India’s Saurav Ghosal saw his AJ Bell-PSA World squash championship journey come to an end at the hands of defending World Champion Karim Abdel Gawad 12-14, 11-5, 11-6, 11-7 in the third round at the Manchester’s National Squash Centre here.
The Kolkata-born Ghosal and World No. 16 did not make life easy for Gawad on court as he showcased his flair and shot-making ability on court to take the first game — which lasted an impressive 25 minutes — on a tie-break by a 14-12 margin.
However, Ghosal’s Egyptian opponent soon showed his resilience as he battled to take the next three games and close out the victory by a 12-14, 11-5, 11-6, 11-7 scoreline in 59 minutes.
“I think we were trying to play like [Mohamed] ElShorbagy and Ramy (Ashour) yesterday in the first game but we couldn’t beat the record set,” said Gawad.
“Especially after a very long first game, both of us were very tired and I think the motive was with him a little more because he won the first game and I was really disappointed to lose the first game.
“I was 4-0 down in the second game and against a player like Saurav you cannot afford to give away cheap points. He is very quick on court and very talented and I like playing him.
“Today was a tough day and I had to fight until the end, even when I was 10-6 in the fourth I knew he could come back easily with his awesome winners so I knew I had to push until the end.”
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