Saurav Ghosal is a path-breaker for Indian men’s squash. He was the first Indian ever to win the coveted British Junior Open Under-19 Squash title in 2004. He was also the first to win a bronze medal in the singles category at the Asian Games in Doha 2006 and then repeated it in 2010. Then he became the first Indian to reach the quarter-finals of the World Squash Championship at Manchester, England in 2013.
Now, in 2014, Ghosal has become the first Indian to reach the men’s singles final at the Incheon Asian Games beating two-time Asian Games gold medalist (2002, 2006) Ong Beng Hee of Malaysia 3-0 at the Yeorumul Squash Courts here on Monday.
It was a big relief for the 28-year-old Ghosal as he managed to break the semi-final jinx at the Asian Games. He had lost twice in the semi-finals at the Asian Games — Doha and Guangzhou — and was itching to better his performance.
After winning the quarter-finals on Sunday, Ghosal said that the match against Hee would be tough. He wasn’t exaggerating nor was he being modest. The Malaysian’s reputation in the squash circuit is such that no one can take him lightly. He has been Asia’s No. 1 player for a long time. But age — he is 34 — seems to have slowed him down as Ghosal crushed his meek challenge 11-9, 11-4, 11-5 to assure himself, and India, a silver medal.
He can win gold as well since he is the No. 1 player in Asia but he doesn’t want to think about it and is taking it as just another game.
“The goal is to win the gold medal but it’s the match that I need to focus on,” Ghosal said.
“Bang Hee is very intense. I lost to him in June last year. I tried to focus during the match and got back again shortly. It’s about producing it when it’s needed,” he added.
Ghosal plays Abdullah Al Muzayen of Kuwait in the final. “For tomorrow’s final, I need to think about how to strategize on how to win the opponent and become confident.”
PAllIKAl lOSES
Against Nicol David, you have no chance. Not for nothing she has been world No. 1 for the last more than eight years. And if Dipika Pallikal wanted to change the colour of her assured bronze to silver (or gold), she needed to pull off a miracle. Unfortunately, she couldn’t and settled for bronze after losing the semifinal 4-11, 4-11, 5-11 here on Monday.
Pallikal was outplayed by Nicol as the match lasted for just 25 minutes. The Malaysian hasn’t lost a single match at the Asian Games since 1998 — the year squash was introduced.
Inexplicably, Pallikal was so upset after the loss that she didn’t speak to the media at all. But Nicol did. She said she was happy to be in the final. “It’s great, just to actually get to the final is such a thrill. The crowd here has been fantastic. I’m looking forward to the great match tomorrow,” Nicol said.