India’s top squash player Saurav Ghosal failed to capitalize on an early lead and went down to world number one Diego Elias in the pre-quarterfinals of the World Championships here. Ghosal, who had reached the quarterfinals of the World Championships four years ago, lost 11-9 11-4 6-11 3-11 10-12 in the marathon match played on Sunday night. Ghosal started well by winning the first two games but then lost the next two games. In the fifth and deciding game too, he failed to score some crucial points.
The score was tied 10-10 at one point in the game. Ghosal made a mistake here, taking advantage of which the Peruvian player won the match. Elias, 10 years younger than 36-year-old Ghosal, heaped praise on the Indian player. He said, “Sourav showed a great game in the beginning. His strategy was very good and I could not guess it initially. I am happy that I was able to make a comeback because I was under a lot of pressure and didn’t start the way I wanted. Mahesh Mangaonkar, Ramit Tandon and qualifier Abhay Singh were among other Indian players who lost in their first round matches. Joshna Chinappa, the lone Indian player participating in the women’s section, had to face defeat in the first round itself against Olivia Cline of America.
