Saurav Ghosal, an Indian squash star, made history by winning the elusive bronze medal in the men’s singles at the 2022 Commonwealth Games, defeating home favourite James Willstrop 3-0 (11-6, 11-1, 11-4) in the playoff match here on Wednesday.
This was India’s first singles squash medal in either the men’s or women’s category at the Commonwealth Games.
At the CWG, India has only won four medals in squash. Dipika Pallikal and Joshna Chinappa won the women’s doubles gold medal in 2014 and the silver medal in 2018. Pallikal and Ghosal also won silver in mixed doubles that year.
In the first game, Ghosal, 35, outplayed Willstrop, the CWG 2018 gold medalist, stretching every sinew to reach the Englishman’s trademark drops and responding with a few of his own to win.
In the second game, Willstrop attempted to regain parity by taking risks that did not pay off, and the veteran Indian easily won.
With the crowd cheering every move of Willstrop, Ghosal remained calm in the third game, extending rallies and maintaining composure to win the match in straight games and fulfil a long-held dream.
Meanwhile, Joshna Chinappa/Harinder Pal Singh Sandhu advanced to the round of 16 in mixed doubles after defeating Sri Lankans Yeheni Kuruppu/Ravindu Laksiri 2-1. (8-11, 11-4, 11-3). They will now face Donna Lobban and Cameron Pilley of Australia.
Sunayna Kuruvilla, on the other hand, won the plate final of the women’s singles after defeating Guyana’s Mary Fung-A-Fat 3-0. (11-7, 13-11, 11-2).
On Thursday, Saurav Ghosal will compete in the mixed doubles alongside Dipika Pallikal, while Anahat Singh will compete in the women’s doubles alongside Sunayna Kuruvilla.
(Inputs from IANS)