Sport: Man with the Angles

Even a geometer could not calculate all the angles in squash—at least not quickly enough to make the shots. Squash is a game played on a walled, rectangular court (18½ ft. by 32 ft. in the U.S. game), and all four sides are playing surfaces. The ball is a hard-rubber affair, somewhat larger than a golf ball; the handle of the racket is longer than that of a tennis racket, but the head is smaller. A crack squash player needs stamina and strong wrists; he must be puma-quick on his feet, and know all the angles by experience.

A man who brilliantly fills that bill is Hashim Khan, 40, of Pakistan, generally regarded as the best squash player in the world. Last week Hashim arrived in the U.S. to compete in the second U.S. open-singles championship (Jan. i, 2, 3), sponsored by the U.S. Squash Racquets Association. Since he began playing in big tournaments ten years ago, Hashim Khan has been beaten only once—in the first U.S. open a year ago. Hashim, who had learned the British game in Peshawar, had never played it U.S.-style (narrower and longer court, livelier ball, slightly heavier racket), and he had only two weeks of practice to get used to it. Nevertheless, Hashim won all his matches except the final, which he lost to Henri Salaun, a Boston salesman, by only one point (15-14 in the deciding game).

As a child, Hashim played on the courts at the officers' club in Peshawar, and by the time he was ten, he was neglecting school and spending lunch money for court fees. Soon he was the best pro in the Indian peninsula, and four years ago modest Hashim Khan was persuaded to compete in England. The Royal Pakistan Air Force put up the money. In 1951 he won all of Britain's major tournaments, and (except for one default) he has won them every year since.

Hashim, a family man with six children, is stocky (5 ft. 6 in., 147 Ibs.), looks like a darker, balding version of Douglas Fairbanks Sr. Says Hashim: "I want to play to make propaganda for my country. I am getting a little too old for the game now, but my air-force sponsors tell me I must play for three or four more years, and I never forget that they have made me what I am. I kill myself for them and to keep Pakistan the champion in squash."