Saurav Ghosal wins a thrilling opener at Hong Kong Open

Saurav Ghosal (left) in action at the Hong Kong Open (image courtesy: Hong Kong Open)

Indian squash ace Saurav Ghosal dug deep into his reserves to see off veteran South African Steve Coppinger in a nail-biting, five-game contest in the opening round of the $150,000 Cathay Pacific Sun Hung Kai Financial Hong Kong Open 2015 on Tuesday. It took Ghosal 76 minutes to secure the gruelling 9-11, 11-3, 12-10, 9-11, 11-9 win, thus making it the longest match of the day at this World Series event.

Ghosal, who dropped a rung to No. 18 in the world rankings on Tuesday, met the 20th ranked South African just a few weeks back en route to his title win at home at the Kolkata International. It was a determined effort from the 29-year-old at Kolkata, who thrashed Coppinger 11-4, 11-4, 11-2.

It was a much different scenario on Tuesday at Hong Kong though the outcome was the same. Saurav had to work much harder and it was his resilience and guts that helped him prevail in this one.

The Indian national champion was undoubtedly delighted to come through. He said after the match: “It was a fantastic match, we both played really well and I’m delighted to get through!”

Saurav has a tough proposition next as he faces the top seed and World No. 2 Mohamed Elshorbagy in the second round on Thursday.

Meanwhile, the duo of Joshna Chinappa and Dipika Pallikal start their campaigns on Wednesday. While Chinappa meets qualifier Megan Craig, Pallikal will begin against British Junior U-17 champion Habiba Mohamed.