On the cusp of victory, Saurav Ghosal’s body let him down as the India number one was forced to settle for a bronze in the men’s singles squash event of the Asian Games on Saturday.
In the semifinal against Au Chun Ming of Hong Kong China, Ghosal led by two games to love. A final berth seemed very much in his grasp but what unfolded was a stunning collapse as Ghosal lost the next three games to stumble out.
Joshna Chinnappa and Dipika Pallikal too had lost their semifinal matches earlier in the evening and India thus wound up the singles events with a tally of three bronze medals.
Ghosal’s defeat was particularly painful, as the last Asian Games’ silver medallist seemed poised for another crack at gold. In a match replete with exciting rallies, Ghosal had really done well to come back from 5-9 to win the first game and snatch the second too. However, Ming, cashing in on Ghosal’s lack of intensity, prevailed 10-12, 11-13, 11-6, 11-5, 11-6 to enter the final.
“To beat a player like Ming, you need to play with a high intensity. I did that in the first two games but nearing the end of the second, I hurt my left abductor muscle, restricting my movements,” said a downcast Ghosal.
In the women’s semifinals, Sivasangari Subramaniam of Malaysia defeated Joshna 10-12, 6-11, 11-9, 11-7 to set up a final clash with compatriot Nicol David who knocked out Dipika 11-7, 11-9, 11-6 in the other semi.
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