Pakistan-born footballer’s Hong Kong ambition after ditching first sporting love
Jahangir Khan fighting for recall to city team after excellent start to season with surprise local league table-toppers North District
The big-hitting batsman-turned-international-footballer, Jahangir Khan, said he was fighting for a Hong Kong recall following his fine start to the campaign with revitalised North District.
Raiding wingback Khan unleashed a blockbuster equalising strike in a 3-3 draw with Kitchee on Sunday that saw his unfashionable team climb to the top of the local Premier League table.
The 25-year-old became the first player of South Asian descent to represent Hong Kong in June 2022. His achievement was all the more remarkable given that he “had never touched a football until I was 13”.
Khan moved from Pakistan, aged 10, and initially wanted to follow the path that has been plotted by Babar Hayat and Nizakat Khan, the two city team cricketers who were born in the same Attock city as Jahangir Khan.
“I got to the top level in cricket here, but things changed,” said Khan, who played for Diasqua Little Sai Wan. “I would come in at No 3 or No 4 and was a big hitter. I always wanted to play cricket, but life took another turn and I love what I’m doing.”
Khan won all nine of his senior Hong Kong caps in a four-month period following his debut. He was part of the under-23 semi-final squad at the Asian Games in 2023, but a sending off in the second match against Uzbekistan ruled him out of the outstanding victories over Palestine and Iran, and subsequent semi-final defeat by Japan.