The Indian squash ace is out of the Qatar Classic after losing to Fares Dessouki
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Indian squash ace Saurav Ghosal’s campaign at the $150k Qatar Classic in Doha came to a screeching halt as he exited the PSA World Series event in the first round on Sunday. The World No. 17 went down 7-11, 8-11, 3-11 to 21-year-old Egyptian Fares Dessouki, ranked just one place below him. The match duration was 40 minutes.
For the 29-year-old Ghosal, who won the Kolkata International in September, this was the second consecutive first round defeat after bowing out of the US Open just a few days back. The last meeting between Ghosal and Dessouki, which was at the 2014 US Open, had gone the distance and the India No. 1 would have definitely liked to put up a better fight in Sunday’s contest.
The Indian national champion’s next tournament is the prestigious World Championships, beginning November 13. Saurav faces 20th ranked Ryan Cuskelly in the opening round.
Meanwhile, Joshna Chinappa, who upset the World No. 1 Raneem El Welily in the women’s first round, remains the last Indian standing at the Qatar Classic. She will play her second round against 31st ranked Yathreb Adel on Monday.
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About the author
Sudeshna Banerjee
Sudeshna is a veteran Indian Sports and International Tennis journalist as well as editor at Sportskeeda. She has an overall experience of over 10 years with top publications like The Bridge, Fox Sports Asia, and gained a keen interest in Indian sports since the 2002 Commonwealth and Asian Games when she was in school.
Sudeshna holds a Master's degree in Journalism and Mass Communication. She attends tournaments regularly and being a highly experienced journalist, she ensures she only contacts the correct people from her network for the most authentic information to be put in her articles.
Sudeshna’s favorite Indian athlete is PV Sindhu owing to her big-tournament performances. She also admires Tennis legend Rafael Nadal for his resilience and has witnessed the Spaniard in action at the French Open, due to which, Roland Garros is her all-time favorite Grand Slam tournament.
Neeraj Chopra’s gold medal win at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics made a lasting impact on Sudeshna. She has also interviewed him along with Badminton star Chirag Shetty and several other sports personalities. She has done on-ground reporting on multiple ITF tournaments along with the Premier Badminton League, Asian Boxing Championships and the Davis Cup.
When not using her skills and years of experience in crafting compelling content, Sudeshna likes to read, watch movies and travel.