In the world of sports, there are so many who hit stardom very early. It could be because the younger you are the more energetic you happen to be. And sports are all about physical activity. Sports stars who have only known hard work also remain fit for longer. But although it looks like they found instant success it wasn’t like that. They had been trained, groomed and nurtured for this from the very beginning.

Up against a wall

Pakistan’s squash legend Jahangir Khan first won the World Amateur Championship at the age of 15. Two years later, in 1981, he won the World Open by dethroning Geoff Hunt of Australia, who dominated the world of squash until then. Jahangir, though he was a very weak child, was groomed by his father Roshan Khan, himself a former British Open champion, and then by his late older brother Torsam Khan. Torsam collapsed during a tournament match in 1979 and died. Earlier, the 27-year-old World No 13 player had taken his little brother aside and told him that their father wished to see one of his sons as a world squash champion. “I can’t, you have to,” he had said.

Jahangir was heartbroken after his brother’s death but he worked very hard. Seeing the child’s keen ambition his cousin Rehmat Khan gave up his own career to coach him. Those who knew his story cried with the 17-year-old Jahangir that day when he beat Hunt and fell to his knees to offer sajda inside the squash court to thank the almighty for fulfilling his dream.

Here are the stories of some sports legends who hit stardom early

There was no looking back after that as Jahangir remained unbeaten for 555 consecutive matches over five years and eight months. He also won the British Open Championship 10 times straight, from 1982 to 1993. He was six times World Open Champion as

well and when someone did succeed in beating him finally it was another teenager from Pakistan by the name of Jansher Khan.

Prodigies on the court From one racket sport to another … Who hasn’t heard of John McEnroe, Boris Becker, Steffi Graf and Michael Chang?

A young Sachin Tendulkar

McEnroe, as an 18-year-old won the mixed doubles at the 1977 French Open with partner Mary Carillo. That same year he reached the Wimbledon semi-finals but lost to Jimmy Connors there. Two years later he won his first Grand Slam singles title at the US Open.

McEnroe was considered quite young at the time but then the world didn’t know the others. Boris Becker and Steffi Graf of Germany were a pleasant surprise. Born in 1967, Boris Becker at the age of 17 years and 227 days in 1985 became the first unseeded player and the first German to win the Wimbledon singles title.

Born in 1969, the former World No 1 tennis star Steffi Graf after seeing some success here and there since the age of 13, got her first big breakthrough in 1987 when she beat the reigning World Champion Martina Navratilova to take the French Open singles title. From then on she only got stronger and better.

During her early career, Steffi’s father, Peter, kept a close watch on her. To make sure she didn’t get burnt out, he didn’t let her take part in too many events and to make sure she concentrated on her sport more he didn’t let her socialise much either. A shy kid from the start, Steffi really didn’t mind this and the time spent practicing on the court paid back dividends.

Angry young man John McEnroe / Nadia Comaneci of Romania, the best of gymnasts / Tiger Woods when he was not much bigger than a golf club

Another young player to have made it big in the tennis world was American-born of Chinese decent Michael Chang, who has many youngest-ever records to his name. He even broke Boris Becker’s record of bagging a Grand Slam singles title at the age of 17 years and 110 days when he won the French Open in 1989.

The little masters

With cricket being so popular and played on every street and ground in Pakistan and India, how could our youngsters have kept away from it? Though most cricketers in this part of the world make their international debuts when young the youngest ever was Little Master Hanif Mohammad’s younger brother Mushtaq Mohammad, who made his domestic debut at the age of 13 years and 41 days.

In neighboring India Sachin Tendulkar made his Test debut at 16 years and 205 days on the tour to Pakistan in 1989. In the same match at Karachi, Pakistan’s pacer Waqar Younis, too, was making his debut at the age of 17 years and 364 days. Many lovers of cricket remember young Waqar celebrating after taking young Sachin’s wicket at Karachi after he could only make 15 runs and the kid walking back to the pavilion wiping away his tears.

Jahangir Khan at 17 / Boris Becker and Steffi Graf in a photograph from 1985

Aged 16 years and 217 days, Shahid Afridi burst on to the scene from out of nowhere to score a delightful century in an ODI on his debut series in 1996. Shahid was taken to Kenya as a replacement for the injured leg break googly bowler Mushtaq Ahmed. Batting at number three in his second match there he made a record (though broken now) for the fastest scored centuries from just 37 balls by hitting 11 sixes.

Pixie

Even if you haven’t seen her in action you have got to have heard of the gynast from Romania Nadia Comaneci. Her routines from the 1976 Montreal Olympics and 1980 Moscow Olympics where she was 14 and 18, respectively, and got her perfect scores of 10, are there on You Tube along with her other performances from several other international championships. Nadia was the first gymnast to have scored 10 points.

Since gymnastics is all about flexibility and agility, one has to start when young for that is when your bones and muscles can be trained for the demands of the sport. Nadia, too, began when she was studying in kindergarten. She was only six years old when selected to attend a special gymnastics school after that school’s owner saw her doing cartwheels with a friend in her school yard. When she was 13, she won gold medals in almost all events that she competed in at the European Championships in Norway. She competed in many events worldwide to surprise and force the judges to award her nothing but full points, which also happened at the Montreal Olympics and thereafter.

The records she created at the 1976 Games can never be broken as after that the Olympics committee revised the age eligibility in gymnastics to 16.

Out of the ‘Woods’

Thanks to his father Earl Wood’s planting a love for the sport in his heart, Tiger Woods has been playing golf since he was two. Born in 1975, Tiger was only three when he shot a 48 over nine holes. He wasn’t yet seven when he won the Under Age 10 section of the Drive, Pitch and Putt competition in California. One year later he won the 9-10 boys’ event at the Junior World Golf Championships. Later, he had won the championship six times.

He was only 15 when he became the then youngest ever US Junior Amateur Champion. He became the then youngest-ever winner of the US Amateur Championship in 1994.

In 1996, Woods turned professional and won his first Masters tournament in April, 1997. And two months later in June he had set the record for the fastest ever climb to No 1 in the Official World Golf Rankings.

Published in Dawn, Sunday Magazine, August 9th, 2015

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