Despite India’s top seed Saurav Ghosal playing out of his skin, he emerged the second best against world number one Ramy Ashour, as India lost 2-0 to Egypt in the quarterfinal of the World Cup Team in Mulhouse.
After Harinder Pal Sandhu lost to former World No 1 Karim Darwish in straight games, India’s hopes hinged on Ghosal, easily the best male squash player from the country. The task was onerous, but World No 20 Ghosal managed to step up several levels to trouble, and on occasions, match the Egyptian, who hasn’t lost a match this year. The opening game was an exhibition of superior retrieval skills, as both players manfully retrieved their opponent’s clinical volleys in the front of the court. However, a late burst saw Ashour clinch the first game 11-9.
Unperturbed, Ghosal persisted and led the second game 9-5, before Ashour executed a string of winners to wage a comeback that saw him snare the game 11-9. Ghosal did not give up and outclassed the Egyptian maestro 11-4 in the third to keep his hopes alive. Pumped up, he raced away to a 7-4 lead. But Ashour, cramped by an ankle niggle, took an injury break and came back refreshed to reclaim the lead. Saurav managed to pull it back to 10-10 and had a game point at 11/10. But a careless cross-court service restored parity. Ashour, then, closed out the game 13-11. India would now clash with Germany for the fifth spot.