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Ghosal fights back to enter British Open second round

However, Ghosal's compatriot Joshna Chinappa was unable to replicate his fortunes as she fell to a surprise 7-11, 3-11, 10-12 defeat to Egyptian qualifier Yathreb Adel.

Saurav Ghosal

London, May 16: India's No.1 Saurav Ghosal produced a stunning comeback to defeat Scottish qualifier Greg Lobban in a 71-minute battle as he booked his place in round two of the prestigious Allam British Open in Hull, England.

However, Ghosal's compatriot Joshna Chinappa was unable to replicate his fortunes as she fell to a surprise 7-11, 3-11, 10-12 defeat to Egyptian qualifier Yathreb Adel.

Ghosal took the opener before Lobban claimed control of the match and found his targets well to take a decisive 2-1 lead. However, world No.13 refused to be beaten and mounted an impressive fightback to take the next two games to win 11-9, 8-11, 6-11, 11-7, 11-3 in 71 minutes.

Ghosal will now face Germany's World No.6 Simon Rosner in the next round after he defeated tournament wildcard Declan James in straight-games.

"It's the British Open so you can't expect any easy matches!" said Ghosal following his win.

"The depth of the men's game right now is the best in my career and it bodes really well for the PSA World Tour to have that kind of depth. I didn't expect it to be easy by any means and it wasn't!

"With the Commonwealth Games it takes a lot out of you, physically, mentally and emotionally, so after the Commonwealths I had to kind of get away for a little bit.

"Greg has been playing really well and has been in good form so to go 2-1 down against him when he is playing like that is not good. I had a switch in my head where I just became a bit more proactive in what I was doing and my movement and shot making and I think that helped me.

"It's the last tournament of the season so you want to give it everything you have. Of course, it's the British Open as well and it is probably the most prestigious event after the World Championship so you want to give the best account of yourself."

Meanwhile, world No.1 Mohamed ElShorbagy avoided a shock first round exit as he came back from two games down to defeat Peru's world No.12 Diego Elias in five games.

El Shorbagy, a two-time British Open winner, was in all sorts of trouble as an out of sorts showing from the two-time winner saw him go two games down against a composed Elias, but the Egyptian powerhouse came onto court a completely different player in the third as he stepped up the court and forced Elias into some brutal movements to record an 5-11, 6-11, 11-4, 11-8, 11-4 triumph.

(With PSA inputs)

Story first published: Wednesday, May 16, 2018, 11:07 [IST]
Other articles published on May 16, 2018