Ghosal squashes India’s PSA myth

If India No 2 Ritwik Bhattacharya’s twin titles on the Professional Squash Players Association came as a pleasant surprise, Chennai sch...

If India No 2 Ritwik Bhattacharya’s twin titles on the Professional Squash Players Association came as a pleasant surprise, Chennai schoolboy Sourav Ghosal’s PSA debut is a reassurance that the Indians have finally arrived on the PSA circuit.

The talented 17-year-old was a surprise finalist on debut at the Country View Squash Open in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, losing to the eventual winner and top seed Australian Mike Corren, who is ranked 49 in the world. Ghosal accounted for the second seed Kenneth Low and fifth seed Timothy Arnold en route to the final. His second PSA tourney — Victorian Open at Wangaratta, Australia — was relatively quieter though, as he lost in the quarters to Egypt’s Ahmed Hamza.

Ghosal is now back in India and will play in the Pune India Junior Open beginning this week. ‘‘It’s been a very good first two tourneys,’’ said Sourav who, along with Mumbai’s Supreet Singh, were benefactors of a Squash Racquets Federation of India (SRFI) decision to sponsor juniors on the PSA tour.

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Ask him about the PSA experience and Sourav says, ‘‘The experience has been totally mind-boggling. I didnt get one easy match, every match was like a final. The pace was lot quicker. One really needs to work out strategies and tactics. I guess that makes the biggest difference in the end,’’ he told The Indian Express.

Ghosal also got timely guidance from national coach Cyrus Ponnacha or SRFI’s consultant coach Major Maniam before and after every match. ‘‘Both of them have been very helpful whenever I called them on phone. I’m glad some of their hard work is finally paying off now,’’ said Sourav.

‘‘Playing at that level, I’ve realised a couple of shortcomings in my game and will be working on them in the coming months.’’