Ross Norman (born 7 January 1959) is a former professional squash player from New Zealand. He is best remembered for winning the World Open in 1986, when he beat Jahangir Khan of Pakistan in the final 9-5, 9-7, 7-9, 9-1. The win marked the end of an unbeaten run for Khan that had stretched for over five years (the longest in the history of the sport). Norman had been ranked the World No. 2 behind Khan for some time going into the match, but despite a single-minded determination to end his unbeaten run had been unable to end the total dominance that the Pakistani had held over the game. Norman had vowed: "One day Jahangir will be slightly off his game and I will get him." That day finally came in the final of squash's biggest tournament, which was held that year in Toulouse, France.

Norman retired from the professional squash circuit in 1994, but has remained active in seniors events.

He now has two sons, Brett and Alex. Despite often returning to his home land New Zealand, Ross lives in Egham, England.

References

External links

Profile at Squash New Zealand website

Category:New Zealand squash players Category:New Zealand Sports Hall of Fame inductees Category:1959 births Category:Living people

fr:Ross Norman ms:Ross Norman

country
residence	Karachi, Pakistan
birth date	December 10, 1963
birth place	Karachi, Pakistan
weight
retired	1993
event	Men's singles
highest ranking	No. 1
worldopenresult	W (1981, 1982, 1983, 1984, 1985, 1988)
updated	September 19, 2010 }}

Jahangir Khan, HI, (born 10 December 1963, in Karachi, Pakistan) (sometimes spelled "Jehangir Khan") is a former World No. 1 professional squash player from Pakistan, who is considered by many to be the greatest player in the history of the game. During his career he won the World Open six times and the British Open a record ten times. Between 1981 and 1986, he was unbeaten in competitive play for five years. During that time he won 555 matches consecutively. This was not only the longest winning streak in squash history, but also one of the longest unbeaten runs by any athlete in top-level professional sports. He retired as a player in 1993, and has served as President of the World Squash Federation since 2002.

Playing career

Jahangir's family are originally Peshawari. Jahangir was coached initially by his father, Roshan Khan, the 1957 British Open champion, and then by his late brother Torsam Khan. After his brother's sudden death he was coached by his cousin Rehmat Khan, who guided Jahangir through most of his career. Ironically, during his earlier years, Jahangir was a sickly child and physically very weak. Though the doctors had advised him not to take part in any sort physical activity, after undergoing a couple of hernia operations his father let him play and try out their family game.

In 1979, the Pakistan selectors decided not to select Jahangir to play in the world championships in Australia, judging him too weak from a recent illness. Jahangir decided instead to enter himself in the World Amateur Individual Championship and, at the age of 15, became the youngest-ever winner of that event.

In November 1979, Jahangir's older brother Torsam Khan, who had been one of the leading international squash players in the 1970s, died suddenly of a heart attack during a tournament match in Australia. Torsam's death affected Jahangir profoundly. He considered quitting the game, but decided to pursue a career in the sport as a tribute to his brother.

Five-year unbeaten run

In 1981, when he was 17, Jahangir became the youngest winner of the World Open, beating Australia's Geoff Hunt (the game's dominant player in the late-1970s) in the final. That tournament marked the start of an unbeaten run which lasted for five years and 555 matches. The hallmark of his play was his incredible fitness and stamina, which Rehmat Khan helped him build-up through a punishing training and conditioning regime. Jahangir was quite simply the fittest player in the game, and would wear his opponents down through long rallies played at a furious pace.

In 1982, Jahangir astonished everyone by winning the International Squash Players Association Championship without losing a single point.

The unbeaten run finally came to end in the final of the World Open in 1986 in Toulouse, France, when Jahangir lost to New Zealand's Ross Norman. Norman had been in pursuit of Jahangir's unbeaten streak, being beaten time and time again. "One day Jahangir will be slightly off his game and I will get him", he vowed for five years.

Speaking about his unbeaten streak, Jahangir said: "It wasn't my plan to create such a record. All I did was put in the effort to win every match I played and it went on for weeks, months and years until my defeat to Ross Norman in Toulouse in 1986."

"The pressure began to mount as I kept winning every time and people were anxious to see if I could be beaten. In that World Open final, Ross got me. It was exactly five years and eight months. I was unbeaten for another nine months after that defeat."

Success in the hardball game

With his dominance over the international squash game in the first half of the 1980s secure, Jahangir decided to test his ability on the North American hardball squash circuit in 1983–1986. (Hardball squash is a North American variant of the game, played on smaller courts with a faster-moving ball.) Jahangir played in 13 top-level hardball tournaments during this period, winning 12 of them. He faced the leading American player on the circuit at the time, Mark Talbott, on 11 occasions (all in tournament finals), and won 10 of their encounters. With his domination of both the softball and hardball versions of the game, Jahangir truly cemented his reputation as the world's greatest squash player. His success in North America is considered by some observers to be among the factors which led to growing interest in the international "softball" version of squash in the continent, and the demise of the hardball game in the late-1980s and 1990s.

Rivalry with Jansher Khan

At the end of 1986 another Pakistani squash player, Jansher Khan, appeared on the international scene to challenge Jahangir's domination. (Jansher is not known to be directly related to Jahangir, but their families originate from the same village in the Peshawar region of northern Pakistan, so they may be distantly related.) Jahangir won their first few encounters in late-1986 and early-1987. But Jansher scored his first win over Jahangir in September 1987, beating him in straight games in the semi-finals of the Hong Kong Open. Jansher then went on to beat Jahangir in their next eight consecutive encounters and capture the 1987 World Open title.

Jahangir ended Jansher's winning streak in March 1988, and went on to win 11 of their next 15 encounters. The pair met in the 1988 World Open final, with Jahangir emerging the victor. But by that point it had become clear that squash now had two dominant players. The pair would continue to dominate the game for the rest of the decade. Jansher and Jahangir met a total of 37 times in tournament play. Jansher won 19 matches (74 games and 1,426 points), and Jahangir 18 matches (79 games and 1,459 points). This record doesn't include exhibition matches and league matches between them.

Jahangir did not win the World Open again after 1988, but he continued a stranglehold over the British Open title which he captured a record ten successive times between 1982 and 1991.

World Open final appearances

{| cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0" border="1" style="font-size: 95%; border: #aaa solid 1px; border-collapse: collapse;" |- bgcolor="#c7dcf6" | colspan="3" | Wins (6) |- bgcolor="#efefef" |Year |Opponent in final |Score in final |- | 1981 || Geoff Hunt || 7–9, 9–1, 9–2, 9–2 |- | 1982 || Dean Williams || 9–2, 6–9, 9–1, 9–1 |- | 1983 || Chris Dittmar || 9–3, 9–6, 9–0 |- | 1984 || Qamar Zaman || 9–0, 9–3, 9–4 |- | 1985 || Ross Norman || 9–4, 4–9, 9–5, 9–1 |- | 1988 || Jansher Khan || 9–6, 9–2, 9–2 |- bgcolor="#c7dcf6" | colspan="3" | Runner-ups (3) |- bgcolor="#efefef" |Year |Opponent in final |Score in final |- | 1986 || Ross Norman || 9–5, 9–7, 7–9, 9–1 |- | 1991 || Rodney Martin || 14–17, 15–9, 15–4, 15–13 |- | 1993 || Jansher Khan || 14–15, 15–9, 15–5, 15–5 |}

British Open final appearances

{| cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0" border="1" style="font-size: 95%; border: #aaa solid 1px; border-collapse: collapse;" |- bgcolor="#c7dcf6" | colspan="3" | Wins (10) |- bgcolor="#efefef" |Year |Opponent in final |Score in final |- | 1982 || Hiddy Jahan || 9–2, 10–9, 9–3 |- | 1983 || Gamal Awad || 9–2, 9–5, 9–1 |- | 1984 || Qamar Zaman || 9–0, 9–3, 9–5 |- | 1985 || Chris Dittmar || 9–3, 9–2, 9–5 |- | 1986 || Ross Norman || 9–6, 9–4, 9–6 |- | 1987 || Jansher Khan || 9–6, 9–0, 9–5 |- | 1988 || Rodney Martin || 9–2, 9–10, 9–0, 9–1 |- | 1989 || Rodney Martin || 9–2, 3–9, 9–5, 0–9, 9–2 |- | 1990 || Rodney Martin || 9–6, 10–8, 9–1 |- | 1991 || Jansher Khan || 2–9, 9–4, 9–4, 9–0 |- bgcolor="#c7dcf6" | colspan="3" | Runner-ups (1) |- bgcolor="#efefef" |Year |Opponent in final |Score in final |- | 1981 || Geoff Hunt || 9–2, 9–7, 5–9, 9–7 |}

Training regime

In a documentary on himself telecast on GEO Super, Jahangir revealed that he never had any fixed training regime particularly designed for him, nor had he any specially formulated diet - he would eat anything hygienic but never miss two glasses of milk every day.

For his training, he would often start his day with a jog which he would complete in 60–120 minutes at a moderate pace, followed by short bursts of timed sprints. Later he would weight train in the gym finally cooling down in the pools. He would follow this routine 5 days a week. On the 6th day he would match practice and rest on the 7th day.

He also said that he has experienced running on every surface - from custom-built tracks to asphalt roads, grass & farm fields to sea shores & knee-deep waters. Sometimes he would also visit the northern areas of Pakistan to train in high altitude fields under low oxygen conditions. All in all it made Jahangir one of the most physically and mentally fit athletes in the world.

Awards, services and recognition

Jahangir retired as a player in 1993 after helping Pakistan win the World Team Championship in Karachi. The Government of Pakistan honoured Jahangir with the awards of Pride of Performance and civil award of Hilal-e-Imtiaz for his achievements in squash. They also awarded him the title of Sportsman of the Millennium.

In 1990, Jahangir was elected Chairman of the Professional Squash Association, and in 1997, Vice-President of the Pakistan Squash Federation. He was elected as Vice-President of the World Squash Federation in November 1998, and in October 2002 was elected WSF President. In 2004, he was again unanimously re-elected as President of the World Squash Federation at the International Federation's 33rd Annual General Meeting in Casa Noyale, Mauritius.

Time Magazine has named Jahangir as one of Asia's Heroes in the last 60 years.

Jahangir Khan was conferred with an honorary Doctorate of Philosophy by London Metropolitan University for his contributions to the sport.

Due to his immense and absolute dominance in squash he was nicknamed "The Conqueror" (a loose translation of his first name).

Personal life

Jahangir is of Pashtun ethnicity. His family originated from a village near Peshawar named Nawakille (sometimes spelled "Noakili"). Jahangir currently lives in Karachi with his wife, Rubina, and their children, Omar and Marium. Musician Natasha Khan, better known as Bat for Lashes, is Jahangir's cousin.

See also

List of squash players

Jansher Khan

World Open

British Open Squash Championships

Roshan Khan

Torsam Khan

Rehmat Khan

World Squash Federation

List of Pakistanis

References

External links

The Incredible Khans of Squash: Part III Jahangir

The Khan Family, A Squash Dynasty Part III

Pakistan Squash - The Khan Supremacy Part VII

Jahangir Khan page at Squashpics.com

Details of Jahangir's rivalry with Jansher Khan

Article on Jahangir's hardball squash rivalry with Mark Talbott

World Squash Awards

The KhanSquash Management Group - (archived)

Category:Pakistani squash players Category:Hilal-i-Imtiaz Category:Recipients of the Pride of Performance award Category:Pashtun people Category:1963 births Category:Living people

cs:Jahangir Khan de:Jahangir Khan fr:Jahangir Khan ko:자한기르 칸 it:Jahangir Khan hu:Jahangir Khan ms:Jahangir Khan pnb:جہانگیر خان fi:Jahangir Khan ur:جہانگیر خان

birth date	June 10, 1984
birth place	Manchester, England
occupation	Actor
yearsactive	2000–present
domesticpartner	Tina O'Brien (2003–09) }}

Ryan James Thomas (born 10 June 1984 in Manchester) and is an English actor who is currently starring as the character, Jason Grimshaw on ITV's ''Coronation Street''.

Career

Ryan has been nominated for various "Sexiest Male"-type awards. He also won the award for Rear of the Year in 2008.

Personal life

Ryan attended Wentworth High School in Eccles, Salford. He has two brothers who are twins. One of whom is Adam Thomas, who played Donte Charles in BBC drama, Waterloo Road and is now playing Adam Barton in the ITV soap Emmerdale. His daughter Scarlett Jacqueline Thomas was born on 26 October 2008 to his then girlfriend Tina O'Brien.

References

External links

Ryan Thomas at the Internet Movie Database

Ryan Thomas's ''Corrie'' profile at What's on TV

Category:1984 births Category:Living people Category:Actors from Manchester

fullname	Jansher Khan
nickname	King Khan, The Punisher
country
residence	Peshawar, Pakistan
birth date	June 15, 1969
birth place	Peshawar, Pakistan
height	6'1"
turnedpro	1986
retired	2002
plays	Right handed
racquet	Head
event	Men's singles
highest ranking	No. 1
date of highest ranking	January, 1988
titles	99
worldopenresult	W (1987, 1989, 1990, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996)
updated	September 19, 2010 }}

Jansher Khan (born 15 June 1969, in Peshawar, Pakistan) is a former World No. 1 professional squash player from Pakistan, who is widely considered to be one of the greatest squash players of all time. During his career he won the World Open a record eight times, and the British Open six times.

Jansher is of Peshwari ethnicity. He came from a family of outstanding squash players. His brother Mohibullah Khan was one of the world's leading professional squash players in the 1970s. Another older brother, Atlas Khan, was a highly-rated amateur competitor.

Jansher won the World Junior Squash Championship title in 1986. He also turned professional that year. At the time, the men's professional tour was dominated by another Pakistani player – Jahangir Khan. (Jansher is not known to be directly related to Jahangir, but their families originate from the same village in the Peshawar region of northern Pakistan, so they may be distantly related). At the World Open in 1986, Ross Norman finally ended an unbeaten run by Jahangir in tournament play which had lasted a staggering five and a half years. But from 1987 onwards, Jahangir would no longer be able to tower over the game in the way he did during the first half of the decade, as Jansher quickly turned men's squash into a sport which now had two powerful dominant players. Jahangir won the pair's first few encounters in late-1986 and early-1987. Jansher then scored his first win over Jahangir in September 1987, beating him in straight games in the semi-finals of the Hong Kong Open. Jansher then went on to beat Jahangir in their next eight consecutive encounters. This included a win in the semi-finals of the 1987 World Open, following which Jansher claimed his first World Open title by beating Australia's Chris Dittmar in the final.

Jahangir came back strongly in 1988. In March that year he claimed his first win over Jansher since the previous September, and then went on to win 11 of their next 15 encounters, including a win in the 1988 World Open final.

The Jansher-Jahangir rivalry would dominate squash in the late-1980s through to the early-1990s. The pair met total of 37 times in tournament play. Jansher won 19 matches (74 games and 1,426 points), and Jahangir 18 matches (79 games and 1,459 points). This record doesn't include exhibition matches and league matches between them.

With Jahangir reaching the twilight of his career and then retiring, Jansher came to establish himself as the sole dominant player in the game in the mid-1990s. He won a record total of eight World Open titles, the last being in 1996. He chose not to defend his World Open title in 1997 because the event was held in Malaysia, and he had a pending court order in Malaysia relating to maintenance payments for his son, Kamran Khan, following his separation from his Malaysian wife. Jahangir maintained a stranglehold on the British Open up to 1991 (he won the championship 10 consecutive times), but when he finally relinquished the title it was Jansher who claimed it for the next six successive years.

Jansher officially announced his retirement from squash in 2001. He won a total of 99 professional titles and was ranked the World No. 1 for over six years.

In July 2006, Jansher was in the international headlines again when he was arrested in Pakistan for allegedly forcefully occupying a house over an ownership dispute, and harassing a woman and her family and threatening them with an illegal firearm.

In August 2007, Jansher announced that he was coming out of retirement to play in a Professional Squash Association tournament in London in October 2007. He said in a news conference that the reason for his comeback was that, "I feel I am mentally and physically fit to play the international circuit for another three to four years". He lost in the opening round of the event to England's Scott Handley 11–9, 6–11, 6–11 0–11.

World Open final appearances

{| cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0" border="1" style="font-size: 95%; border: #aaa solid 1px; border-collapse: collapse;" |- bgcolor="#c7dcf6" | colspan="3" | Wins (8) |- bgcolor="#efefef" |Year |Opponent in final |Score in final |- | 1987 || Chris Dittmar || 9–5, 9–4, 4–9, 9–6 |- | 1989 || Chris Dittmar || 7–15, 6–15, 15–4, 15–11, 15–10 |- | 1990 || Chris Dittmar || 15–8, 17–15, 13–15, 15–5 |- | 1992 || Chris Dittmar || 15–11, 15–9, 10–15, 15–6 |- | 1993 || Jahangir Khan || 14–15, 15–9, 15–5, 15–5 |- | 1994 || Peter Marshall || 10–15, 15–11, 15–8, 15–4 |- | 1995 || Del Harris || 15–10, 17–14, 16–17, 15–8 |- | 1996 || Rodney Eyles || 15–13, 17–15, 11–15, 15–3 |- bgcolor="#c7dcf6" | colspan="3" | Runner-ups (1) |- bgcolor="#efefef" |Year |Opponent in final |Score in final |- | 1988 || Jahangir Khan || 9–6, 9–2, 9–2 |}

British Open final appearances

{| cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0" border="1" style="font-size: 95%; border: #aaa solid 1px; border-collapse: collapse;" |- bgcolor="#c7dcf6" | colspan="3" | Wins (6) |- bgcolor="#efefef" |Year |Opponent in final |Score in final |- | 1992 || Chris Robertson || 9–7, 10–9, 9–5 |- | 1993 || Chris Dittmar || 9–6, 9–5, 6–9, 9–2 |- | 1994 || Brett Martin || 9–1, 9–0, 9–10, 9–1 |- | 1995 || Peter Marshall || 15–4, 15–4, 15–5 |- | 1996 || Rodney Eyles || 15–13, 15–8, 15–10 |- | 1997 || Peter Nicol || 17–15, 9–15, 15–12, 8–15, 15–8 |- bgcolor="#c7dcf6" | colspan="3" | Runner-ups (3) |- bgcolor="#efefef" |Year |Opponent in final |Score in final |- | 1987 || Jahangir Khan || 9–6, 9–0, 9–5 |- | 1991 || Jahangir Khan || 2–9, 9–4, 9–4, 9–0 |- | 1998 || Peter Nicol || 17–16, 15–4, 15–5 |}

See also

Jahangir Khan

List of squash players

References

External links

Career summary at Squashtalk.com

Page at Squashpics.com

Pakistan Squash - The Khan Supremacy Part VIII

Category:Pakistani squash players Category:Pashtun people Category:1969 births Category:Living people

de:Jansher Khan es:Jansher Khan fr:Jansher Khan it:Jansher Khan ms:Jansher Khan

:''For other uses, see Robert MacDonald''

playername	Rob McDonald
fullname	Robert Roderick McDonald
dateofbirth	January 22, 1959
cityofbirth	Hull
countryofbirth	England
position	Midfielder/striker
currentclub	DOVO (interim head coach)
years1	1974–1979
years2	1979–1980
years3	1980–1981
years4	1981–1982
years5	1982–1985
years6	1985–1986
years7	1986
years8	1986–1987
years9	1987
years10	1987–1988
years11	1988–1989
years12	1989
years13	1989–1992
clubs1	Hull City
clubs2	SC Cambuur
clubs3	FC Wageningen
clubs4	Willem II
clubs5	FC Groningen
clubs6	PSV Eindhoven
clubs7	Sporting Lisbon
clubs8	FC Groningen
clubs9	Racing Jet Bruxelles
clubs10	Ikast FS
clubs11	Newcastle United
clubs12	Beşiktaş JK
clubs13	BV Veendam
caps1	25
caps3	15
caps4	33
caps5	86
caps6	24
caps7	6
caps9	14
caps10	2
caps11	10
caps12	1
caps13	48
goals1	2
goals3	7
goals4	17
goals5	41
goals6	13
goals7	1
goals9	3
goals10	0
goals11	1
goals12	0
goals13	14
manageryears1	1997–1999
manageryears2	1999–2000
manageryears3	2001–2002
manageryears4	2002–2003
manageryears5	2003–2004
manageryears6	2006–2007
manageryears7	2007-2008
manageryears8	2010–
managerclubs1	DOVO
managerclubs2	De Graafschap
managerclubs3	Ajax Cape Town
managerclubs4	SC Cambuur
managerclubs5	VVOG
managerclubs6	Sligo Rovers
managerclubs7	FK AS Trenčín
managerclubs8	DOVO (interim) }}

Robert Roderick McDonald (born 22 January 1959 in Hull) is a retired English footballer who played striker for Hull City, SC Cambuur, FC Wageningen, Willem II Tilburg, FC Groningen, PSV Eindhoven, Sporting Clube de Portugal, Racing Jet de Bruxelles, Ikast FS, Newcastle United, Beşiktaş J.K. and BV Veendam.

McDonald also enjoyed a career in football management, with DOVO, De Graafschap, Ajax Cape Town, SC Cambuur, VVOG, Sligo Rovers and AS Trenčín.

He has returned at amateurs DOVO, based in Veenendaal, on April 2010, accepting an offer to become the club's interim coach until the end of the season.

References

External links

PlayerHistory.com profile

Beijen.net CV

KHScott.org profile

Category:1959 births Category:Living people Category:Sportspeople from Kingston upon Hull Category:English footballers Category:English football managers Category:Hull City A.F.C. players Category:Ikast FS players Category:Cambuur Leeuwarden players Category:FC Wageningen players Category:Willem II Tilburg players Category:FC Groningen players Category:PSV Eindhoven players Category:Newcastle United F.C. players Category:Beşiktaş J.K. footballers Category:BV Veendam players Category:Sporting Clube de Portugal footballers Category:The Football League players Category:Eredivisie players Category:Primeira Liga players Category:Süper Lig players Category:English expatriate footballers Category:Expatriate footballers in the Netherlands Category:Expatriate footballers in Portugal Category:Expatriate footballers in Turkey Category:Expatriate footballers in Belgium Category:Expatriate footballers in Denmark Category:Expatriate football managers in Slovakia Category:British expatriates in South Africa Category:Sligo Rovers F.C. managers

nl:Rob McDonald