carla khan

This is not Martina Hingis, she is Carla Khan, Pakistan's answer to, well, Martina Hingis I guess, only she plays the much tougher game of squash. Half-British, half-Pakistani and living in London, she holds a British passport but plays for Pakistan.

At 24 years she is currently ranked #37. She belongs to Nawai Kalli, literally "New Village", a town near Peshawar, Pakistan. Most of Pakistan and also world champions in the world of men's squash belong to this small town. Carla's father and grandfather were champions and so was Jansher Khan, who along with Jahangir Khan ruled men's squash for over 20 years till the late '90s

She is a point of some controversy since she plays in the regulation short skirts in international tournaments and now in Pakistan too, thanks to the "moderately englightened" regime of Pakistan President Gen Musharraf. Carla belongs to the fiercely conservative area of N.W.F.P where women always wear long, looses sheets of cloth, called a "chador". Some even wear the "shuttlecock burqa". Supporters say that we should be proud of the fact that she plays for her father's country, Pakistan, inspite of the fact she can just as easily play for England




Links to Carla's homepage, an article from Dec 2005 and current world ranking - note she represents Pakistan and of course, photos :)