Jon Henderson : Squash
Of all Wasil Khan’s rebellious achievements, providing the first family of squash with a female heir seems to give him the greatest pleasure. Just 16, Karla Khan, the older of his children, was recently installed as Britain’s 14th-ranked under-19 player.
“I’ve got a point to prove,” says Wasil, his smiling eyes momentarily losing their merriment. “I want Karla to be the first Khan lady to achieve anything.” Which is not to say the self-possessed Karla doesn’t want to also, but for Wasil, it’s personal, and to understand his determination, it’s important to know the family background.
The Khans come from Pakistan’s North-West frontier, where men are men and women know their place. The men were introduced to squash by the British army during the days of Empire and took to it with such facility that the Khans’ domination over the game is a unique achievement in world sport.
The incomparable Hashim Khan, who won the British Open – effectively the world championship – seven times in the 1950s came first; then there was his brother Azam, his cousin Roshan, his nephew Mohibullah, another cousin, Jahangir, and his distant relation Jansher, who all won the game’s major honours.
Wasil, Azim’s son, was eight years old when he and the rest of the family joined their father in London nearly 40 years ago, Azam having set up a squash club in Shepherd’s Bush. Wasil, too, was a good squash player who won a sports scholarship and collected the British under-16 title in 1968. But he was also becoming Westernised, the seed-bed of the self-confessed rebelliousness that meant his talent for the game went unfulfilled – “I was a bit of a layabout. I had all the qualities, but was lazy” – and eventually led to his walking out on an arranged marriage.
As a result he was disowned by his father, who still, says Wasil, cannot accept his granddaughter Karla. Wasil, virtually penniless, embarked on a new life. He married again, Londoner Jacquie Stoter, the mother of Karla and Wasil Jnr, and as a contented family man set about establishing a company, Lakes Food.
“It is unheard of for a Pathan [the Khan tribe] female to achieve anything,” says Wasil, “and that’s the key for me, to show that there’s no harm in Karla doing what she is doing. Maybe they will come to understand that in Pakistan and see that the way of doing things over here isn’t so bad. After all, it’s worked for me.”
Karla, quiet but not timid, asserts her independence by giving a slightly broader view of her role:”It’s not just for Asian women that I want to succeed, but for all kinds. If I can do it, any woman can do it.”
Born prematurely, Karla was a poorly child who did not start playing squash until she was 11 – partly because of her ill health, which means that she became terribly overweight, and partly because her parents were occupied establishing the business. And when she did start playing, the early signs were not promising. “She was very unsporty, completely clumsy,” says Wasil cheerily. “It took her a year to be able to even hit the ball.
“She was also totally unco-ordinated and couldn’t catch a ball if you threw it at her.”
So why didn’t she pack it in? “I’ve got the determination, I want to get there, I want to be a world-class player,” says Karla unprompted, which prompts Wasil to interject:”When did you know you wanted to be No 1 Was it right then at the beginning? Well, you never told me. I was giving up.”
But having seen that she did want to continue, Wasil and Jacquie gave their enthusiastic support. And of course in Wasil she had a coach steeped in the game. “To be successful, you have to do it in stages,” he says. “It didn’t matter that she was unco-ordinated to start with because, like anything, if you take time and persevere you’re going to develop, especially when you’re young and still growing. I’m not going to push her because I want her skills to evolve gradually. The fitness will come later – if it is necessary. My uncle Hashim used to hit the nick 27 times in a row. Where’s the fitness in that?
“The key is to look at squash in a very psychological manner and develop children in that way rather than drive them too hard. She wants to do it and so I think she’ll make it,” says Wasil. And thereby prove my point, adds the smile on the face of the most genial of rebels.
ENDS