India No. 1 Saurav Ghosal’s British Open dreams met with a premature end as the World No. 19 was forced to concede his second round match to the 11th ranked Marwan Elshorbagy at the Airco Arena in Hull, England on Thursday. The Egyptian was leading 11-6, 11-6 when Saurav decided to throw in the towel after having played for 24 minutes.
The cause of his retirement was a twisted ankle that he injured during his first round clash with the eighth seed Mathieu Castagnet. The Indian national champion, known for his fighting spirit, still tried to give his all despite his obvious discomfort. But after discussing with his coach Malcolm Willstrop, a tearful Saurav had to call it quits.
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The 29-year-old had returned to the PSA Tour in February after a stress fracture had kept him out for two months.
“I feel very sad for him,” said his opponent Elshorbagy, who now advances to the quarter-finals.
“He’s a great friend of mine. I’m sure he can come back very strong because he’s a very gifted player and he showed he came back from injury beside earlier this year,” added the 22-year-old whom Saurav beat in the final of last September’s Kolkata International.
The Indian himself later on expressed his bitter disappointment on his Twitter account.
With Ghosal’s exit, India’s campaign at this prestigious PSA World Series event gets over. Earlier on Monday, the highest-ranked Indian women’s player, Joshna Chinappa had bowed out in the first round, losing to unseeded Donna Urquhart, 10-12, 11-7, 9-11, 5-11.
