Indian joy as Saurav soars to success
By Sachika Irshwin Balvani in Mumbai
India’s Saurav Ghosal delighted an enthusiastic home crowd by winning the final of the CCI International event by beating Switzerland’s Nicolas Müller in straight games.
The sun set on a historic cricket pitch and there it was, standing out, beautiful and blue, a squash court. And what is more, there was a thrill about, as it was all set for a final between two strong players, Nicolas Müller from Switzerland and India’s very own, Saurav Ghosal.
The first game began with both players going neck to neck, with Ghosal climbing the ladder only one step ahead of Müller. However, two factors allowed Ghosal to make his way to taking the first game 11-6: Müller’s multiple shots into the tin and Ghosal’s consistent use of depth and width.
The second game saw a similar pattern, but this time with Müller taking the slight lead at 5-4 midway through the game. This slight change was a direct result of Müller cutting down his mistakes and forcing the ball into the corners.
However, Müller seemed to allow his frustration with the referee get to him, and went on to lose his lead. This pattern continued, and Ghosal managed to get good drops that found him at 10-7 game ball. A well set up rally that sent Müller flying the wrong way gave him the game 11-8, along with a concrete two game lead over the Swiss number one.
The third game saw two tidal waves, with the first being Ghosal speeding through the first game and taking an early yet pronounced 7-1 lead over Müller. This was owed, once again, to a plethora of tins by Müller. But lo and behold, there was that second tidal wave that brought with it some drama and excitement as, Müller used a new-found confidence to play daring shots and come very close to leveling the game score.But alas, a Swiss-themed Indian drama (don’t we love those?) it was not to be, as Ghosal finally gave the majority of the crowd what it was there to see: an Indian champion. Saurav Ghosal beat Nicolas Müller in straight sets to win the JSW Indian Squash Circuit CCI International 2017.
Saurav Ghosal’s quote on winning the CCI International JSW Indian Squash Circuit 2017: “I’m really happy to win in India especially given that this is my biggest win in a PSA game…What is really important is that I have played some good Squash here and enjoyed it; and winning the Tournament has been the added bonus. It’s been a privilege being here.
“Thank you CCI, JSW and all the other associate partners for organizing this in Mumbai. Hopefully we can make it bigger and have more tournaments all over India, which will help everyone especially the juniors behind us…Thanks a lot everyone!”
Ritwik Bhattcharya, the PSA Representative for Asia and Promoter of the Indian Squash Circuit, said: “It is superb when an Indian wins the biggest PSA tournament in the year. We look forward to having more tournaments and more champions from India!”
Tournament Promoter Raj Arora of Ivy Sports added: “We could not have asked for a better finish to this fantastic event. Very grateful to JSW, CCI and of course the players for this wonderful Tournament.”
PSA M50 Men’s JSW Indian Squash Circuit CCI International 2017, Cricket Club of India, Mumbai, India.
Final:
[3] Saurav Ghosal (IND) bt [5] Nicolas Müller (SUI) 11-6, 11-8, 11-8 (44m)
Semi-finals:
[3] Saurav Ghosal (IND) bt [2] Omar Mosaad (EGY) 5-11, 11-4, 11-8, 11-7 (67m)
[5] Nicolas Müller (SUI) bt [WC] Ramit Tandon (IND) 11-6, 11-8, 11-7 (32m)
Pictures by NITESH SQUARE for Indian Squash Circuit