Having fallen painfully at the semifinal hurdle twice at the Asian Games earlier, Saurav Ghosal was a very different man at the Yeorumul courts here on Monday.
The top seed looked solid as he defeated Malaysia’s former two-time Asiad champion Beng Hee Ong 11-9, 11-4, 11-5 and set up a final clash with Kuwait’s Abdullah Almezayen to assure himself of at least a silver.
The grand entry into the title match will now see the 28-year-old from Kolkata make history as India has only won bronze medals since squash made its Asian Games debut in 1998.
Saurav, the world No. 16, had lost to Beng in June and at the 2006 Asiad semifinals in Doha.
But he looked solid on Monday, dominating play and stunning his opponent, a former world No. 7 but now ranked 35, frequently with deadly drop shots.
Meanwhile, Dipika Pallikal lost to Malaysia’s world No. 1 Nicol David 11-4, 11-4, 11-5 in the semifinals to settle for a bronze, the first for an Indian woman in singles.
“This is a new territory for me, while he (Hee Ong) has been there, done that; so I had to deal with that,” said Saurav. “I’m happy that I could produce a solid performance, because I needed to. To beat anyone with a 3-0 performance is brilliant, especially against someone as good as him.”
Saurav explained that though his drop shots were very effective, there was more to the story. “I don’t think it’s as simple as that — a particular shot which made the difference. I think it’s more a combination; you’re finding combinations, turns on court to be able to create that space to hit the drop shot, which all might think is the killer shot,” he said. “That’s what finishes the point off. But it’s important for me to create that space to be able to play that shot, and all the background work that goes into doing that is the key.”
So, how does he plan to go about India’s first final in Asiad squash?
“You obviously think about the gold medal after winning the semifinal. But I think it’s important for me to think of the squash match I’m playing rather than thinking that I’m playing the final.”
The results (semifinals):
Men: Saurav Ghosal (Ind) bt Beng Hee Ong (Mas) 11-9, 11-4, 11-5; Abdullah Almezayen (Kuw) bt Lee Ho Yin (Hkg) 6-11, 11-8, 4-11, 11-6, 11-8.
Women: Nicol David (Mas) bt Dipika Pallikal (Ind) 11-4, 11-4, 11-5; Low Wee Wern (Mas) bt Au Wing Chi Annie (Hkg) 11-9, 11-5, 11-5.