It was Indian squash’s biggest moment at the Asian Games. And Saurav Ghosal, who has been leading the charge here, was just a point away from winning a historic men’s singles gold. But the top seed slipped at the doorstep of victory as Kuwaiti Abdullah Al Muzayen grabbed the gold with a fighting 3-2 verdict at the Yeorumul courts here on Tuesday.
After winning the first two games in contrasting style, the 28-year-old Ghosal was on match ball at 10-8 but still could not pull it off.
Abdullah, who has gained a reputation as the Lionel Messi of squash, has one of the slowest racquet swings in the pro circuit but he comes with a bagful of tricks. And the Kuwaiti, ranked 46th in the world, used this to good effect unleashing some amazing drops, volleys and wily crosscourt shots from the back to shock Ghosal, the World No. 16.
When he was down 0-7 in the second game, after losing the close opener, Abdullah virtually just threw away the next few points without a fight to stay fresh for the long battle.
And fight he did. Abdullah forced the top seed to scamper around helplessly and lunge desperately as he raced to a 3-1 lead and then stretched it to 8-4.
He kept Ghosal guessing, changing the direction of the ball at the last minute.
But at this stage, Ghosal got a point with a drop. A little later, an angled shot from the Indian appeared to break Abdullah’s rhythm. Slowly, Ghosal clawed his way back into the match and after levelling at eight, he was on match ball at 10-8 but threw the golden chance.
Abdullah grabbed the chance with both hands, took risks, raised his game impressively and raced to victory after that.
“He put together some great shots, things that people at that stage would not even think of doing and luckily for him, I don’t think he missed much,” said a very disappointed Ghosal. “I think for most part, I stuck to whatever I wanted to do but he produced something very special to overcome that.”
Despite the painful loss, Ghosal said there were a few positives.
“I might be sounding harsh but for me personally, it was a failure. I came here to win the gold but I’ve got the silver. I feel sad but for Indian squash it’s good, for we have never made the final before,” he said.
“There are a few positives for me as well, I played pretty well against some good players on the way but you work very hard for a very long time to win events like this and I didn’t win today. I don’t know how long it’s going to take to get out of this.”
The results:
Finals : Singles: Men: Abdullah Almezayen (Kuw) bt Saurav Ghosal (Ind) 10-12, 2-11, 14-12, 11-8, 11-9.
Women : Nicol David Ann (Mas) bt Low Wee Wern (Mas) 9-11, 11-6, 11-5, 12-10.