Nicol David
Hashim Khan
Stat by stat
Bars are scaled to the leader in this list.
The verdict
Nicol David leads 2 of 4 categories. Our all-time ranking places Nicol David at #4 and Hashim Khan at #6.
The case for Nicol David
The most dominant player of squash's fully professional era and the reason the sport has a mass audience in Southeast Asia. David held the women's world number one ranking for 112 consecutive months, from August 2006 to September 2015, the longest unbroken reign at the top in squash history for either sex. She won a record eight World Championships between 2005 and 2014 and five British Opens, thirteen majors in all, and added Commonwealth Games singles gold in 2010 and 2014 along with a long run of Asian titles. Her game was built on relentless retrieval, immaculate length and a movement style so efficient that opponents complained she never looked hurried. She was the first Asian player of either sex to top the world rankings, was voted world player of the year repeatedly, and retired in 2019 as Malaysia's most decorated athlete in any sport.
The case for Hashim Khan
The founder. A court professional from Nawakille near Peshawar who learned the game as a ball boy on British army courts, Hashim Khan flew to England in 1951, aged around 35 — his birth year is disputed between 1914 and 1916 — and won the British Open at his first attempt. He took seven British Open titles in eight years, the last in 1958, when he was in his forties, and continued winning North American professional events into his fifties after moving to Detroit. The World Open did not exist in his time, so his major count understates him. His real legacy is dynastic: brother Azam Khan won four British Opens, cousin Roshan Khan won in 1957, nephew Mohibullah followed, and Roshan's son Jahangir became the greatest player of all. Pakistani squash held the sport's summit for four decades and every strand of it traces back to him.