Windy City Open: Saurav Ghosal goes down fighting in second round
Having played the World No. 4 Omar Mosaad just a little over a week back at the Colombia Open, Indian squash ace Saurav Ghosal competed well with the Egyptian in the second round of the $150,000 Windy City Open in Chicago on Sunday evening. But the eventual result proved to be the same as the World Championship runner-up came back from a game down to seal the 13-15, 11-1, 11-7, 11-1 win in 50 minutes and advance to the quarter-finals.
The 20th ranked Indian was the one who started off brilliantly, attacking with authority. He soon surged to a 6-2 lead as Mosaad was struggling to find his shots. The Egyptian, however, found his range soon after and fought hard after Saurav went up 9-6. The Indian national champion still managed to edge past his higher-ranked opponent and grabbed the opening game 15-13.
The joy was short-lived though for Saurav as the tide turned totally in favour of the third seed in the next game. Mosaad stormed through the second game to take it 11-1.
It was the same story for most of the third game except for a brief comeback by the unseeded Indian star. After the Egyptian had inched ahead 7-1, Ghosal staged a fightback to close in on the gap. He fell short in the end as the third seed pocketed the game 11-7.
It was a thoroughly dominating display from Mosaad in the fourth game. Dictating the pace efficiently, he played a virtual error-free game as he wrapped up the match soon afterwards.
The 27-year-old later on appreciated Saurav’s efforts in the first game.
“Saurav played very well in first game and he got me in trouble early on. I think it’s probably because we just played a few days ago in Colombia. He was finding lovely shots and he was very consistent. I found myself struggling a little bit, I tried and closed the gap, I even got a game ball I think but he took the game on the tie-break,” the Egyptian said.
Mahesh Mangaonkar and Sachika Ingale were the other Indians playing at this tournament. Both had exited in the first round of qualifying.