Indian squash ace Saurav Ghosal’s campaign came to an end at the $115,000 Colombia Open in Cartagena on Thursday as he went down to the second seed Omar Mosaad in the quarter-finals. The Indian national champion put up a great fight in the third game still could not prevent the Egyptian from taking the win in straight games – 11-4, 11-5, 12-10. The match lasted 56 minutes.
It had been a story of contrasting fortunes for Ghosal and Mosaad in the recent past. The Indian had suffered from a stress fracture on his right foot while playing at the Hong Kong Open in early December. It prompted his withdrawal from the tournament after his first round win and forced him off the PSA Tour for two months.
The 27-year-old Omar Mosaad, on the other hand, had been playing some of his best squash for the last few months and had even reached the final of the prestigious World Championship in November.
For Saurav, this was just his first PSA tournament since the injury and some rustiness was bound to be there. Still he gave a great account of himself at the Colombia Open. On Wednesday, he came back from the brink to extinguish the fire of the 19-year-old junior world champion Diego Elias 11-9, 2-11, 5-11, 11-8, 11-6 in a 90-minute battle.
The in-form World No. 4 Mosaad, however, was a bridge too far the 29-year-old who must have been slightly fatigued after his marathon encounter in the first round.
Ghosal’s next tournament is the $150, 000 Windy City Open in Chicago which is scheduled next week. The World No. 20 begins against a qualifier at this World Series event.
An Egyptian winner is now guaranteed at the Colombia Open after four Egyptians confirmed semi-final berths. On Friday, the tournament will witness a clash between brothers as the top seed and World No. 1 Mohamed Elshorbagy is set to meet his younger brother, the fifth-seeded Marwan Elshorbaby.
The other semi-final will see Mosaad taking on the fourth seed Tarek Momen.
