thanked MRCB executive vice chairman Tan Sri Mohd Salim Fateh Din for arranging Jahangir’s visit.

The Malaysian squad will be leaving for Birmingham tomorrow.