Commonwealth Games 2018: 'It's a part of life' - Abhinav Bindra consoles Sourav Ghosal after shock defeat

What’s the story?

Saurav Ghosal, after his loss in the round of 32 stage of the Commonwealth Games, typed out a sincere apology to his fans, stating that he was "shattered" after the early exit.

I don’t have words to explain my loss @GC2018 today! ‘Shattered’ would be a good start. I’m sorry to everyone who has supported me over the last year. I’m sorry to India for not fulfilling their hopes from me. I’m just sorry!

— Saurav Ghosal (@SauravGhosal) April 5, 2018

However, several of his fans consoled him on the social media site.

In case you didn’t know…

Saurav Ghosal, a 31-year-old professional squash player from Kolkata, recently reached his career high World Rank of 14 in February this year. So naturally, his supporters had high expectations for him to perform well at the games.

The heart of the matter

Saurav started off strongly against the Jamaican Chris Binnie. He won the first two games 11-5 & 11-7 respectively. However, he failed to capitalize on his strong start, bowing out to Binnie in the final 3 games with a scoreline of 8-11, 9-11, 10-12 respectively.

Despite the disappointing loss, a number of fans got together on Twitter to send words of comfort to Ghosal. One of these people was none other than Olympic gold medallist Abhinav Bindra.

It’s part of life ! Accept the reality and always move ahead. Best always !

— Abhinav Bindra OLY (@Abhinav_Bindra) April 5, 2018

The fact that this was such a tight match triggered his emotions to such an extent that he could not help himself from apologizing to his supporters on Twitter. He showed great determination to win the match in the final game but the Jamaican just proved to be too hot to handle for him.

What’s next?

This will probably be his last Commonwealth Games and he certainly would have aimed for a podium finish. Exiting the competition in such an early phase and that too in this fashion is certainly harsh.

Author’s take

A defeat is certainly hard to digest and that too when it is on such a big platform, it multiplies the pain of the defeat manifold. However, the trait of a good athlete is never to lose hope.

Slowly but surely he is bound to get the fruit of his labour. His reaction is merely a heat of the moment reaction. I am certain he will work harder determinedly and bounce back from this defeat.