Asian Games: Saurav Ghosal continues to shine in Squash, seals final eight spot with comprehensive victory

Hangzhou [China], October 2 (ANI): Indian squash player Saurav Ghosal continued his red-hot form and stormed into the quarterfinals of men’s singles in the ongoing Asian Games on Monday.

The veteran squash player has set his eyes on another medal as he ousted Kuwait’s Ammar Altamimi in straight games.

It was quite a straightforward victory for the Indian as he defeated his opponent in three straight games with scores of 11-4, 11-4, and 11-6. 

Ammar hardly posed a challenge for India’s star squash player, Saurav asserted his dominance in the first game and continued with it till the final game. 

Saurav has already marked his presence in the current edition of the Asian Games by pulling off some remarkable performances in the men’s team event. 

He was a crucial part of the Indian men’s team that went on to dominate each team they faced throughout their campaign. In the end, while facing their arch-rival Pakistan in the final for a gold medal, he turned the tie in India’s favour as he won 11-5, 11-1, 11-3 against Muhammad Asim Khan in the second game.

His victory in the second game was crucial as in the first match of the tie between arch-rivals, it was Pakistan’s Iqbal who started the game fiercely as he raced off to a 5-1 lead early on over Mahesh Mangaonkar.

Mangaonkar lost in straight games against Iqbal 8-11, 11-3, 11-2. After a competitive first game, in which Mangaonkar was 11-8, Nasir won the next two 11-3, 11-2 to give Pakistan a 1-0 lead in the tie.

Abhay Singh made the most of the gained momentum and played beautifully to secure a gold medal for India.