In his first PSA tournament in over two months, the India No. 1 squash ace Saurav Ghosal has drawn a tough opponent in the first round of the $115,000 Colombia Open being held in the port city of Cartagena. The eighth seed will square off against the reigning world junior champion Diego Elias late on Wednesday.
This tournament marks the return of the World No. 20 to competitive squash after suffering from a fatigue fracture in his right foot at the Hong Kong Open in early December. The 19-year-old Elias, who is a qualifier at this tournament, reached three PSA quarter-finals after winning the World Junior Championship in July last year.
Incidentally, he also met Saurav in the quarter-finals of the Colombian Open, which happened to be a $50,000 event held in Bogota then.
Biggest tournament in South America
He had subjected the Indian to a stern test in that clash and even grabbed the opening game after which Ghosal made a comeback and emerged victorious in four games. Needless to say, the youngster has a lot of potential and can trouble Saurav on Wednesday.
This is the biggest ever tournament to be staged in South America and its 16-man field has some of the world’s best players. The top seed is the World No. 1 Mohamed Elshorbagy of Egypt while the second seed is his compatriot Omar Mosaad. Saurav is likely to face the second seed next if he can overcome Elias.
The 29-year-old is coming off a memorable campaign at the South Asian Games in Guwahati where he clinched the bronze in men’s singles and led India to a gold medal in the men’s team event. He might still be a bit rusty but he can take inspiration from his superb run to the final, the last time he played in Colombia.
