“The first time I won against Hashim came at the British Open in 1960. Roshan Khan, who was Jahangir Khan’s father, was doing the Squash Rackets Association a favour at the time by playing with several top juniors. In return, they changed the rule, the world No.1 and No.2 in the same half of the draw. It would mean Roshan would get an easy passage through to the final,” Azam said.

“I was playing Hashim in the semi-final and usually, as he was the big brother, I respected him and would never beat him because of that. I didn’t want to beat him! I asked him before we went on court whether his leg was holding up. He said it wasn’t good, so I said I had better win as Roshan would have beaten him in the final. He agreed to let me win with his permission.” In previous interviews, Azam had neither confirmed nor denied the rumours. He told Squash Player magazine four years ago: “Respect for an elder brother is very much ingrained in our Pushtun culture. The words bhai sahib [respected brother] meant everything to me. He was my coach and mentor.”

Source: Dawn