Jahangir Khan backs squash for Olympics

KARACHI: Pakistani squash legend Jahangir Khan on Thursday hailed the International Olympic Committee's decision to consider the sport he once dominated for inclusion in the 2020 Games.

The IOC recently put squash on a shortlist of eight sports which could be added to the Olympics in 2020.

"Squash needs that fillip and we have been trying for this for the last several years. Now the time has come when squash be included in the Olympics on merit," Khan, a former World Champion, told AFP.

The 48-year-old Khan led the campaign to add the sport to the Olympic programme during his three-year tenure as World Squash Federation (WSF) president which ended in 2008.

"We lost to golf and rugby in 2016, but now I am sure of its inclusion in 2020," said Khan, who is now the honorary life president of the WSF.

Khan ruled the squash courts between 1981-92, winning a world record ten British open titles. He also won six world titles and remained unbeaten for five years and eight months between 1981-1986.

Squash will vie with baseball, karate, roller sports, softball, sports climbing, wakeboarding and wushu for inclusion in the 2020 programme.