Ghosal through to semifinals

Saurav Ghosal focused overcame Egypt’s Karim Ali Fathi 11-8, 11-6, 11-7 to progress to the semifinals of the Vedanta Indian Squash Open on Friday.

Saurav Ghosal had to slug it out in the quarterfinals.

Saurav Ghosal focused on his skills to overcome Egypt’s Karim Ali Fathi 11-8, 11-6, 11-7 in the first quarterfinal of the $ 35000 Vedanta Indian Squash Open 2018 at the National Sports Club of Courts on Friday. Ghosal outsmarted Fathi in 37 minutes.

But Harinder Pal Singh Sandhu went down to a stronger Scottish opponent in Greg Lobban in four games. 

A higher ranked player, Ghosal was expected to advance to the semifinals, but he was given a tough fight by a determined rival.

“Last year I lost to Fathi and I knew it’s going to be a hard match. I had to be very precise on what I wanted to do. I think the first game was quiet even, but I think I did well towards the end of the game to win that and then on I got relaxed a little bit more and used my skill, both on the back and front to open up the court to be better. 

“Overall I did what I wanted to do; obviously I would like to play much better, but it is one step at a time and one day at a time with different people and I adapted well . And I am happy to win this game considering the fact that I lost to him last time,” said Ghosal reflecting on his quarterfinal win. 

Results (quarterfinals):

Saurav Ghosal bt Karim Ali Fathi (Egypt) 11-8, 11-6, 11-7; Greg Lobban (Scotland) bt Harinder Pal Singh Sandhu 9-11, 11-9, 11-5, 11-7.