Rehmat Khan

Rehmatullah "Rehmat" Khan (sometimes spelled Rahmat Khan or Rhamat Khan, born 8 April 1953) 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.[1] 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 convinced 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:

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 Toorpakay Wazir.

Rahmat has also been the national coach of Pakistan and Kuwait as well as the state of Maharashtra (India).

Rahmat has co-authored several books including Winning Squash, Jahangir and the Khan Dynasty and Advanced Squash. He also created a video called "How to Play Squash the Khan Way" which was released by Virgin Records.

The government of Pakistan awarded him Tamgha-e-Imtiaz or the Medal of Excellence in 2005.

Rahmat now lives in the San Francisco Bay area and coaches several promising and upcoming US Juniors in Los Gatos, California.

Personal life

Rahmat was born to a Pashtun, Khan family, where many 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 a British woman, Josie, but she divorced him after thirteen years.[1] He later married Salma Agha in 1989, but divorced her in 2010. His children include singer Natasha Khan (better known by her stage name Bat For Lashes) from his first wife,[1] and actress Sasha Agha from his second wife.

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References
  1. Burrows, Tim (26 February 2009). "Bat for Lashes: off the wall". The Telegraph. London. Retrieved 7 January 2017.
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