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Kolkata-based squash player Saurav Ghosal will look to capture the title at home when he meets top seed Marwan Elshorbagy in the final of the $35k Kolkata International at the Calcutta Racket Club on Sunday. In the semis on Saturday, the third-seeded Ghosal put up a brilliant performance to oust the second seed Steve Coppinger 11-4, 11-4, 11-3 while Elshorbagy overcame a late challenge from fourth seed Chris Simpson 11-5, 11-6, 11-13, 11-6.
Ghosal thrashes Coppinger
The Calcutta Racket Club crowd could not stop raving at the city boy’s shots! There were vociferous cheers for the homegrown hero and chants of ‘Go, Saurav’ all around. And Saurav gave them plenty of chances to scream their lungs out with his near-flawless display.
The World No. 15 was sharp and determined right from the first point that involved a long rally. 31-year-old Coppinger found it hard to deal with Saurav’s pace and relentlessness. Ghosal’s angular backhands too were spot on which did not give any chance to the second seed. The South African kept peppering the court with errors and that did not help his cause.
After going down two games, the second seed looked totally drained out. Saurav built a 7-0 lead in the third game and managed to close out the match 11-4, 11-4, 11-3 in 45 minutes.
“I know Cops is playing really well. He hadn’t dropped a game yet in this tournament. He was cutting every ball off and setting a high pace. So I had to be really precise and keep the ball off his racket as much as possible. Happily, for me, I executed the plan all right. The scores don’t suggest how hard the match was,” said Ghosal.
Elshorbagy overcomes a late challenge from Simpson
Top seed Marwan El Shorbagy of Egypt made a fast start, aided by a relatively poor play from fourth seed Chris Simpson. The Englishman could not keep his errors at bay and, in no time, he was two games down.
But Simpson continued to want a fight. It was by the third game that his game came alive. The fourth seed engaged himself in a fierce, hard-hitting battle and fought for every point. With exceptional defense, the World No. 22 came back to snatch the game 13-11 from 12th- ranked Marwan after saving two match points.
In the fourth game, Marwan took a 4-2 lead but Simpson made a comeback by virtue of his deft touches. He even took a slender lead of 6-5. However, Elshorbagy moved him all over the court by varying the length of his shots and wrapped up the 11-5, 11-6, 11-13, 11-6 match in 55 minutes
“Today was my best day so far. I was struggling a bit the days before. Today I knew I had to be 100 percent to beat Chris. The third game was tricky. I had two match balls and I was disappointed to lose it. But at the same time, I was really pleased with the way I came back. I’m going to be focused and do my recovery work to be fresh for tomorrow,” said Elshorbagy.
