Indian squash ace Saurav Ghosal’s return from injury did not prove to be a memorable one as the World No. 18 bowed out of the PSA $150,000 El Gouna International in the first round. Ghosal lost to the 26th ranked Hong Kong player Leo Au, 11-7, 4-11, 11-13, 12-14 in a gruelling 59-minute battle.
The Indian had twisted his ankle at his last tournament at the British Open which forced him to retire from his second round match at the prestigious World Series event. One month later as he came back to the Tour, it was evident in his very first match on Sunday that he had not recovered fully yet.
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He did not feel any of the problems at the start of the match and cruised through the first game 11-7. But as the match wore on, Saurav’s famous swift movement around the court was not to be seen anymore.
The ankle was clearly hurting once again and he could barely put up any resistance in the second game as Au stormed back to take it 11-4.
Saurav had multiple game balls in the third game
He regrouped in the third game and for a brief moment, it looked like Saurav was back in form as he surged ahead 8-3. But once more, he could not hold on to the advantage and let the 26-year-old come back.
By virtue of some delicate drop shots, Au erased an 8-10 deficit to move ahead and pocket the game 13-11.
The fourth game was equally hard-fought and it remained level till 6-6. After that, Au upped the aggression to soar to a 10-7 lead that gave him three match balls. But Saurav was not to be done yet.
He made one last push to take it to 12-12 after which the Hong Kong player wrapped up on his sixth match ball.
Leo Au goes on to face the seventh seed Miguel Angel Rodriguez in the second round.
With Ghosal's loss, the Indian campaign at this tournament comes to an end.
