Ghosal goes down fighting to world champion Gawad

Manchester, December 14: India's Saurav Ghosal saw his PSA World Championship journey come to an end at the hands of defending champion Karim Abdel Gawad at the National Squash Centre.

Kolkata-born Ghosal did not make life easy for Gawad on court as he showcased his flair and shot-making ability on court to take the first game - which lasted an impressive 25 minutes - on a tie-break by a 14-12 margin.

However, the world No.16's Egyptian opponent soon showed his resilience as he battled back to take the next three games without reply and close out the victory by an 12-14, 11-5, 11-6, 11-7 scoreline in 59 minutes.

"I think we were trying to play like [Mohamed] ElShorbagy and Ramy [Ashour] yesterday in the first game but we couldn't beat the record set," said Gawad.

"Especially after a very long first game, both of us were very tired and I think the motive was with him a little more because he won the first game and I was really disappointed to lose the first game.

"I was 0-4 down in the second game and against a player like Saurav you can't afford to give away cheap points. He is very quick on court and very talented and I like playing him.

"Today was a tough day and I had to fight until the end, even when I was 10-6 in the fourth I knew he could come back easily with his awesome winners so I knew I had to push until the end."

Result: Third Round

[2] Karim Abdel Gawad (EGY) bt Saurav Ghosal (IND) 3-1: 12-14, 11-5, 11-6, 11-7 (59m)